An individual incessantly rings a bell while donning a Santa hat at the front of the grocery store or local super center. A non-profit representative plays a slide show displaying photos of large-eyed international children at your church or community event.
Sound familiar?
The weeks surrounding Christmas spur an onslaught of opportunities to give to others. It’s no secret charities around the world recognize the generous spirit that typically transforms individuals’ attitudes during the holidays, and in response, call for monetary support to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless. Local entities seek help for passing out meals to the less fortunate or purchasing Christmas gifts for families who can’t afford to buy their own. My family was on the receiving end of such generosity one Christmas when I was little. To this day opening gifts from “the cousins” is one of my fondest holiday memories.
Americans are provided ample opportunities to “do” in kind-hearted fashion. Yet I’m not certain our efforts are always sincere. Guilt provoked by a begging, ringing bell or by the image of a large-eyed child can drive us to reach into our pockets or extend our services for a once- or twice-in-a-lifetime offering. These actions are welcomed and appreciated by those on the receiving end, and I’m sure many groups, as well as individuals, benefit from such emotional, spur-of-the-moment responses.
Yet I can’t help but think of how shallow such actions may be, and how believers can be rather fake in living out what they claim to believe.
Jesus called us to many actions during his time on Earth. Critical as they all are, I’d like to highlight one in particular: “Go therefore and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19 ESV).
Actions are crucial to living out the Christian faith. “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26 NIV). Ernest Goodman writes, “… followers of Jesus will constantly be frustrated spiritually until they get on mission. You’re not a real Christian unless you’re a going Christian.”
Go, do, give, be active. Yet deeds without faith is shallow, empty, hollow of truth. Goodman writes about the importance of shifting from a focus on doing to being. Similar to what Paul says we become when we speak words void of genuine love, without true faith at the core of our actions, we are only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1 NIV). If we just do, we’re not getting the point.
I honestly didn’t understand the shift of mentality between Americans and Europeans, between the idea of doing and being, until I experienced it for myself in the daily aspects of different cultures. In the United States, generally we are time-sensitive and have great expectations of schedules being honored. If an event is advertised to begin at a certain hour, we assume it to do just that. Meals usually are a quick activity, rarely shared over a table in the rush of everyday life. We eat in our cars, on the bus, at the counter. Yet in Europe dining is an experience that typically lasts hours at a time. A group will reserve a table at a restaurant for the entire evening. Even if they plan to come in later in the day, that table is theirs–if someone else sat in it a few hours earlier, they might not be gone by the time the group with the reservation arrives.
Let me be clear. Please, I encourage you, give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, to other missions offerings, charities and homeless shelters. Volunteer time at the local pregnancy center and shovel someone’s sidewalk, but don’t stop there. Don’t even start there.
Start by seeking how God wants you involved in taking His truth to the nations. It may involve sharing within your circles of relationships–friends, family, coworkers, teammates–but then it may branch into something bigger than you ever could have imagined. That’s our God–He’s one to always blow us away. Yet we can’t experience him doing that in our own lives until we set aside our own desires and truly focus on being His.
The Great Commission isn’t effectively accomplished by people who find fulfillment in being active–it’s tackled by those who have surrendered everything to Christ through a personal relationship with Him. This command does not belong to large missionary-sending organizations, but to individuals, you and me.
While working through the “Experiencing God” workbook by Henry & Richard Blackaby and Claude King, I read a statement by George Muller, minister in England during 19th century, about how he entered time with God in prayer. (quote) “I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter.” This statement has stuck with me since I first read it. It’s genius. What freedom exists in releasing everything to the Lord and following his lead.
This is what the Great Commission is about.
Written by Natalie Kaspar. Natalie is a freelance writer for The Upstream Collective and lives in Texas. She served as a missionary writer based out of Prague, Czech Republic, from 2007-2009, and plans to return to full-time international mission work in a few years.
