This week our mission team is returning from Senegal, Africa! Leading up to their trip we have been raising money, praying for, and focusing on missions in Awana. During our month-long emphasis a child asked this question, “Why do we tell people about Jesus if they already have their own religion?” This was a huge question from such a little person! This was a fantastic question as it reminds us of the why behind our missions across the seas and across the street. Many in the world ask Christians the same question. They say mind your own business and let people live their own lives, but because we love those people and our savior, we cannot be silent. Why can we not be silent? We cannot be silent for many reasons, but there are two simple ones we must cling to. They are because he is the only hope for all of humanity and Christ commands us not to be silent.
Did you know that there are over 10,000 religions in the world? What is also remarkable is that all throughout history there has been some sort of religion. This is because humans were designed for a relationship with God and therefore every human who has ever existed has searched for a way to know God. People all over the world and all throughout history have tried to find a way to God and therefore we now have literally thousands of options, but there is one problem, every option made by man will not work. They will not work because they are all based on mankind doing enough to earn his way back to God, which is a hopeless task given our sinfulness and the standard God has set (Romans 3:23). Humanity has a serious problem, but thankfully God has a solution.
As you well know God was not thwarted by our sin and rebellion. No, he had a plan from eternity past and it involved his son, God in the flesh, being sent to this earth to live a perfect life, die the death we deserve and resurrect from the grave. Jesus tells us in John 14:6, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Out of the 10,000 religions in the world, Jesus is the only way to a right relationship with God. This is not meant to be narrow minded; it is simply biblical truth based off God’s own lips! So why would we tell someone about Jesus even if they already have their own religion? We tell them because we love them, we want them to know the truth and we want them to be right with God. Since Jesus is the only way, we must tell them!
We are compelled to share Jesus with those who do not know him because we love them, but also because Christ commands us to. In Matthew 28:18-20 we read what we know as the Great Commission: “Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Because Jesus loves the lost, he commands us, his people, to go and tell them the good news of the gospel. This is not a great suggestion, but a great commandment! Christian it is our calling, mission, and duty to tell others about Jesus!
We go tell others about Jesus because he is the only way and because he commands us to. The underlying motive in both reasons is love for the lost. Love from God and from us. Do you love people enough to tell them how they can be saved from their sins? Are you willing to go tell
others about Jesus? Would you be willing to go on the next mission trip to tell people in Senegal about Jesus? What about going across the street to your neighbor or a friend? Church, if someone told you about Jesus and you received him, you too are called to tell people about Jesus. Could you imagine if someone did not love you enough to tell you how you could be made right with God through Christ? Let us commit to telling those around us, from our next-door neighbor to those in Africa, about Jesus! Let us also commit to praying for the work Dr. Mike, Ross, Al, and Joshua Proctor did to tell the people of Senegal about Jesus. By the time you read this they will be home but continue to pray that God will work through the seeds they planted!