Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Colossians 1:28-29
By the Lord’s grace in the hearts of His people, I pray that these reflections on this past week’s large group sermon by Matt Ng will be of great exhortation to you.
Man I love how Matt put it — a clarion commission. Scripture makes it loud and clear. There is absolutely no ambiguity to what we are called to do as Christians but simply and powerfully, “Him we proclaim.” This should certainly reorient all of us to examine what we are doing with our lives. It would be inconsistent, in light of the stark boldness and clarity of this commission, to spend our time doing anything else than proclaiming Christ. Such was the conviction of Paul, which he masterfully captured in this one statement: “No one soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Tim. 2:4, NASB).
This one has been on my heart as of late. The resurgence of tabling and fishing (cold-contact evangelism) ministries during week one and my participation in them has shown me that the harvest is indeed plentiful. Lost souls abound. And thus, per Matt’s shark example, there must be a certain urgency and zeal that longs to warn unbelievers of the wrath to come if they do not repent and put their trust in Christ. If they were likened to be in shark-infested, dangerous waters, then would we not, with no less zeal, warn them, urge them, and plead with them? Is it not even worse that it is their souls that hang in the balance?
Our pride is why we must always challenge ourselves with the truth that it is Christ we proclaim, not ourselves. Paul knew that we were (and still are) sinfully inclined to make everything about ourselves, which is why he also says, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord” in 2 Cor. 4:5. As a first-time small group leader this year, Matt’s description of the small-groupie-morphing-into-small-group-leader phenomenon hit so close to home. It not only challenged me to make sure that I’m pointing not to myself but to Christ, but it also got me thinking about getting deeper into the lives of my small groupies. I want to be confident that I see them, Lord willing, being conformed into nothing else but the image of Christ. Even for those of you that aren’t in any formal leadership position, the responsibility of putting Christ into others’ lives falls on every Christian.
Refreshing ourselves on these truths, I pray that the Lord would do a great work in your heart to cause you to pour out more and more toil for the ministry of the gospel, knowing that it is God alone who causes the growth.
By His Peace,
Matt Jiang
10.01.2021 Fall 2021 Week 2
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