March 01, 1998 by David Bryant

Is There a Roll for Me, Or Just a Stone?

Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? —Jesus

Okay, okay . . . the pun in my title (bread roll=role—get it?) won’t qualify for the International Pun-Preservers’ Book of Records. But I do have supporters! Jesus’ question in Matthew 7:9 uses the same image. What’s the point?

>From Genesis 3:4-5 onward, Satan’s master plan of confusion is obvious. He taunts: “You’re doomed to serve a God who one moment holds back His best from you and the next makes life irrationally tough.” For any who have set out to discover God’s long-term place for them in world evangelization, the force of Satan’s lie can become devastating. “Does God really have something significant for me to ‘sink my teeth into’ (roll=role)? Will He satisfy my ‘hunger’ to count for Christ? Or is His illusive assignment like a stone: either too ‘hard’ to uncover or too ‘heavy’ to bear even if I find it?”

In my travels I meet young and old alike who struggle regularly with ambivalence about God’s will for them in relation to Christ’s global cause. “What is His will? Can I be confident it is good, or perfect, or acceptable? Can I ever be sure I’ve found it? And even if I do, will He use me to make any difference for Christ’s glory among the nations?”

Thankfully, in Luke 11:13 Jesus counters Satan’s sabotaging jeers with the concluding fact that our Father is ready to give the best of everything. Even the Holy Spirit Himself! In all areas of Christian experience, He’ll hold nothing back. Of prime importance, God means to lead us intimately into all He has for us in world evangelization, and to back that up with His equipping and sustaining power until we joyfully bear fruit, even to the ends of the earth.

God’s intended role (roll) for us in the Cause is “fresh daily,” never crusty or stale with neglect. Every moment He’s prepared to let us feast on more and more of it. So, how do we find our way to the table? A few practical suggestions:

1) Wake up every day with a grand intention: “I am willing this day to explore seriously new possibilities in God’s role for me in Christ’s global cause, and to obey immediately whatever He shows me.” God’s primary role for any of us is not “going” or “sending” but being unconditionally willing. Tell Him that each morning.

2) Let the Holy Spirit give your life a world dimension. He is the Spirit of Christ’s global cause. He resides in our lives to give us everything that belongs to Jesus, the Lord of all (John 16:12-15). As He roams throughout the whole earth doing the will of God (Revelation 5:6 and John 16:7-11), He remains our constant, most intimate companion (I Corinthians 6:17). Be led by Him the way He longs to lead you (compare Romans 8:26-27 with 8:18-25).

3) Dig into Scripture as a World Christian. I often paraphrase a familiar adage this way: “God has a wonderful plan for the nations, and He loves you and me enough to give us a place in it.” Scripture unfolds that awesome blueprint. The more we study it the more God will show us right where to fit into His plans. The Perspectives course can help in your studies. See page 44.

4) Foster prayer as a World Christian. Band together with others in prayer for spiritual awakening and world evangelization. One invaluable by-product of pursuing such a prayer agenda is the environment it creates for greater sensitivity to God’s voice and for a livelier freedom to obey. (We see this in Acts 13:1-4.) The more we actively pray about the whole counsel of God in world evangelization, the better we’ll understand our specific roles, both short and long-term.

5) Build your world vision. “God cannot lead us into a world mission on the basis of a world vision we do not have.” As we couple the blueprint of Scripture with current facts on the opportunities, on people yet to be reached, and on the ministries and people God uses, the better able we are to respond intelligently and strategically to God’s role for us.

6) Explore the possibilities with others. This is no time for loners. Who else in your Christian fellowship desires fuller involvement in the world mission of the Church? Gather regularly with them for World Christian Bible study and prayer. Enlarge your world vision by sharing weekly reports. Help evaluate each other’s gifts, experiences and strengths in light of current needs and opportunities. Since Christ calls us into a Body-life, He sends us out in a Body-mission. Therefore we all need to be part of a Body-search as we each seek to determine God’s role for us in that mission.

7) Start reaching out now. This may involve cross-cultural ministry to international students in your city or an overseas summer experience. Basically it involves asking yourself the question, “Who can I love for Christ today who doesn’t yet know Him?” You see, none of us is standing in an unemployment line waiting for a heavenly job-placement counselor to take up our case. There is no unemployment in God’s Kingdom. From Adam to Abraham to Joshua to Isaiah to Peter . . . to you and me, the commission is clear and binding. Only as we’re faithful to what we can do this day with the opportunities available to us right where we are will our Father count us worthy to uncover additional specifics regarding our long-term role in world evangelization (II Thess. 1:11-12).

8) Construct a World Christian lifestyle. In a sense, all the above steps help us do this. We need to actively work at integrating a world vision into all we think, say, and do, and into the decisions we make along the way. In other words, our current commitment to the Cause will define how we spend our money, what we study in school, our TV habits, whom we marry, how we serve our local church, what magazines we read, how we disciple new Christians, how we worship the Lord on Sunday, etc. Even before we have fully determined whether God intends us to be “goers” or “senders” long-term, we should be living each day so as to say, “I know this day my life has counted strategically for Christ’s global cause, especially for those currently beyond the reach of the Gospel.” Learning to live such a lifestyle is foundational to learning God’s will.

Sharing Your Roll (Role)

How do I discover God’s role for me in world evangelization? Strategically speaking, I need to ask three questions persistently, all of which God longs to answer in His time. I call them the “people” questions. I hold on to them as I work on the eight steps outlined above.

• Of all the people (people-groups) currently beyond the reach of the Gospel, who are the people God wants me to give my life for, now and long-term?
• Of all the Christians in the world, who are the people (the team of Christians) God wants me to give my life with?
• What kind of person does God want me to be as I give my life? What must I do daily to become more the person whose role (roll) will bring the “Bread of Life” to the hungry world to which Christ sends me?

The thoughts expressed in this article have been expanded in David Byrant’s recent book, Stand in the Gap: How to Prepare for the Coming World Revival (Regal Books).

This article is reprinted by permission of World Christian Magazine. March-April 1983