Take the initiative to help fulfill the Great Commission where you live in your Jerusalem. This should be your priority. Claim your relatives, friends, neighbors and business associates for Christ in prayer. Then present His claims to them. As you implement this personal strategy, think beyond your local goals to the worldwide goals for fulfilling the Great Commission. This will prevent your becoming side-tracked on time-consuming and relatively unproductive tangents.
Under the Holy Spirit's guidance, you can proceed with complete confidence to plan your work and work your plan. Every Christian, whether a student, homemaker, businessman, pastor, or missionary, needs a personal strategy to help reach his own community or area of influence for Christ.
In this changing and chaotic period of history, sincere, thinking Christians cannot be satisfied with business as usual.
Dr. James Stewart of Scotland, one of the most famous New Testament scholars of our time, has said, “If we could but show the world that being committed to Christ is no tame, humdrum, sheltered monotony, but the most exciting, thrilling adventure the human spirit can ever know, those who have been standing outside the church and looking askance at Christ will come crowding in to pay allegiance; and we might well expect the greatest revival since Pentecost.”
This statement has had a profound impact on my life and ministry since I read it in 1947. I believe millions of Christians like ourselves are discovering the importance of being involved in our heavenly Father's business. As I observe God's working in the lives of men and women around the world through many movements, I am persuaded that the greatest spiritual awakening since Pentecost has already begun.
Some time ago, I was visiting Rome. One evening as I sat in the Roman Forum, I saw and heard portrayed, through the medium of light and sound, the drama of that ancient Empire.
The Forum vibrated with history, and I was enthralled as I sat there. For almost a thousand years, Rome ruled the world. Into this Forum had come the conquering generals to receive their laurels. Here the senators had met to legislate the laws that governed the Empire. Here Julius Caesar had been assassinated. Earlier that afternoon, I had visited a dingy dungeon cell across the street from the Forum where it is believed that the apostle Paul, imprisoned for his faith, had spent the last few months of his life until his martyrdom.
Had I been living in those days, and had I visited Paul in that dungeon, it is not likely that I would have been as impressed with this “bond slave of Christ” as I would have been with many of the leaders of Rome. Paul was probably neither a commanding figure nor an eloquent speaker according to his own admission; but here was a man with a brilliant mind, a flaming heart and an anointed pen – a man who had linked his life with the risen Christ. He was a man chosen and anointed of God. He shared Christ's vision and burden for the world, and he was committed to the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
What God did in that cell had far more significance for the good of mankind than anything that happened in the Roman Forum. God took a life that was yielded to Him and used it to help change the course of history. Today millions of Christians are worshiping our Lord Jesus Christ, in large measure because of what God did through this dedicated apostle, a “bond slave” of Jesus Christ.
Adapted from the Transferable Concept: How You Can Help Fulfill The Great Commission, by Dr. Bill Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. © Cru. All rights reserved.
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