Stepping Off of the Church Steps

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." Mark 10:21

 

Oftentimes this familiar sentence from Mark’s gospel stirs up conversation focused around outreach, humbleness and worldly possessions. While that is a significant topic to focus our attention, only one word spoke to me this time around. The entirety of the church’s mission to propagate the Gospel of Jesus Christ is summed up in a two-letter word that we perpetually gloss over: go.

 

We spend a great deal of our time talking about how we as believers can form disciples and learn how to follow Christ in our own life, but how often are we challenged with the call to “go”. Just like the man in this passage, who had become comfortable following the commandments, we also become too content with what rituals and rules we need to follow. Jesus is transforming the way that we should view a life of laying down our possessions and desires to carry His cross. As fellow believers Jesus guides us away from the enslavement of commandments and into the freedom of going out.

 

As fellow youth ministers my encouragement for all of us is to go. Leave the office. Walk away from the MacBook and coffee. Step off of the church steps and into the schools for lunch. Join your youth for breakfast at a doughnut shop before school. Ask them how they are doing other than at the beginning of youth group. It’s time for us to leave the confines of what we are comfortable with and reach beyond the walls of the church building. The moment that we move out we learn what it truly means to radically form disciples and follow Christ. Let’s challenge ourselves and go.