I once heard that the best place to share the gospel with someone is on an airplane. Think about it. Not only is it perfectly normal to have a conversation with a passenger next to you, but there is no place for them to run. If they don't like what you have to say, they can't make up an excuse to leave because hey, you're on an airplane. What are they gonna do? Go hide in the bathroom for the remaining hour and a half until the plane lands? They have no choice but to sit there and listen as you present God's great message of love and peace that can bring them salvation and eternal life if the accept Christ as their savior.
Why do I mention this you ask? For two reasons. First, I have been doing some traveling lately and will continue to be on the road (and the air) for the next couple of weeks. So as my frequent flyer miles stack up, this has been something on my mind. Second, this is an issue that God has really been challenging me on lately. As most of you know, it is my passion – and I believe it is my calling – to be a missionary and specifically a missionary pilot overseas. It breaks my heart to know that every day real people who have real lives go another day without knowing that God loves them and desires for them to turn to Him. It breaks my heart even more to know that there are people that die everyday who have never even heard the name of Jesus before. I want to point people to Christ.
Despite this desire I have to share the gospel with others, I have never really had the boldness and courage to intentionally seek out people to tell them about Jesus. As a matter of fact, it is something that I am terrified about. It all started back when I was in 7th grade while at boarding school in Japan. I was getting a haircut and decided that I should try and share the gospel with the Japanese guy who was cutting my hair. In my limited and extremely informal Japanese, I did my best to try and speak God's words of hope and truth into this man's life. I didn't even know the right Japanese words for grace, sin, or salvation! Right from the get go, I could see his eyes glaze over as he nodded politely after everything I said. As I concluded my spiel, he smiled and gave me the Japanese version of the phrase, "Well that's nice." Needless to say, I walked out of that barber shop extremely disappointed in my failure.
Ever since this moment, I have been hesitant to intentionally seek the lost to share the gospel with them. Sure I was able to talk with some public school friends about Christ, but over the last three years, it has been an issue that I have been avoiding in my walk with the Lord. I was reminded of this issue when I had lunch with a friend when I was California last weekend. She reminded me of a very interesting idea behind The Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20. The word "Go" as in "Go and make disciples of all nations" actually means as you go in the original greek. Jesus' final words on Earth commands us to make disciples as we go. This means that where ever we are, what ever we are doing, or who ever we are with, we share the message of Jesus Christ with everyone we can.
So the question that has been haunting me is this: How will I be able to share the gospel with people in the future as a full-time missionary if I can't do it now as I go in my life at college? I was reminded of my short comings the other day when I realized that I had passed up a perfect opportunity to talk to the passenger next to me about Jesus. Looking back, I can't believe how blind I was to this divine appointment. Of course, no one is perfect, but in order to be a man after God's own heart, I must try to have God's heart. And God has a heart that seeks the lost.
Please join me as I not only pursue opportunities to share the gospel, but I pursue to create new opportunities to share God's love with my neighbors and people in my city here at college. It won't be easy and I know that I will fail at times, but I will certainly not give up. They say that the chief end of man is to Glorify God. One of the best ways to glorify God is to show others how great He is! The way that we show others to God is by sharing the message of Jesus and how His death and resurrection brings life to those who were once dead. What good news is this! How can we keep it to ourselves?
The Great Commission: It was His command. It is our calling. It will be our lifestyle.
