"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
That is the great commission. To go into all nations and share the love that Jesus Christ has for you, (and me and everybody else). It's abounding, overflowing, un-ending, un-comprehensible and all the other synonyms I can think of for that. It comes from relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They created us so that they could love us; and we love because they first loved us! (1 John 4:19.)
So, we are made in the image of God, so we must share that love in the same way that He loved us.
So, why should we leave? There's plenty that could be done for the kingdom in your own neighborhood. So here's why you should leave.
"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9
We tend to be comfortable in the places we are from. We go out to minister and we end up chilling and never getting anything done! We think, “I'll be here forever so I'll just get it done tomorrow.” NO! The Kingdom is at hand! DO IT NOW! God gave you your mission! Let's go!
Did you know that in other parts of the world people don't kill each other over clothes the day after Thanksgiving? Did you know that people don't always pay $10 for a cup of coffee? Honestly, I had forgotten. When you have lived in the same place all of your life it is easy to forget what life is like for other people around the world. When you step into new territory the societal issues of that culture are more easily identified because they are different than that of your own culture. At that point you can come up with scriptural ways to reveal that to them in practical ways.
If people know you it can end up being a situation where everyone thinks it's cute that little (Your name here) wants to show everybody about Jesus. You can become rejected because people have so many memories of/with you. We can see that this happened in the life of Jesus in the Bible it says "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?" Matthew 13:55. That same thing can happen in your own city, people know who you are and because of that do not listen to message that you are trying to share.
For example, for my YWAM DTS outreach I'm going to the Philippines. To the Filipino people, foreigners are interesting especially tall, white, blond guys like me. Due to the fact I am different, the people will be intrigued to talk to me. They want to know why a guy would fly to the other side of the world, and I can't wait to tell them because Jesus loves them.
In Matthew 13 it says "And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." Even Jesus was not as well accepted in His home town and His words had more impact in other cities outside of His home town. Having believers from all around the world testifies to how God is always consistent and never changing. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. As Believers we have the responsibilty to share the Good News with every tribe and tongue.
So go! Preach the gospel to other nations! Find the place that God has called you to and JUST GO!
FEEL LIKE YOU'RE NOT READY TO BECOME A MISSIONARY?... YOU MAY NOT BE.