A CALL TO ACTION
Facing a significant
downtick in recruitment, the British Army has launched a unique campaign to
engage young people between 16 and 25 who may be looking for a job with
purpose. Each of a series of promotional posters is designed to make an
impression on their target audience. And that impression starts with an
insult. “Selfie addicts,” “Me Me Me, Millennials,”
“Phone Zombies, Binge Gamers, Snowflakes,” etc.
Each
poster starts with a millennial stereotype and then reframes that
characteristic as a positive. “Selfie addicts … your army needs you and your
confidence.” Snowflakes are lauded for their compassion. Binge gamers are
lauded for their drive. Whether or not the campaign will help to hit
recruiting targets remains to be seen, but the posters are generating
conversation on social media. Camden-based politician Sarah Hayward commented
on Twitter, “Not sure why the British Army thinks insulting young people is a
good recruitment tactic.”
Meanwhile,
Major General Paul Nanson expressed his belief in the campaign. “We understand
the drive they have to succeed and recognize their need for a greater sense of
purpose in a job where they can do something meaningful.” Defense Secretary
Gavin Williamson called it “A powerful call to action.”[1]
People may use labels to define us as we are, but God loves us as
we could be. We all need a purpose greater than ourselves.
When the World sees
problems in us, God sees our potential. The British Army’s recruiting strategy
was a powerful call to action, as noted by the defense secretary. We are
reminded of another, much more powerful Call To Action a week after Easter.
This call comes from the Commander in Chief, the Conqueror of sin and death,
our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Let us see what this Call To Action
entails. Matthew 28:16-20
Why do
I choose “A Call to Action” as a theme for my message instead of choosing more spiritual
titles? It appears that the secular World understands the concept of Call To
Action and employs it to its advantage. For instance, a call to action (CTA) is a prompt on a website that
tells the user to take some specified action. In marketing, CTA is an
instruction to the audience designed to provoke an immediate response, usually
using an imperative verb such as “call now,” “find out more,” or “visit a store
today.”[2] CTA evokes precise and
quick action from us.
If the World understood the power of
a call to action, how much more do Christians need to take note of and swing to
this Call To Action coming from our savior and Lord? Let us look
at various components of this Call to Action and how they would impact us
today.
I.
A Call To Action involves a command to Go and Preach the Gospel to everyone.
At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly
ministry, He called twelve followers and designated them as apostles so that
they might be with Him and that he might send them out to preach. (Mk 3:14).
These twelve were with Him for three and half years of apprenticeship, if you
will. We know that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and later on hung himself to
death.
After Jesus rose from the dead as
promised, He met the remaining eleven disciples on a designated mountain. When
they saw Him, they had mixed responses. They worshipped him, but some doubted.
But to all of them, Jesus gave a command, saying, “All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me. Therefore, Go!” Let’s reflect on this action
verb: “Go.”
The eleven disciples and the early
Church did not fully obey this command until great persecution broke out. We
read in Acts 8:1-4, “On that day, a great persecution broke out against the Church
in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and
Samaria. Those who had been scattered preached the Word wherever they went.”
Since then, the Gospel has been
preached all over the World. What does this command to Go and Preach the Gospel
to all people mean for us today? To, “Go,” is an action verb and a command from
Jesus, not a suggestion. Without exception, this command is for all believers
at all times. In the last 100 years, many disciples of Christ traveled the
World preaching the Gospel to all nations. Since then, the demographics of the
world missions have changed. It is becoming harder for missionaries to go into
the unreached countries.
Under such hostile conditions for
the Gospel, how must we obey the call to go? While some, in response to that
call in their lives, will go to other countries to preach the good news. For
most of us, the mission field will be where we live, go to school, work, and
attend Church.
We don’t have to cross the ocean to
reach the World. Our neighborhoods and communities become the new frontiers as
more and more immigrants from hostile nations to the Gospel come into the USA.
As individuals at Hope Church, we have a golden opportunity to be involved in
local cross-cultural ministry in and around Sharon.
Another vast demographic in our
country is the Millenials and the Gen Zs, who need the Gospel. Anyone born
between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial, and
anyone born from 1997 onward is part of a new generation: Generation Z. Sadly,
these precious young people are moving further away from a structured and
organized religion.
They are very active on social
platforms such as Twitter, Instagram,
TikTok, and Facebook, where they spend hours. If Jesus were to look at
them, what would he say? “They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a
shepherd. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of
the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field”( Matt
9:36-38). Whether we like it or not, we live in a digital age. Let’s pray that
God will raise digital evangelists, missionaries, and church planters to reach
this digital generation.
II.
A Call To Action involves a command to make disciples of all nations.
Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, 20 and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am
with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Whenever Good News is preached through Word and deed, the
Holy Spirit convicts people of their sins, and they become born-again. In other
words, they will be like children in God’s family. They will become strong and
spiritually mature through discipleship. That was what Jesus commanded us to
do: Make disciples Of all nations. How do we disciple people?
We disciple new believers by teaching them to obey
Christ’s commands in the Word. For that to happen, we must become devoted
disciples of Christ first. That is part of our mission statement at Hope
Church. We will know Christ’s commands as we read the scriptures. It is not
enough to read the Bible, but we must live out those biblical principles. Only
then can we teach others to do the same. At Hope Church, we take both preaching
and discipleship seriously.
I commend our discipleship team for teaching God’s Word
during Sunday morning Bible times to young children, youth, women, and men, as
well as special courses like the OT review CASKET series. I systematically
preach and teach from various books of the Bible during the Sunday Worship
services. All these efforts might help us become devoted disciples of
Christ.
Let us be honest: These dual tasks of preaching the
Gospel and Making Disciples of All Nations sometimes become overwhelming. Then,
we must remember who is sending us into this World and giving us this Call to Action.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has all the authority in heaven and earth. When we obey
this call, Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will save people and make
them his ardent followers. There will be great rejoicing in heaven every time a
sinner turns to God. When we go out in His name, He promises to be with us till
the end of the age.
