Most every year I travel to New York City on a mission trip as part of an ongoing partnership with a church plant located in Long Island City. Each trip is filled with miles of walking, various service activities, and gospel conversations with strangers on the streets and in local parks.
A challenge of this experience is also traveling with others and pushing them out of their comfort zones. I reflect on a few specific encounters where the individual who graciously gave of their time to engage in discussion was clearly well educated and adamantly opposed to the Gospel. Those conversations can be humbling and expose our need to more intensely study apologetics. In fact, this is what Dare 2 Share ministries calls graduating from P.U., Persecution University. It has been wonderful to engage in meaningful conversations with individuals while also risking rejection of the message of hope that is found in Christ.
This reminds me of Moses’ reaction to the final message of the plague of death being foretold to Pharaoh in Exodus 11. Even while Moses knew what would happen, he left in anger. His reaction is understandable as he knew his family would experience great pain and loss. Out of love, he desired them to repent. An emotional response to the rejection of Jesus is heavy and motivating.
While I am not encouraging you to walk about in anger, I do challenge you to bear the weight of eternity as you view your family and friends through the lens of what God has promised. Jesus is returning and we are on this earth to be His hands and feet as we deliver the message of hope to the world.
We will likely experience rejection but we must remain faithful to speak the truth in love and carry hope to the world. We use that verbiage at Calvary every week. In fact, “carrying hope” is one of our core values. While it may begin with acts of kindness and meeting physical needs around us, we must commit to engaging in conversation and speaking the name of Jesus for the purpose of leading others to the hope of glory. If we can help you feel better equipped to have these conversations don’t hesitate to reach out, or if you want to join us on our October trip to New York City just let us know.