Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

New Castle Courier-Times Christian Perspectives Article for July 19, 2008

Should I stay or should I go? The old Clash song could be sung by many Christians today. Should I stay in my comfortable, cozy church, or should I go into the world and share the good news out there. The answer appears to be, “Yes!”

Should I stay? Jesus told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Spirit. For the most part, we do the staying part pretty good. But WHY do we stay?

Do we stay because it’s comfortable? Do we stay because it’s familiar? Do we stay because it means we can rest? Or do we stay with a purpose?

Do we pray while we stay? Do we seek the power of the Holy Spirit? Do we work at growing as disciples of Christ? Why do we stay?

Should I go? Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and share the good news with sinners. ‘Sinners’ is an uncomfortable word in a politically correct culture. But Jesus was called a friend of sinners. Are we friends of sinners?

We do the going part pretty good. We go to camp, go to concerts, go to hear good preachers, and go to revivals. But do we go to sinners?

Occasionally we go on mission trips: Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Africa, Mexico, the Appalachians. I’ll be going to Indonesia the end of August for two weeks. These aren’t vacation trips. We pay our own way, and work hard while we’re there.

But what about the in between times? Where are we going on Monday morning? What purpose do we have on Tuesday afternoon? Is there any intentionality in our Thursday evening? Do we ‘go’ on a daily basis? If so, WHY do we go?

Should we stay, or should we go? Yes. We should stay, with the purpose of growing as disciples, until we receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, we should go, daily, with the purpose of sharing the good news of Christ with a broken world. Then we should stay, and grow in the love and grace and truth or Jesus. Then we should go, with the intention of being a friend to sinners. And the cycle continues.

When I go to Indonesia, I will be going with the prayers and support of friends and family. I’ll also be going in the power of the Holy Spirit. Until then, I’ll be staying and going, and staying and going, and staying and going – with purpose.