As a kid I waffled back and forth between wanting to be Superman or Spiderman. Often my childhood home was bombarded by notorious villains that could only be defeated by either my man-of-steel strength or my spider-like agility and web-slinging ability. After all, who does not want to be strong like steel, fast like lightning, and fly like a fighter jet? Or who would not want to scale the tallest buildings using your hands and feet and sling webs across the sky? Let’s face it, every little kid desires to have extraordinary powers and do remarkable feats. For that matter, so does every adult. But most of us feel as if that’s just out of our range.
Perhaps this mindset is why we often view the Christian life as the haves and have-nots—those who are extraordinary and those who are, well . . . not. Most Christians see themselves with the have-nots—those who do not have superhero Christian abilities. But what if I were to say that living the Christian life is not about having extraordinary superhero abilities, but simply living faithful to the Lord and his mission?
Christians are not called to be superheroes, but they are called to be faithful disciple-makers. Before Jesus’s death, he shares with his disciples the parable of the talents which is a story not about how much you have, but about what you do with what you have (Matt 25:14-30). God’s concern for each believer is that they are faithful to live God’s purpose with the one life they have been given. The last words Jesus delivers to his disciples before he ascends to heaven is his marching orders for every believer. Make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:16-20). The rest of the New Testament reveals how Jesus’s disciples faithfully live out this command.
While not every Christian will carry out this directive in the same way, every Christian is given this same task—make disciples. Each believer and each local church have a role in Jesus’s overall mission of making disciples of all nations, and no superheroes are needed. Being sent by Jesus on mission for him means that each believer through their local church lives to make Jesus known locally and globally. How this looks from person to person and church to church will vary, but the mission is the same.
Jesus is not looking for extraordinary people for his mission. Just faithful people. To help Kentucky Baptists faithfully make disciples of Jesus a new 6-week study entitled Great Commission Pipeline is designed for small groups within the church. The aim of this study is to explore and discover how each church member has a unique role to play in fulfilling the Great Commission. The great news is Jesus does not look for superheroes for his mission. He calls people like you and me—ordinary people seeking to live faithful lives by making disciples of Jesus. For more information about the Great Commission Pipeline study, visit www.kybaptist.org/gcp.
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