Words

I once heard someone say that every Christ follower is a missionary or a mission field.  And when you cease to become a missionary – that is, a functioning ambassador for Christ – you become someone else’s mission field.  Whether that’s true or not, one thing is certain: every believer has been given the mandate to impact other lives positively for a living Christ and His gospel.

Yes, that means you, even though you most likely don’t consider yourself a missionary in the classic sense of the word.  But I want to remind you that you quite likely stand on the spiritual shoulders of a first-century Apostle who had this to say:

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

This man dedicated his life to sharing a message of hope, grace and forgiveness for one purpose:  winning.  But not winning in the sense of producing a gaggle of losers in his wake.  No, he said winning meant that those who heard his message became fellow partakers of the good news.  That meant an ongoing relationship.  And when you read the letters Paul wrote, you see that he did that very thing… he kept “partaking” in the gospel with them… showing them its implications, giving and receiving its encouragements.

So what about you?  Who are the potential “fellow partakers” in your world?  Who are the people you are uniquely positioned to influence?

Before you give me that “aw shucks” kick in the dirt or your eyes glass over, let me show you three ways to answer that question.  Answer these three questions and you’ll find three fields of influence in your life: [click to continue…]

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