A lesson from Indy

My husband is a diehard Indiana Jones fanatic. By this I mean he can quote any line in any movie, we have the Indiana Jones glasses, fedora, whip, even the Indiana Jones potato head. One time, he read through the Indiana Jones manual – in one day! Now that is crazy. So one day in an attempt to indulge his passion for Indy, we watched The Kingdom of the Chrystal Skull. At one point in the movie Indiana is on a motorcycle with his son, rides into the library and skids under the tables in classic Jones style. He slides to a stop in front of one of his students, who conveniently has a question – Indiana looks at him and says kid, to be a true archaeologist you sometimes have to get out of the library.

What a poignant phrase – sometimes, you have to get out into the world. A maxim I think many of us should take to heart. Often, to be productive Christians, we have got to get out of the church. It is so easy to go to church on Sunday morning, worship on Sunday night, only shop at Christian stores, and only spend time with Christian friends. The reality is that, while church is an imperative, there is a world full of lost and dying people waiting for us to spread the light of Christ. How can they know about what Christ has to offer if we are too busy surrounding ourselves with Christians to show them?

In Mathew 28:19 Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” We hear this verse all of the time, but I think the English translation does not represent the true spirit of these words. Often we listen to this scripture and think, man I have to go! I have to spread God’s word! But in the original Greek, the verse is translated “as you are going.” Therefore, as we are going throughout our day we are called to make disciples. Rather it be at work, the coffee shop, or in line at the supermarket, we are directed to make disciples. This kind of scares me – I mean, how in the world do we do that?

The answer is simpler than you may think. St. Francis of Assisi once said, “preach the gospel everywhere you go and if necessary use words.” We speak more with our lives than our mouths. Can you imagine the effects if we loved the unlovable, took in those that the world turned their back on, and forgave when it was not deserved? What if people saw that there was something different about us, just by watching our actions? What a testimony that would be! But first, we have to get out of the church. We have to step out of our Christian circles, and set an example for a world that is thirsting for truth, and starving for something different. They see our steeples, our Christian shirts, and the crosses on our checks – but what they want is to see our actions. Let’s set the world on fire – minister without saying a word – and step out of the church to win souls for the Lord.