Missionaries and Marketing Assistants

Ever just straight up see something differently from someone else? Like not even opinions but like looking at the clouds with a friend and one of you sees a baby and the other sees an Octopus? Walking with Jesus is the adventure of a lifetime. But oddly enough, every single person who does it sees it differently. Just like you see a baby and your bro sees an octopus we all tend to see our journey with Jesus a bit differently. John Bunyan saw it as a pilgrimage. I tend to see it as a hike. A lot of uphill, downhill, gorgeous views, sunshine, and rain. But I see it like that because I hike. What I’m trying to communicate is God made us with our vastly different personalities. He knew what was happening when we grew up and learned the habits we did. He planned it, he created us with variety, because of that we can know that following Jesus looks different with different people.

Hopefully, this last statement raised some red flags. I am not saying that the qualifications for salvation vary. They will always be repent and Believe, Just as paying for your house, it is a requirement. But there is more than one way to pay for a house. You can rent, lease, buy straight up, or take out a loan. Regardless of how you do it though you still have to pay for it. That is the other side of this analogy. If you do not pay for the house, you don’t get the house. It’s as simple as that. There are lots of ways to pay for it but when it all boils down to it you must pay. This parallels what I have been saying about the Christian walk. We all see it and walk it a different way. But the bottom line is we still must pay. Our walk is hard, we are actually guaranteed persecution. But if our life is bearing the fruit of the spirt. And we are progressing to be more and more like Jesus we're set. Now I know that I have been using a lot of analogies. I’ve covered clouds, hiking, and real estate, and shapes at this point but there’s more.

Take Corrie ten Boon and C.S. Lewis. Both Christians, both repenting and believing, both bearing fruit, and growing to be more like Jesus. But just look at their lives! Corrie hid Jews in her house, she spent time in a concentration camp, she then came out and continued to help the Jews.

Lewis on the other hand spent his life writing, bringing many to Christ by the power of his pen. Their lives are drastically different. But their purpose is shockingly similar. The lesson my dad taught me is that “It's not about who you're going to be. It's about how Christ can use you there.” As long as everything you do is about Jesus your set. Jesus needs painters just as much as he needs pastors. He needs doctors and deacons. He wants both Missionaries and Marketing assistants. Next week we will be looking at the practical application of this, but for now remember that God put us in the specific situation we are in, with the personality and tendencies we’ve got, for a reason. He needs a servant there.