By Ryan Shaw
Ryan serves as the international lead facilitator for Student Volunteer Movement 2 (SVM2).
Do you take personal ownership of reaching the world for Christ? Do you think that somebody else or some other group is concerned about that and so I really don’t need to be?
Do you find yourself squeezing out the challenge of the Great Commission for the sake of other causes or purposes that are “closer to home”?
When we really get serious about these questions and take a long, honest look at the church globally, we come to realize that there are a relatively small number of people who find themselves taking ownership of the task.
I (Ryan Shaw) firmly believe that the Scripture paints a picture that every person in the body of Christ has been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb to take part in some aspect of the Great Commission.
Some will find themselves praying and interceding for the forgotten for whole chunks of time daily, others will have great gifts and abilities to make money in the marketplace and to give large portions of their income to world evangelism, and then others will “GO” as His hands and feet to proclaim the gospel in word and deed.
The church is a sleeping giant when it comes to this perspective. As I look at the forgotten around the world, I cannot reconcile in my heart that somehow God wills for these to have no witness presently.
It grieves and breaks His fatherly heart to see so many resources given to the body of Christ and so little work being accomplished. If she could be awakened to her scriptural mandate, we would see the Great Commission fulfilled in no time at all.
But this will take everyone fulfilling his or her part in such an endeavor. What is your role? Will you take personal ownership of helping to give to Jesus the precious reward of His sufferings?
