Many Callings: One Commission

We have all heard the parting words of Jesus to His disciples: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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” (Matthew 28:18-20a).

When most of us hear these words, we still think of missionaries in foreign countries, traveling evangelists and pastors and teachers in full-time ministry. Of course, these are important ways to fulfill this Great Commission, but the explosion in communication technology, global information networking and worldwide accessibility has opened up many new callings, most of which occur in the marketplace.

This past Sunday, for example, we launched our HRock Church new web platform. The World Wide Web is a huge potential harvest field. There are three billion people, or 41 percent of the world’s population, that have access to the Internet, and two billion people currently participate in social media sites. This reality represents a huge opportunity for outreach to literally millions of people that we could never reach in other ways. We believe that the potential for this technology has barely been scratched, and we are making a significant commitment to pursue the Great Commission through our interactive presence on the Web.

Other callings beckon the Church to interact with the culture in new ways. In the past, media and arts and entertainment proved difficult to penetrate successfully with the message of the gospel. But all that's been changing. Family-friendly, faith-based movies are becoming increasingly popular and are enjoying a larger share of market revenues every year. In fact, 2014 has been called the year of the faith-based movie, with “Noah,” “Son of God,” “God’s Not Dead” and “Heaven Is for Real” all enjoying box office success.

Faith-based movies yield excellent returns on investment, producing an average of $87 million in box office sales, compared to $21.7 million for non-faith-based movies. Typically, they are also more economical to produce. For example, “God’s Not Dead” cost $2 million to make and grossed $61 million at the box office.

Music, too, is increasingly being penetrated by the gospel. Recently, Christian rap artist Lecrae released his new album, “Anomaly,” and after one week, it is already making history by taking the No. 1 spot on both the Billboard 200 and Gospel charts. Lecrae won a Grammy in 2013 for his album “Gravity” and was recently featured on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

When it comes to printed media, it will be a long time before anyone equals the record of Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life.” It is the best-selling hardback nonfiction book of all time and the second most translated book after the Bible.

Christians in the U.S. represent approximately $5.1 trillion per year in purchasing power. There are many callings we can sow into to advance the Kingdom of God. Be aware that the movies you attend, the music and books you buy, the websites you visit and pass on to friends can all be ways of responding to the Great Commission in today's culture.

Please join us this Sunday at our 9:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. service. Pastor Karl Malouff will be sharing in Part II of the “Choose Life” series about “Delighting in Your Weaknesses.”