On East Asia vs. LaGrange

As you read in yesterday's blog, I am officially going to East Asia in July on a mission trip. I can't wait. I wish I could go tomorrow. I'm just really excited about this opportunity.

However, as I was driving down the road today, thinking of my upcoming trip, I realized something. I'm so excited about going to the other side of the world to reach people for Christ, but how passionate am I about reaching the people that are around me?

Yes, it's good for me to get excited about East Asia. After all, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's not costing me hardly anything. I get the firsthand chance to literally make disciples of other nations by stepping foot in another country. I get to preach the Gospel to people that may never have even heard the name of Jesus before. All, those things are great.

BUT, I can do the same thing here. We get the chance of a lifetime here to share the Gospel. God has blessed us with the freedom, gifts, and resources to share his name and glory to all kinds of people around us. It doesn't cost us much at all to share the Gospel here in America (despite the alarmingly large church budgets that we see nowadays). We get to preach Jesus to people that have never really heard the truth about him--yes, even here in America. And, we can make disciples of all nations here by reaching people of other people groups than our own and equipping people to take the Gospel around the world.

Why don't we get excited about that? We get the opportunity to share Jesus every day, and we don't do it!

Right before he ascended back into heaven, Jesus instructed his disciples to reach the people in their own city before they went off to other nations. We are just as responsible, if not more so, for reaching our immediate area than we are on the other side of the world.

Please don't get me wrong, I am very passionate about sharing Jesus around the world. We are ALL called to do this. But, we are also called to make disciples here.

I can't wait for East Asia, and that is good. However, I need to be just as passionate about reaching LaGrange, Ga.