Is this going to be an ordinary or extraordinary day for you? According to Scripture every day should be extraordinary as you carry out the mission of Jesus Christ. Yes, you are on a mission, not to please yourself but to make disciples for Jesus. The first step is for them to hear your testimony and to understand the situation they are in. The problem is, we are not very good at what Jesus commanded us to do.
Unfortunately we are too caught up in church "stuff", disagreements, spouting off personal doctrine, or just pursuing the "american dream". We have generations of people who do not understand that they are a condemned people, heading to certain death. In fact, the Church has toned down over the years so that church has just become a community that we belong to, one that defines who we are. But the world doesn't need to know who we are. These dying generations need to know who Jesus Christ is because he is the only one who can rescue them from their doom.
This is the reality:
When Christ Jesus comes as king, he will be the judge of everyone, whether they are living or dead. (2 Timothy 4:1)
Every person you see today, unless they know Jesus, is condemned and heading for judgement. It's just a formality because without Jesus covering them they are already condemned. It is simply the passing of the sentence that awaits them. How can we live with this knowledge? How can we not be overwhelmed with sorrow for them? How can we not be desperate for them to know? I'll tell you how: It isn't our reality.
I don't care how we try to excuse it away, Jesus is not our reality. This world, with all its pleasures and trappings is our reality. We say the right words, read the right books, quote the right verses but we are still caught up in the affairs of this world. Our anchor is still in this place. We are still dependent on what this world considers to be valuable. Our minds and hearts are polluted and Jesus is nothing more than an emotional concept. How else can we explain how the majority of Christians can die without ever leading anyone to Jesus?
We convince ourselves that we care because we feed the homeless, build hospitals, run clean water projects, give money to orphanages. These are all great projects of compassion that should be part of our mission but they should only lead to the heart of our mission. If we forget the heart then we will have well dressed, well feed, well cared for sinners standing in judgement before God, being condemned for eternity. Above everything else, and I mean everything, must be our compassion for the lost souls and compassion drives us to present Jesus to everyone.
You and I are only play acting. We have taken on a role and we are fulfilling it to the end and it doesn't do anyone any good. "He will judge everyone" should move us to action, reaching out, pursuing, testifying, telling others about the great news, that they too can be sinners saved by grace, a new creation, gloriously saved from the coming destruction. How many are going to hell because we don't take Jesus at his word and because we are too busy with ourselves? Everyone of us should be convicted of the fact that our neighbour needs Jesus and we should be provoked by the love of Jesus to do something about it.
So, ordinary or extraordinary day?
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