Jesus will finish what he started

Much of our discussion on mission in the west assumes Jesus delegated the task to his followers, and then left them to fulfil it.

Pick up any popular book on church growth, church planting or missional church, and the assumption is that we are the ones who have to work this thing out. The assumption is that there is always something we can do to "fix" things. Guess who's at the centre of the universe?

Luke has a very different view. If it was up to the disciples to take the gospel to the world, the movement Jesus founded would have run out of gas. Left to their own devices, Peter and Andrew would have gone back to their fishing business, and the others would have done likewise.

Instead it's the risen Jesus who picks up the pieces, he brings his disciples back together, he teaches them about the kingdom, and commands them to take the gospel to the ends of earth. He sends the Spirit to help them get there.

The book of Acts is first of all about what Jesus does. Even though he has ascended to the right hand of the Father, he is still active on earth.

Experiencing the reality of the risen Lord and surrendering to his leadership is the key to fulfilling our calling.

UPDATE: I've pulled the pdf article I wrote for this post. Michelle said it needed some more work and I agreed. It will be back soon.

UPDATE: It still needs some work but here's the latest version: Jesus still leads the way.pdf