Excuses, excuses …

“I’m waiting on the leading of the Lord …”

That line is one of the biggest excuses uttered by Christians.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m completely in favor of Christians being led by the Lord! However, many Christians use the excuse of supposedly “waiting on the Lord to lead” for them to get up and do anything for Him!

Guess what … the Lord has “already led!”

If you’re wondering what God would have you do as a Christian, here’s at least one clear leading: “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations …” (Mt. 28:19a). That should keep you busy for a while!

The problem is that too many Christians sit around waiting for God to direct them in some special task. And they sit. And they sit. And they sit!

God may have some specific work for you to do, but He definitely has something for all of His children to do … GO! Get out into this world … whether it’s your own community, your region, your state, your country, or off into some far-flung corner of the globe … but get out there and make some disciples.

GO!

Erwin McManus is the pastor of the church, “Mosaic,” in the Los Angeles area. He has a saying I love: “Go until there’s a no.” If you’re not sure what God would have you do in serving in His kingdom, launch out and do something … go until or unless you get a “no” from God … and if you do, then He will redirect you. But regardless of whatever specific task God may have for you, there’s something we can and should be doing all the time: making disciples.

McManus says at Mosaic, when a Christian comes to join as a member of that local church, they publicly commission the new member as a missionary to the Los Angeles area. I love that idea! After all, making disciples of Jesus Christ in that area would be the responsibility of Christians living in that area. The “commissioning” puts an emphasis and encouragement for the church members to GO! into their communities and make disciples.

Every week when we gather together, shouldn’t we really be sharing with each other what we’ve been able to do in reaching the lost for Christ? After all, if we’ve gotten out there and lived out our faith, striving to make disciples for Christ, shouldn’t we have some exciting news of making some in-roads among unbelievers?

We really should, shouldn’t we?

But for such things to happen, we have to get beyond ourselves and GO!

GO to work and be a light for Christ so that others will wonder why you’re different, in a good way, and eventually seek what you’ve got.

GO into your community and serve those in need in the name of Christ, loving them as Christ loves them, so they will ask about the source of your kindness and generosity and you have a chance to share the love of Christ with them.

GO into your school … GO into your friendships … GO into your own family … GO next door … GO down the street … GO across a room … just get up and GO! for Christ. You don’t need any special “leading” from the Lord in order to get up and GO!

Jesus Christ does not have to strike you with a lightning bolt for you to get the clear message that He wants us to GO! … into our local area, our region, our state, our country, and throughout the world, making disciples.

Some of us will literally go. Some of us will clean out our clutter, pack some bags, and wind up some place on this globe we thought we would never be, doing something we thought we would never do, in order to share Christ with people of another land we never thought we would ever meet. Some of us will become involved in national efforts … perhaps to start churches, or distribute Bibles, etc. Some of us will become great supporters of missionaries with our prayers and financial resources. Others of us will live out our faith each day among our co-workers and neighbors and others in an effort to make disciples right where we are.

And some of us will sit.

Waiting for the Lord … “to lead.”

Scotty