Editor’s note: For the month of May, we are focusing on “Influencing the World”. In Mark 16:15 Jesus says to “Go into the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” One of the core beliefs of our church is that “The Church is meant to be the visible body of Christ, sent into the world to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.” We pray that you will be encouraged to go out into your world to make His way known.
The sacred-secular divide is the pervasive belief that some things are really important to God, and that other things aren’t. This way of viewing the world isn’t Biblical, but it is deeply imbedded in our culture. So, while most of us would say that God cares about all aspects of our lives, the way we think and talk about our lives often reveals something different about our beliefs. Many times, we don’t even realize that we’ve bought into this sacred-secular divide. I’ll give you an example. I often hear people talk about their ministry as the 1 or 2 hours they spend in a week volunteering at a soup kitchen, leading a small group, or teaching Sunday School. While these few hours are undoubtedly important, they never mention the 40+ hours a week they spend teaching junior high students, working at a factory, or parenting their children. In our churches, we regularly have special commissioning prayers for ministry teams going abroad, Sunday school teachers, or small group leader, but we rarely think of praying over parents, farmers, bankers, high school students, or teachers specifically as commissioned to glorify God through their vocational roles. The average person will spend 90,000 hours working in their lifetime. I’m willing to bet that those hours matter to God. In fact, as believers, every aspect of our lives is not only important to God, but is an opportunity to impact the world for the sake of the Kingdom of God and to bring glory to Jesus.
My husband and I live in South Asia where we run a small textile company. We produce pillows, tea towels, bath robes, and other home goods for wholesale and retail in the US. At first glance, pillow stuffing and cotton material might seem spiritually insignificant, but we’ve learned that God can be glorified in so many beautiful ways when we view our work as an act of worship and an opportunity to influence those around us for His name.
When we opened our business in 2015, we started with the recognition that this work was sacred ground, deeply valued by God. So, we began by offering prayer for our business and for our employees, who were all from Hindu or Muslim families. Prayers offered turned into prayers answered, and soon Hindus and Muslims wanted to know more about the Jesus who was showing up in such amazing ways. This desire to know more opened the door for us to begin studying the Word twice a week with truth seeking employees. And searching the Word led to obedience to and new faith in the Word become flesh! Just this week, one of our believing employees from a Hindu family took her struggling neighbor to the house of another believing employee who is from a Muslim background so that they could pray for the neighbor in Jesus’ name together. This is the Kingdom of God at work! It starts as small as a mustard seed, just a simple recognition that the mundane moments of our lives are sacred and can bring God glory. And soon, it grows into a big tree where people can come enjoy shade and find rest in God (Mark 4:30-32).
For those of us looking to influence the world, I suggest we start right where we are, with the simple recognition that every moment is an opportunity to impact those around us for Jesus’ sake. What would it look like if we woke up every morning asking God to guide each day? What if, daily, we offered to pray for a customer, school friend, employee, or neighbor? What if we viewed parenting as the most incredible discipleship program that we could ever have the honor of leading? What if we thought about how our work could become less about personal profit and more about Kingdom generosity? What if we invited the people we see on a regular basis to search God’s Word with us over a cup of coffee? To make a Kingdom influence, all we need is a mustard seed! What small steps can you take this week to impact those around you?
Connecting:
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“Because of increasing hostility towards followers of Jesus where we live, we can’t have our names associate with mission work online.” Please pray for this missionary couple as they follow their calling to go out into the world and preach the gospel.
Women's Ministry 