The Post-Suicidal Hitchhiker

About seven years ago our team chartered a mini-bus for a remote mission in a southeast Asian country.

Shortly after we got on the road that morning our driver stopped to pick up a man.  When the man found out that this vehicle was not for hire, he asked to ride with us anyway to a certain town.  We agreed to the hitchhiker’s request, but informed him that we had a couple of stops to make first.

A Discarded but Well-Placed Tract

We continued eagerly planning our mission strategy for the day.  The hitchhiker heard us talking and could sense that we were Christians.  He pulled out of his jacket a well-worn Gospel tract and excitedly told us his story.

He was a hopeless alcoholic, his life was full of tragedies and pain, he was estranged from his family and snubbed by his small community.  A few months ago he was going to commit suicide because of his shame and pain.  But, on that particularly day he saw a booklet on the side of the road and picked it up to read it, and it changed his life!

That booklet was filled with Bible passages explaining how to have a personal relationship with the One True God who created the universe.  He grew up in an atheistic society, yet a society that still held on to ancestor worship and animistic practices.  This was part of his story of despair.  But this small booklet gave him hope and told him what he knew deep down was the truth—that there was a God.

It carefully and clearly explained the holy character of God the Father of All, and how through Adam’s sin all mankind is in rebellion and estranged from God.  Likewise it compassionately explained how the Lord Jesus Christ, being the Son of God who became man, was the perfect mediator for reconciliation with God.  He died upon the Cross as the propitiation for our sins and was raised from the dead for our justification and peace with God.  And that He would come again in glory.

Our new friend had put his trust in Jesus Christ for salvation from his sin, his shameful past, and for hope of eternal life.  His life was under a radical transformation these past few months.  That discarded tract ended up being a well-placed tract, Divinely placed.

More Mission than Planned

He didn’t have a Bible, so he had just been reading his treasured pamphlet and the Bible verses in it, over and over, many times a day.  That is why the paper was so worn and hardly legible any longer.  The Holy Spirit used these dozen passages of Scripture to sustain and renew this man daily, to give him hope and to direct his prayers.

He didn’t know any Christians either.  He was rejected by his friends and family earlier because of his anti-social behavior, and now he was further rejected because of his faith in Christ.  Although, he was now a radically different person, and filled with joy in the midst of it all!

And so, he was praying that God would introduce him to some other Christians if there were any near him.  And here we were on the bus!  A handful of foreigners and a handful of Asian mission partners.

We had him ride with us the whole day.  We told him some of our stories of salvation and redemption from life’s trials, personal struggles and temptations.  We prayed with him and encouraged him that the Lord would continue to bring healing to him and his relationships.

We spent time reviewing the Gospel in greater detail than he knew up to that point.  We sang worship songs together.  We gave him a Bible, showed him how to use it and studied Scripture together.  We had him observe as we shared the Gospel at a few different mission points throughout the day.

The Day Had to Come to an End

We circled back at the end of the day and dropped him at his originally desired destination.  He was bursting with encouragement, amazed at what God had done in his life that day on the bus!  So were we.  And we still are.

The next day, we were headed in a different direction, and for other reasons, we couldn’t take our friend with us any of the following days.  But, we obtained his contact information, and our friends who knew the area were able to follow up with him and find him a local group of believers for worship and fellowship.

This passage of Scripture forever holds new meaning for our team and for our brother we met on the bus that day:

Romans 5:6–11 ESV “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Expel The Factious Person

Those who lead as God would have them lead follow this passage.

Proverbs 22:10–11 ESV “Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.”

Like many Proverbs, this one speaks of the ideal king, who acts under God’s authority while guided by His wisdom.  On the whole, civil authorities will bless those under their governance by expelling or banishing the scoffers, mockers, instigators, trouble-makers, factious ones from their presence and from positions of power.

Good leaders will do this to put an end to the abuse of people and the creating of contention in a community.  It is not from selfish motivation, or love of exercising power.  God honors such courageous action that follows His wisdom by upholding its effectiveness.  Notice that good and strong leaders also love, befriend and reward those who are pure in heart and gracious.

Behind the Scenes

These scoffers are most damaging over long term, often moreso than those who are outright wicked or immoral.  Such people can create an insidious sub-culture that is unhealthy and ungodly.  They become more and more a threat to genuine community.  This stuff happens in churches, businesses, governments, clubs, and in many other groups.

Factious people are those who are self-willed, always right, and force people to take sides on issues, issues they even make up.  These issues often involve certain people, typically those in leadership, and as a result these factious people often gather a following.  Refuse to enlist in their “cause,” which is not Gospel truth, though they make it sound like it is.

Even in a Church

Who is the factious person in a church?  He or she is a separatist, a partisan, one who has chosen without good reason to join or create sects.  Such a person stirs up division in a church, forming dissident groups.

Scripture is quite stringent on the issue of divisiveness.  God is serious about unity in His Church.  Titus was instructed to give the trouble-maker two warnings about his behavior.  This provides ample opportunity to correct behavior; and it is done in hope of bringing about a spiritual recovery.

Titus 3:10-11 ESV “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”

However, if this person does not repent, then he must be rejected for the sake of the church.  Rejected means avoiding association, shunning, officially removing, dismissing, driving out, though not necessarily formally ex-communicating.  On account of the integrity of the group, for the peace and safety of the soul, and for the glory of God in His Church, leaders are given the instruction to expel divisive people.

When it gets to this point, the leaders and the church can be certain that the expelled one is perverted and sinning.  By persistence in divisiveness and recalcitrance the individual has condemned himself or herself.

Being “warped” means perverted in character, not seeing straight, being mentally, morally, spiritually twisted.  The term “sinful” means willfully and knowingly persisting in sin.  And “self-condemned” means that the person provides the basis for his or her own removal through antagonistic behavior.

Reassurance at Last

The principle from Proverbs and the instruction from Titus both address a difficult responsibility that all leaders encounter when leading groups of people.  It requires wisdom, love and courage from God to successfully handle and resolve the challenge of the factious person.

It is a good thing when factious or divisive people are removed.  Almost immediately a sense of relief and freedom comes over a congregation and people find themselves much happier.  This is additional confirmation from the Lord.

Have you ever experienced such relief when leaders acted with such courage and care?  Have you ever had to trust those making such decisions without having personal knowledge of all the details?

Overwhelming Exhortation

One of the worst types of preaching is when Scripture is regularly taken out of context and used to harangue a congregation about their sin.

People start to think defectively about themselves and deficiently about others.  Over time a whole group of people can find themselves delighting in self-abasement and growing proud in a distorted spirituality.

Everyone misses out on experiencing the deeply satisfying joy of salvation in Christ!

A Misguided Goal

Some preachers make it their primary goal to talk about sin Sunday after Sunday.  It pervades every sermon as the main theme.  They proceed to propose the same solution for all of life’s situations as merely more obedience.  The preaching is a constant and overwhelming exhortation.

The chiding can be relentless, alienating leaders and bringing distress upon the rest.  Ironically, the goal of a holier people is not achieved.  And maturity in Christ remains a long way off because a true and deep understanding of Scripture is never given.

It is amazing how such preachers can disregard the clear intent of a biblical passage and its larger context!  Though the text might be used as a source of great encouragement, or an opportunity to expound on the glories of Christ, instead it is hijacked for moralistic purposes.

The Proper Emphasis

The emphasis throughout the New Testament is much more positive.  For example, the Apostle Paul addresses nine of his twelve letters written to churches to the “saints,” and the remaining three to the “church.”

He gives prominence and value to our being “in Christ.”  Even when dealing with situations of sin these truths are usually only a paragraph away.  Our hope is in Christ, in being “in Christ” and in the reality of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives, not in ourselves and our obedience.

If you are that reproving preacher, you need to closely re-examine the Scriptures in order to observe and appreciate all the magnificence of its message.  If you are a leader dealing with a pastor who scolds and berates, you need to confront and require corrections for the sake of the congregation.  If you are a member, you will need to find healthier streams of instruction, and you may need to move on altogether.

What we as Christians need is more and deeper explanations of who Christ is in the fullness of His glory.  When the focus shifts from identifying ourselves primarily as sinners to identifying ourselves as saints in Christ, the results are joy, revitalization and growth in holiness!

The Four Alls Of The Great Commission

After Jesus Christ is raised from the dead, He Himself gives its application to His Church:  Go and make disciples of all the peoples of the world! 

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

All Authority 

These authoritativeness of the words of Jesus prevail over everything.  Note the theme of all-ness in all authority, all the nations, all that I commanded, and literally “all” the days.  

It is this supremacy of Jesus that pervades the passage.  His authority as the Son of Man has been enlarged with the coming of a new stage in the history of redemption, in which He is enthroned in heaven as King, ruling over all for His Church’s glory and success.

It is from this position of universal authority that Jesus speaks and orders the universal mission of His Church.  He commands His disciples to go make more disciples until this period of history concludes with His Return.  This is for the glory of God and His increasing glory throughout the world!

All Nations

Of whom is the Church supposed to go and make disciples of Christ?  The answer is all the nations, that is among all the people groups throughout all the earth! (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 5:9)  This is in fulfillment of promise of Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12 to bless all families of earth through him.

The imperative in vv.19-20 is “make disciples.”  The other three verbs are participles, “go,” “baptizing,” and “teaching.”  The syntax has been over-interpreted at times and has led to unusual conclusions, but simply put all three of the participles share the force of the main verb.  This means that “go” is also a command and it is best to read “go and make disciples” as one main command.  This is the imperative from Jesus for worldwide missions.  

The text is well translated in most English versions, so don’t become enamored with new or unusual interpretations.  To be quite simple about this passage:  Discipleship requires going and making more disciples around the world, which naturally involves baptizing and teaching them.  

All Obedience

“Baptizing” and “teaching” are commands also.  However, these two commands are more descriptive of the characterization of the fulfillment of the main command of making disciples or followers of Christ.  

The Church has never been uncertain about importance of baptism primarily because of this passage.  It is part of our incorporation into fellowship with God whereby Kingdom blessings are experienced.  It is more than a religious rite; it symbolizes entrance into the community and is itself pledge to obedience to the Lordship of Christ Jesus. 

All Days

These are most encouraging words from Jesus Christ, especially needed in light of His overwhelmingly enormous command to disciple the world!  The risen Christ says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This means, that He is God.  He is the exalted Lord and Christ!  He Himself will guide and empower His Church in fulfilling the Great Commission.  He Himself will provide support and powerful protection for His Church while they proclaim Gospel.  He Himself will continue to do this without limitation or interruption, up until very Day of His Return.  He Himself then is why we can do the Mission to glory of God without fear!

Our Apostle Matthew ends his Gospel account with the most inspirational of words.  And he ends here because this is where the Church should be focused until Christ’s Return.  There is no question that the Mission is the abiding application from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel Mission of the Church is exciting!  It is the most wonderful purpose for which to live your life, serve with your gifts, and support with your resources!