MY CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGE

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations”; Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” These are the last words Jesus spoke to his disciples, and they “went everywhere preaching the Word.” Paul wrote, ‘Yes, verily their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world” (Romans 10:18). Paul later wrote concerning the gospel “which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven” (Colossians 1:22).

Those words fall on our hearts today as every second souls depart God’s creation without knowledge of God’s Son. Even with the great abundance of Bibles and Biblical literature, the world is facing an epidemic of Biblical illiteracy and ignorance of God. We must be honest with ourselves and with the Lord. Are we taking the great commission seriously? We have traditionally given much attention to our Sunday worship and to pulpit preaching. Our Sunday assembly should be the highlight of our service. The first day of the week is given special attention throughout the New Testament as the time for giving (1 Corinthians 16:2), the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7), and encouragement (Heb. 10:24-25). However, praise and preaching should be the culmination of our week’s work and not the entirety of it.

We have often engaged in the practice of inviting friends to worship. However, we must excell beyond this. Invitations are good, but we are commanded to teach. How many would be willing to learn if their empty stomachs were fed? How many would be willing to listen to the Word if we first listened to them? How many would want to be a part of our church family, if we provided family relationships they had never known in their own home?

Our own hearts must first be converted if we are to convert the hearts of the world. The Samaritan woman in John 4 was overwhelmed with Christ and help bring her entire town to him (John 4:29, 39-42). When the demoniac was healed, Jesus instructed him to “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and all the men marveled” (Mark 5:19-20). This man was grateful and spread the gospel out of his gratitude.

My Christian privilege is to belong to God. Our hearts must be overwhelmed by Christ in order to overwhelm the world for Christ. Only when we have truly been converted to him, may we begin converting the world for him. My Christian duty is to “preach the Word.”

D. L. DeBord