“We need to begin to read the Bible differently. Americans have been preoccupied with the end of the Gospel of Matthew, the Great Commission: “Go and make.” I call them go-and-make missionaries. These are the go-and-fix-it people. The go-and-make people are those who act like it’s all in our power, and all we have to do is “finish the task.” They love that passage! But when read from the center of power, that passage simply reinforces the illusion that it’s about us, that we are in charge.
“I would like to suggest a new favorite passage, the Great Invitation. It’s what we find if we read from the beginning of the Gospels rather than the end. Jesus says, “Come, follow me. I will make you fishers of men.” Not “Go and make,” but “I will make you.” It’s all about Jesus. And do you know the last words of Jesus to Peter, in John 21? “Follow me.” The last words of Simon Peter’s encounter are the same as the first words…”
Bishop David Niringiye
2 comments:
AMEN!!Amen, and Amen. Boy, if there is anything that life in Africa (I have trouble with the term missionary because of exactly what you have shared) has taught me, it is what you have shared- that it is NOT ABOUT US! The problems are so vast that they far surpass our wisdom and understanding, forcing us to depend on Him, the one who called us, completely.
Max Lucado wrote a book just about this!! It's called 'it's not about me' if you wanted to read it. I just loved it. Very eye opening and challenging.
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