I'm a Huddler

In Nate Adams book The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Empowering the Church to Be on Mission, he says,

First-century witnesses like Peter and John did not keep the good news about Jesus a secret (see Acts 4:8-16). They did not merely huddle in Jerusalem’s upper rooms to enjoy fellowship with one another and their risen Lord. Instead, the early witnesses went into the streets and public places of their Jerusalem, ministering to people in need (see Acts 3:1-10) and boldly proclaiming the risen Christ (see Acts 4:1-12).

I think I’ve been a huddler. In fact, I think, for the most part, I’m a huddler right now. I travel through my Jerusalem, but rarely do I really even notice the people there.

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. In the margin of my Bible, I wrote, “As you are going, make disciples.”

Doesn’t this really speak to how I am to be a witness? As I am going to my church, my grocery store, my favorite bookstore, my doctor and dentist, my pharmacy, and my bank, I should be spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, as Mr. Adams says, by “ministering to people in need and [by] boldly proclaiming the risen Christ.”

There is a verse that keeps coming into my mind: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10: 32-33)

This certainly speaks of a comfort zone, doesn’t it? I don’t mind traveling through my Jerusalem to get to church, but I really don’t want to talk to anyone along the way.

I love to fellowship with believers. I want to be encouraged by them, I want to worship with them, I want to share meals with them, and so much more. They are my family and I love them.

But I think it’s time for me to stop being a huddler and step into the “streets and public places” of my Jerusalem. It’s time for me to declare my Jerusalem as my mission field.

“I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” John 4: 35b

- Sandra