Losing Sight of The Mission Field.

When I was growing up, my mother use to tell me to watch who I hung out with, because those associations wojuld define me in the eyes of others.  Now, I disagreed with her in my youthful ignorance, but she was right. Most of my associations as a young person were not the kind of people you could trust nor want in your home for too long, they'd rob you blind. As I became a believer and my life radically changed, I started hanging out with believers and gained a reputation for being one of "those religious" types and all my non-christian friends went away.  So, now I found myself in a small dilemma. I have the right associations, but lost the mission field. I know there is wisdom in securing your knowledge about the Lord before you engage back into the kind of associations that would lead you back into a lifestyle that is not becomng of a Christian.  However, the problem for many believers is that they lose the heart to engage the associations they are called to reach. They stay connected so tightly to their church group, that they never work the mission field. In other words, they lose sight of the mission field, because they now are learning to grow in the Christian culture. There is never an excuse for losing sight of the mission field, God didn't call us out of the world to place us in a godly museum, but He called us out, to go back in. Period.

In a recent call for prayer by Texas Governor Perry and others, to pray for our country, there were some Chrisitan leaders who wanted to boycott the event because some of the participants were not theologically balanced. This kind of thinking goes back to the idea that we can lose sight of the mission field. Our country is in deep trouble, and we need God's help to reverse it's direction. Praying with believers not cut from our cloth is not compromising the gospel, it is simply asking God to help us all.  Praying is an act of humbling our theology, our perspecitves, our bias' and asking God to be merciful to all of us, sinners, and believers alike. Look at this example, it is a good example of reminding us of the mission field as opposed to a religious regiment.

Luke 18:9-14 The Pharisee and the Tax Collector 9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:  10“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  11The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  12I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Let us be mindful of the Mission Field, and keep it in perspective as we associate with believers and non-belivers alike. God wants His people to love and serve Him, and in so doing He will keep us aware of the mission field around us. Keeping it honest and truthful...K