GO

One of the central components of the radical experiment is to GO. To leave our context, even if it's for a short time, and to GO somewhere, preferably to another country. I've heard this shoved down my throat ever since the early days of Sunday School: "GO therefore, and make disciples of ALL nations..." And countless ambitious Christians have guilted countless younger Christians into believing that "good" Christians GO...leaving their belongings, their families, and their countries to pursue the heathen in foreign missions.

Certainly it has been the cry of my heart since I was a child. GO. I don't like America very much, and I have been attracted to other cultures since I was young. When I was in only third grade, I would announce to anyone who would listen that I wanted to be a missionary to Africa when I grew up.

Not much has changed. I can't stand this American obsession with our knowledge, our stuff, and ourselves. I can't stand the heart-attitudes of our culture or the lukewarm nature of our Church. I WANT to GO. It isn't even just about being the "good Christian" or "being willing to give up everything for Him." I WANT to GO. I can't wait to GO.

So, this lines up, right? God called us to go into all nations. I can't wait to get out of here. I should just leave, right?

WRONG. Because when it comes right down to it, God has prepared each one of us for our own good works. He knit us together when we were still in our mothers' wombs, and He has spent our entire lives calling us and preparing us for His plans for us. And He has already laid the foundation for the good works He wants us to do: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Eph 2:10, NASB). He knows what He wants each of us to do, and He calls us each uniquely.

And you will notice in scripture that while He gave His 11 the command to GO, they didn't all go to the same place. They didn't all start running off to save the heathen in foreign missions. Sure, some of them did. But what about Peter? Did Peter GO? 

Maybe he did, but it wasn't to the heathen in foreign missions. You see, when Christ called Peter, He called him the "rock" upon which He would build His church. Peter was called to GO, yes, but he was called to go build the church. He was called to GO...to the circumcised. 

We all take this for granted, but think about it. Peter had been instructed by His Lord to "GO into ALL nations." He had been told that he would be the foundation of the Church. And yet it was not to those "heathen" uncircumcised" that he was sent. "...I (Paul) had been entrusted with the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been the circumcised, for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Jews" (Galatians 2:7-8). While Paul was called as a missionary, Peter was called to the religious leaders of the day. He built the Church by going to the "church" and preaching the good news to those who thought they already knew it. Sound familiar?

When you think about it, this is the way that God has chosen to use His people. As a body. We all receive different gifts. We are all given different ministries. And yes, we are all told to GO. But we are NOT all told to go into foreign nations. Sometimes leaving our comfort zone and putting everything on the line for God happens HERE, right where He placed us in the first place. 

I've always felt a strange connection to Peter. I admire Him for how real He is with Jesus and for how deeply He seems to love Him. I also sympathize with him on the faith issue. I am totally the person who has the incredible faith to start walking across the water...and I am also the person who starts sinking a few moments later. I'm the person who will live and breathe and die for Christ...and I'm also the sort of person who might deny Him in moments of absolute doubt or fear. Like Peter, God has given me mountain-moving faith to accomplish great things for His Kingdom. And like Peter, my own flesh and logic interferes far too often, and I find myself sinking every time I take my eyes off of my Lord. 

I now see this even greater connection to Peter. Because, like Peter, I believe that God is calling me to GO. But I no longer see this happening on the foreign missions field. I believe that God is calling me to GO to America, to the cities, to the church. I believe that God is calling me to live for Him and to die for Him, but to do it HERE. Like Peter, I believe that God is calling me to the religious people of my day. I believe He is calling me to help build the Church by going to the "church" and preaching the good news to those who think they already know it.  

All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who knows me so intimately, loves me so deeply, has called me so specifically, and has gifted me so uniquely. I have so much to learn about when, and where, and how to GO. But I no longer doubt that in fulfilling His unique purposes for me, I will be GOing, just the way He commanded me.

~Sarah~