“Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them” (Mark 6:7,12-13).
The 12 disciples weren’t well-trained orators. They didn’t have more theological knowledge than the next person in Israel. The Pharisees and religious leaders probably knew the words of the Torah and the rest of Scripture better than they did.
As for the disciples’ integrity . . . One of the Twelve would betray Jesus for 30 silver coins, handing him over to his enemies. One would publicly deny Jesus three times after saying that he would die right beside Jesus. All of them would desert Jesus in his hour of need, fleeing from the dark garden of Gethsemane.
And yet, out of all people, Jesus called them. He gave them authority over impure spirits and sent them out to preach a message of repentance to God’s people. And that’s exactly what they did. Mark’s gospel tells us that the Twelve went and preached, drove out many demons, anointed many sick people with oil, and healed them.
How humbling that must have been! How tempting it must have been for the disciples to think that they were doing those incredible things all on their own! But there wasn’t anything special about the disciples in and of themselves. What they did and accomplished was all God, working through them for his purposes and his glory.
After Jesus’ ascension, the Eleven grew in confidence and boldness in preaching and teaching Christ crucified because God graciously poured out the Holy Spirit on them. The same men who had deserted Jesus were now willing to face death for the sake of his gospel, and the early Christian church grew and flourished.
Yes, it’s clear that God was in control, working all things for the good of his people.
As the apostle Paul—a former persecutor of Christianity—wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (3:5-7).
God works through us too.
We might not be well-trained orators. Others, like pastors and teachers with decades of experience in public ministry, might have more theological knowledge. They might know the Bible far better than we ever will!
And yet, dear Christian, Jesus has called you, me, and all believers in his Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). He calls us to share his message with the people in our lives—the people in whose lives God places us.
What a humbling opportunity! What a potentially daunting opportunity since we don’t know how people will react. Will they listen to what we say or dismiss us as ignorant and insensitive? If they’re currently our friends, will they stay that way? What if we don’t know what to say? Or what if we deliberately miss an opportunity we’ve been given?
Dear Christian, fear not.
Jesus made the most of every opportunity set before him to share God’s Word with people—for us, for all the times we don’t. That same Jesus took away all of our sins. He died and rose again so that we will be with God in heaven forever. The Holy Spirit creates and sustains our faith through the Word and sacraments. And our Savior Jesus promises to be with us wherever we go—even if it’s to the ends of the earth—as we share his gospel message with others.
How tempting it can be to think that it’s all because of us if and when our witnessing succeeds and God’s church grows. How devastating it can be to think that it’s all because of us if and when our witnessing is met with failure and rejection. How comforting it is to know that it’s all in God’s hands and there’s no better place for God’s church to be.
By God’s grace, we get to plant seeds and water them. God makes his church, our family, grow.
What does it mean to be a part of God’s family? And what does God want us to do as his church? Church-Mission-Ministry: The Family of God dives into a study of the nature of the church, its people, and its practices, all according to what God says in Scripture. Through this book, you’ll gain a better understanding of what it means to be in God’s family!
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.