Where is your mission field?

photography by Lieze Truter

I recently told you about my son’s decision to drop out of college to pursue his calling – a career and ministry in the entertainment industry (So your son wants to drop out of college?).  If you are like a lot of people, you may be asking yourself, “How can he consider working in the entertainment industry a ministry?  Hollywood is full of every kind of wickedness.  Aren’t we supposed to avoid sin and every appearance of evil?”

I can understand where you are coming from.  To be honest, there was a time in my own life when I thought that to be in full time ministry, one must be a preacher or a missionary in a foreign country.  As a child, I myself, remember feeling God calling me to something, but hoping and praying that He would never ask me to move to a third-world country and do without the comforts of my life here.  But over the years, I’ve grown in my faith and my personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  I’ve had the opportunity to further my education and learn more about God's Word from the world’s largest Christian university, Liberty University.  I’ve also gained valuable insight and knowledge from extensive reading and through what my sister and brother-in-law have shared with me about their seminary experiences. 

In short, I am not the same person that I was because of the work of Jesus Christ in my own life.  I am being transformed into his likeness day by day.  “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image we begin to see the world through His eyes” (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

When you look at others with the eyes of Christ, you will see a world full of lost and dying souls.  Like never before in history, our society is in desperate need of a savior.  We live in a day and age where we can no longer expect the average person (even in the Bible Belt) to believe in God or to even have a healthy knowledge of the Christian faith.  Praying in schools has now been forbidden for years.  We’re told we can’t pray at certain public gatherings or display our crosses or nativities because we might offend someone.  We are encouraged to be politically correct and to avoid offending those of other beliefs.  As a result, we are now surrounded by large numbers of unbelievers who have changed what the mission field sometimes looks like.

I believe whole heartedly in the Great Commission. “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).  We are called to share Jesus with those in "Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts 1:8).  If you're not sure what that means, let me summarize it this way.  Jerusalem in the community in which you live.  Your Judea would be the state that you live in.  Samaria is the nation and of course the uttermost parts of the earth would include foreign countries.

We say, "Well, I can be a witness where I live.  Sure.  That's manageable.  Maybe I can even go on a mission trip or participate in a missions project in my state and perhaps the country.  But what if I can't go to another country?  How will I do that?"  My friends, we no longer have to go to foreign countries to minister to the uttermost parts of the earth.  They have come to us. And with that, there has been an increasing number of other religions - false religions that have a huge influence on our society as a whole.

Regardless of where we live or the career we choose, we are all vital to the Great Commission being carried out.  Our mission fields will not all look the same, but they are all full of people who need hope. These people need to see living examples of Christ so that His light can penetrate the darkness of their souls.

When Jesus began his ministry on this earth, he did not preach his message only to those within the walls of the synagogues or the "safe" places. Quite the contrary, He walked among the streets and the hillsides to minister to sinners where they were.  His message was not just for the Jew, but the Gentile too.  His message today is not just to serve as hope and encouragement for those who call themselves Christians.  It is for the atheist, the agnostic, and the heathen. It is for those who do not know the truth.  

But how will they know if we don’t go?  There are many who will never darken the door of the church, so we must take the church to them.  That means that regardless of our chosen vocations, we are all called to minister where we are.  For some, that means they are to witness to those in the entertainment industry.  They are to be actors, models, makeup artists, producers, screen writers, etc.  They are to serve as a light in a very dark industry that desperately needs Jesus Christ.  We need more Christians in the entertainment industry period.  And we can’t worry about what our Christian friends think of us if we choose a career in an area that not only ignites a passion in us, but is marred with sin and man's wickedness.  We cannot worry about the Pharisees who think we should avoid all sinners.  If that were so, we would not be able to even be alone in a room with ourselves.