Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might also have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greek, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
–Paul in Romans 1:13–15
If the first-hand, historical accounts of Jesus are true, if He is the Christ, the only begotten Son of the Living God, if He really did die on the Cross, if He is the only propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but the sins of the entire world, if He really did get up out of the tomb, if He really did become the meeting place between God and man, and if He really is coming again, that changes everything.
It just seems wrong to live a life centered on ourselves when the story of history is centered on Him to whom the Father has given all.
Therefore, the Gospel propels us. We are propelled by the nature of Christ. He was missional—He was sent on a mission. So are we. That doesn’t mean that every Christian ought leave their home and travel to a far-off place to share the Gospel. It does mean that every Christian ought look to share and spread the Gospel wherever they are.
Yet some places, most places even, will never be reached with the announcement that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31) without someone going on purpose. Unlike all of the faiths of the world, we don’t go, because we are afraid of our God, though we do fear Him as Almighty God, the Everlasting Judge. We don’t go, because we are obligated, though we certainly are commanded in various New Testament passages. We don’t go, because we want to earn favor with God. Our standing with God is in Christ alone and what He has accomplished.
Why do we go? Why leave friends, families, churches, jobs, and familiarity to land in a distance place speaking a foreign tongue with a different way of life? The Gospel. We are constrained by the love of Christ. We are propelled from what is comfortable, because He loved us and left what was comfortable to redeem us. He has given us that love—and it changes everything.
The Gospel propels us around the world, because Jesus loves us, we love Jesus, and we love people who need to hear about Jesus.
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