Missions in the Eyes of a Child

"Have you ever been on a mission?" I asked the class of elementary students, and their hands shot up in the air. 

"A space mission!" 

"A spy mission!" 

And several other answers that go right along with all of our childhood imaginations. 

"What does it mean to be on a mission?" I inquired next, and hands shot up into the air again as they gave their best answers.

"To have a goal."

"Something to accomplish." 

"Something you will do everything you can to achieve." 

I smiled at their responses and continued, "What if I told you that God is on a mission? Because he is! Can you believe that?" I picked up my Bible and explained, "This book is the story of God's mission in the world since the beginning of time. It's one long, cotinuous story, and it all comes to a conclusion at the end in Revelation." Everyone turned to Revelation 7:9-11 and we read. 

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.

"This verse gives us a hint to what God's mission is. Did you hear it? Lean in closely and I will tell you!" 

At that moment the kids didn't just lean in close, they climbed off the bleachers and crawled right up to my feet with their big eyes, inquisitive minds, and curious hearts. Because if God is on a mission, you don't want to miss out on the secret to what that mission is. 

"God wants to gather a huge crowd of people to worship him from every nation, tribe, people, and language!" I grabbed the globe that I used to show the kids where Burkina Faso is, and I spun it all around. "This mission is not accomplished yet because there are still nations and people that have not heard the good news about Jesus. But guess what? God has invited us to be a part of his mission and to help spread the good news about Jesus all over the world." 

I let the children go back to their seats and then told them something that I hope plants a seed deep in their hearts, the same seed that was planted in my 10-year-old heart when I sat in the very same bleachers and heard visiting missionaries come and speak. When I was their age, I was fascinated by the adventurous life of a missionary in a third world country, and I wanted to be one so I could be an adventurer and world traveler. But I wanted these children to know that missions is about so much more than learning a new language, eating weird food, and seeing wild animals. It's about more than adventure. 

"I'm not the only one in this room that's a missionary," I said, and they started to look around like who else is here? 

"You are." I pointed at a little boy on the front row. "You are." The girl at the back. "You are all missionaries. A missionary isn't someone who goes to Africa. A missionary is someone who is on mission with God, someone who wants the world to know about Jesus and believe in him. So you don't have to go to Africa to do that. You can do it right here where you are. At your house, in your neighborhood, in your school, at your piano lesson, and at your soccer practice. There are people who haven't really heard about Jesus, and you can be the one to share him with them." 

The great commission commands believers (not just missionaries) to go into the world and make disciples. It's not a special call for a select few, but a mission that we are all invited to be a part of. 

I share the same message with you because sometimes we just need to hear it with the faith of a child. If our God is on a mission, don't you want to be a part of that mission with him? He invites us all; he calls and commands us all. It's not a burden to bear or something else to add to your to do list or something you have to worry about doing incorrectly or poorly. It's a mission that you don't want to miss! And it's way better than any spy mission or space mission or mission impossible that we could ever come up with. It's just sharing Jesus, our greatest treasure, who he is and what he has done. 

You are a missionary - yes, I am pointing at you - right where you are in your corner of the world, in the domain that God has entrusted to you. There are people around you who don't really know him yet, and God will use you show them how. 

Because remember - in the end, God wants with all his heart to have a huge crowd of worshippers from every tongue, tribe, people, and language. Every single one. People from among the Dagara, Moore, Fulani, Indians, Canadians, Americans, and the people right here in Little Rock. He's on a mission, he will do everything he can to accomplish it, and he won't stop until he has finished it. 

I'll make a deal with you: I will go share Jesus with people in Africa if you will stay right here and do the same thing. Deal? Deal.