by Dave Miller
The remaining hearts yet to hear the gospel is simply overwhelming IF considered as an individual responsibility. Clearly the work needs focused leaders and teams and millions of them. Insert tension here. As the Clash would say, “should I stay or should I go?”
The decision seems to be an easy one… go of course! We even make logos out of the word and add an exclamation point in all kinds of fonts. GO!
We preach sermons, make videos, build orgs, have conferences, write books, compile stats, train, endlessly remind everyone of the gospel work that remains, and even write blogs. And to put it bluntly, we should. I agree this prophetic message to a settled church is appropriate. So shouldn’t that settle the tension? Shouldn’t the question be answered? Everyone should go to a place where the gospel isn’t.
The reality is twofold, however.
1. That is not going to happen.
2. If it did, we would lose the local ownership thrust of the work.
So how do we both go and stay in order to see new gospel seeds sown and consistent gospel seeds sown? How do we use the context of consistent gospeling out of established local churches to impact contexts that need new gospeling work and churches established? I’ll make the question even more pointed, should YOU stay or should YOU go?
The irony of the question: no matter what, you will need to stay somewhere after you go somewhere. So here is the truth, local ownership that multiplies leaders through churches is the answer. All the way down to the personal question for you: Are you moving towards leadership, where you are right now, in the work of making disciples and training others to do the same?
In our work here in Oklahoma City we use the term CFC to describe this concept. In which segment are you committed, focused, and consistent in your disciple making?
The segment can be a choice out of many many options wherever you are. For those with a specific people group focus it could be North African Arabic speaking Muslims, or maybe Kurds, or maybe Eritreans. The options are only limited by your location’s needs and opportunities. For others the focus can be anyone where they live, work, and play. Some may have a specific direction from the Lord that requires a geographic relocation or a trip across their city, for others, there may simply be a biblical obedience to follow Jesus and fish for men where they find people breathing in their routine.
The point: regardless of the WHERE, the call is the same, know Jesus and make Him known. Commitment, Focus, and Consistency (CFC) to that call means effective, fruitful obedience.
So there will be times when making disciples will require that I “go” somewhere else, but the vast majority of the time I will be where I “stay” and having a CFC in that WHERE is just as important as any work I do “going” somewhere else.
But the tension still exists.
If I stay, there will be those who will not hear where I am not. But please consider this before we start skipping from place to place, you cannot be here and be there. If you go there, your gospeling will cease here. If you stay here, your gospeling won’t exist there. So what is the answer?
Well, it isn’t you.
The answer is the harvest. Disciples made and trained to lead within churches, new and established, who become local owners capable of multiplying the gospel wherever they stay or go.
Take people WITH you in your, and from your, CFC to train and multiply leaders. You can’t stay and go everywhere, but “we” can stay and go to a whole lot more places than “me”. In this way we can stay and we can go.