What’s holding us back?

My 5-year-old son recently asked me if everyone goes to heaven, to which I told him heaven is for those who love Jesus.

“Why wouldn’t someone love Jesus?” he asked me. I told him some people have never heard about Jesus.

With innocent eyes, he replied, “Really?”

We talked about telling people about Jesus and I pretended to be one of the kids in preschool class. I asked him questions and he proceeded to give me the gospel from a 5-year-old’s perspective.

Couple things really touched my heart, on top of the just the shear beauty of hearing him talk about Jesus dying for our sins on the cross. My 5-year-old son communicated the gospel to me and did it without fear of looking dumb, hurting his reputation of being labeled an outcast. He also showed enthusiasm in wanting his friends to know about Jesus.

So what’s holding us back? This is why Jesus rebuked the disciples for trying to forbid the little children from seeing him and also why he says our faith needs to be like a child’s faith – believing in something we call cute when a child does it and then turning to our adult peers and calling them stupid for believing in such nonsense.

We need to wake up.

I recently attended a Newsboys concert in Huntington and one of the opening bands, Anthem Lights, has a song called “Can’t Shut Up” about not being able to shut up about the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ.

“We’ve got to break the silence; we’ve been quiet for too long,” is one of the verses. And they are absolutely right.

Why is it we stand up and defend America, but we shy away when our faith is attacked?

Why will invite our friends for a drink Saturday night but not to church Sunday morning?

We need to have a response like my son, who couldn’t believe that someone might not have heard that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and forgives us and makes a way to heaven for all eternity.

We need to have that childlike faith and desire to want the people in our lives to know this truth and not be ashamed to tell them how Jesus has changed our lives.

You are part of God's ministry

When you hear the word ministry, the first thoughts that come to mind are your pastor, worship leader and maybe your elders.

What about you? Are you in the ministry?

Scripture says you are. If you have called upon Jesus to be your savior, then He has called on you to a part of the ministry.

In 1 Peter 4:10, the apostle reminds followers of Jesus that “each us you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

He says if any of us speak, we should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. And when we serve, we should do so with the strength that God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

In the two preceding verses, Peter says we do this because we are to love one another deeply and offer hospitality without grumbling.

When you share the gospel with someone, when you pray with someone or when you show compassion on someone, and do so in the name of Jesus, you are doing ministry.

In Luke 10, Jesus sends out an appointed 72, two by two, because the “harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”

It’s easy for us to say they were active participants in the ministry. But they were really no different than us, even the apostles, because at this point, it’s still very early in Jesus’ ministry.

Remember, you don’t have to have some theology degree or have gone to Bible college to be part of the ministry. If you’ve trusted Jesus as your savior, for the forgiveness of your sins, you are part of His ministry.

God has given you certain gifts, whether it is writing a blog or writing music or simply having people into your home.

If you aren’t sure where your spiritual gifts are, there are plenty of assessments available online. One good one that I found is Gifted2Serve at http://buildingchurch.net/g2s.htm.

It has 125 questions, but it can help you narrow down what areas of ministry you can best serve. Maybe that will be taking care of young children at church. Maybe you will find your strengths are in praying for people or maybe you’ll find that God has gifted you with the ability to walk up to complete strangers and start a conversation about Jesus.

Pray about the ministry God would have you be a part of and use tools like a spiritual gift assessment or simply talking with friends or your pastor about what strengths they see in you.

Remember, we don’t know how much time we have on this earth. Our personal ministry may last 50 years or we may only have five minutes.

Live so that the Lord will one day say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”