"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation'" (Mark 16:15).
This statement has gripped my heart since the day I first read it. It wasn't a suggestion or a "food for thought" type of comment. It was a command to go and love the world like He did to the best of our abilities and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet.
This is one of the last things that Jesus proclaimed to His disciples before ascending back into heaven. With that being said, I put a lot of weight on that simple and beautiful command. A lot of times, when we are leaving the house to go somewhere, we remind our loved ones at home to remember to do something we previously shared with them. "Don't forget to wash the dishes," we remind our kids, on the way out the door. This is what I think of when I read this, but with much more urgency and importance. Jesus reminds His disciples of something He had already been showing them through His actions. It's almost like His sign off with one of the most important thing He wants us to remember and keep close before His return back to earth. No pressure, right? I think the pressure may be a little higher than washing the dishes before mom gets home.
What happens when your neighbor doesn't receive the gospel? Maybe they even reject you and mock you for believing it. Do it anyways. I used to let negative responses get me down until one day I realized that I may never see the impact that I could have made on that person. You see, even if I don't see the harvest or the end result of sharing the gospel with someone, I was still a part of the process. I may have only planted a small seed in someones life or stirred up hope, but eventually someone else will come along and water that seed with a refreshing word about Jesus. After that, someone will come along, reap the harvest and see that persons life completely transformed by the cross of Jesus Christ! Sometimes you will reap the harvest of your labor and other times, you won't.
"For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored and you have benefited from their labor" (John 4:37, 38).
With that being said, never be discouraged when God puts someone in your path that you get to be a light to, even if they respond differently than you're anticipating. Be encouraged, you have been a little glimpse of Jesus in someones life! You played a part in leading them to the cross. They don't just want to hear the Gospel, they want to see it in your life. Don't lose hope! You never know the impact you are making. You never know who might be seeing Jesus for the first time through you. Love is the goal. Be love, be light and be sincere. Sometimes you will plant, sometimes you will water and sometimes you will reap. Each step is just as important, and each step shows the love and heart of the Father beckoning His children to come to Him.
The Great Commission is truly for everyone, not just foreign missionaries. "Go into all of the world..." That doesn't mean you have to go out of arms length to spread the good news, it just means you need to spread it wherever you are. Whether you are in China or in the United States, the Great Commission applies to you. Don't wait until you are in a different country to be a missionary. Be one wherever God leads you!
People are not tasks and it's not about the numbers or how many people we can say that we brought to salvation. At the end of the day, Jesus is the only author of salvation and we should be honored to be a part of that process, even if we don't see the full harvest. Spreading the gospel isn't about making you look better, it's about making Jesus known throughout the earth.
Whether you plant, water or reap, you are making an impact for Christ. This is the Great Commission. This is the cry of the Father for all of His children.
