Salesmen

First of all- I'm currently listening to the new "Man Up" CD by 116 Clique... it's tight. Go listen to it soon, seriously.

I have had the privilege of working for a sending agency over here on the West Coast, sending people to love and serve people in the name of Jesus. A part of my job is to do some "recruiting", getting people to consider living out the Great Commission as a goer (going overseas- not just a sender, prayer warrior, etc). But as I was considering this idea of "recruiting" people to live out globally what Jesus has already commanded us (see: Matthew 28:19-20), a lot of it left a very sour taste in my mouth and heart.

The main issue I have with this is that it appears that we have to become "salesmen", trying to sell people on how 'good' it is to serve the Lord overseas. My question is: shouldn't the 'product' sell itself? Shouldn't the weight of what Jesus did- coming to earth and giving up a million times more than we will ever call 'ours'; humbling Himself that we might have the opportunity to intimately know the Father- compel us to at the very least be willing to give up everything we own to take this good news to the farthest parts of the world where the Name of Jesus isn't even known!? Why does "recruiting" have to be a part of sending people overseas? Shouldn't it be more of what my organization calls itself: a sending agency, where we sift through those who are ready to go now and those who still need to grow before they are ready to go (as desperately as they long to go) so we can give them adequate training?

I found this need for 'recruiting' to be true in college ministry, as well. Consider American Idol- there are hundreds of thousands of people that try out every year for a program where the ultimate prize is 15 minutes of fame as one of the thousands of artists out there. Yes- some 'make it' for a while (see: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood), but most don't (who the heck is Kris Allen? Lee Dewyze?). At JMU in Harrisonburg, VA, we have been blessed with one of the largest IV student orgs in the nation (450+). Yet we had trouble finding 8- yep, 8- guys willing to apply to become small group leaders. It's one thing to have trouble finding 8 competent guys, but 8 guys to even apply?! And some of the eight we had to convince just to apply! What's the deal? One of the options gives, at most, a few record deals that get lost in the masses over time... and at the very most it will be temporary rewards. The other gives us the opportunity to live out the Great Commission and store up treasures for eternity. Why do 100x more people try out for American Idol than apply for small group leading (or ministry positions)?

So again, why should there even be such a thing as "recruiting" for anything ministry related? The simple answer is that I believe we haven't been living out the Great Commission in the recent past, so we're raising up "Christians" who are more concerned with the clothes they wear to church than the fruit (or lack thereof) they wear all the time. If we actually tried to understand the great love that the Father has lavished upon us (1 John 3:1), we would echo Paul in 2 Corinthians 5- "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others... For the love of Christ controls us..." and be controlled by Christ's love to tell the Good News to people all around the world, or pray about it and discern that God wants us to be senders (or both!).

Some of you who read this are probably already involved in some capacity sending people or going overseas yourselves, but please do not just stop there- see how you can influence others to follow the example of Christ: going Himself and sending others! Treasuring Jesus is the ultimate goal, but I believe that the more we treasure Him, the more we will identify with Him, and the more His love will compel us to go and to send.

Please pray for God's glory to be revealed among all tongues, tribes, nations, and peoples as soon as possible. We want to see Jesus high and exalted, as He is intended to be (Philippians 2:10-11)!

Luke