Mission Week

Naked Christianity: Uncovering the life changing message of Jesus

Warwick CU's mission week starts bright and early tomorrow at 8am with prayer.  It'll be an entire week of extra events aiming to bring the gospel to every student on campus, whether through apologetics over lunch, evening talks on Luke's gospel, text-a-toastie to halls of residence, or Globe café for internationals.

At church today, the question I was most frequently asked was, 'so, are you ready for mission week?'  To which I confidently replied, 'er... well, yes... I think so.'

Ready?  Probably not.  If 'ready' means confident in my ability to share the gospel with other students, then I'm the most unprepared of the lot.  If 'ready' means I have no fear, then I may as well just hide myself in the library and try to forget that mission week is going on.

I'm not ready, neither confident in my ability, nor fearless.  But that actually doesn't matter.  Most of the messengers and prophets sent by God in the OT were quaking in their boots as they spoke and the disciples were intent on hiding from the world like trembling doormice before Pentecost.

But I, like they did, have a mighty God.  He supplies the strength and the courage.

Most of the CU members have had their pictures taken with a board saying, 'Ask me what I'm living for', the aim being to upload them onto Facebook as profile pictures.  Funny then that just the other day I should read in 1 Peter 3 this gem of a passage:

'But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.' (vv.15-16)

My prayer for the CU this week is that we would fulfill this verse, speaking humbly and lovingly with students of their need of Jesus.  Interestingly, this verse quite naturally couples telling others about Jesus with persecution.  That's something I haven't heard much of in CU, and which may shock some when it happens.  So please pray with us that this hope would be uncontainable, but also that when some do 'suffer for doing good', (for what's better than sharing the truth in love?) that they wouldn't be discouraged, but instead again look at Christ as their example in all things.

 Embarrassing...! Here's how the FB pictures look, so check it out! 

'For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit' (1 Peter 3:18)

Like speaking with Jesus

A picture paints a thousand words.  When you're devoid of linguistic ability, you have to rely heavily on gestures, facial and body expression to get the meaning across.  You look foolish as you painfuly attempt to act out the word you don't know or can't remember, something which not even your Grandma could guess in a game of Christmas charades.


Moses complained that his speech was not eloquent enough to address a Pharoah, yet God still sent him to Egypt to be His agent in freeing the Hebrew slaves.  The Corinthian church was exorted not to be fooled into thinking that cleverly-crafted sentences were what made the gospel into spiritual dynamite.  Paul came trembling and stuttering his words and still hearts were melted.

Is not our faith shown in our works?  Why then do we mistake it all too often for our words?  We proclaim Christ as Lord and Saviour and by professing our belief we are saved as this is an outward statement of an inward change (Romans 10:9).  But if words were the only means by which a heart were turned to God and a Christian transformed more into the likeness of Christ, then most of us would be left redundant.  Most of us can't string two correct sentences in English together, never mind gather the courage to preach like Peter on the day of Pentecost.

Our words need to be carefully thought out in certain situations.  All too often we let our tongues wag.  Yet Jesus also said that 'by this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another' (John 13:35)  James also exhorts believers to let their works be in agreement with their words.  Even if you do mess up your grammar, make outright blunders and get yourself tied up and twisted in a knot when sharing the gospel with someone, if the love of Christ is really rooted in you, then it will be visible.

We must speak.  By speaking the Spirit moves and saves.  But don't forget that salvation isn't for making you into a wordy theologian.  It's to transform the whole of you so that people will say they have talked with Jesus when they speak with you.