I subscribe to a magazine that aims to persuade all Christians to “…abandon their lives to the honour and service of Christ is daily holiness and decision-making”. This month’s issue has two stories of people ‘giving up [their] lives’. Can you guess where I am going with this?
One story is about a missionary in Mexico, the other is about someone who didn’t go into ‘full-time ministry’ – but instead worked for the publishers of the magazine.
Perhaps the editors – and I trust I will send them this well-meant criticism – will reply that they could just have easily picked people who earnt their living other than through the gospel (or, close enough). That was the response that I had – more or less – to a similar post I made about another organisation’s publication a little while back. Well, perhaps the magazine could just have easily have picked non-gospel workers. But it did not. As Americans say “Strike Two”.
Those of us not in paid gospel work – the vast majority of all Christians – need to hear of people following Jesus whole-heartedly, living sacrificial lives, who are also butchers, bakers and candlestick makers; entrepreneurs, computer programmers and engineers; lecturers, unemployed and stay-at-home parents. It is a sad situation when the sheep look up and are not fed.
