Leave It To The Professionals

We better just leave it to the professionals. Need your car fixed? You might want to leave it to the professionals. Need a doctor? You should probably leave it to the professionals. Need a dentist? You definitely should leave it to the professionals. There are a number of things we encounter that we are not capable of doing. In these cases, we look for a professional. However, there are other things we encounter in life that you do not need to be a professional to participate in.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” We affectionately call this “the Great Commission.” It is God’s call to the church. It is our mission. It is, in large part, what gives us meaning and purpose. The problem, however, is that we have fallen into the trap of leaving this to the professionals.

In Acts 8 we see the immediate response of Stephen being stoned to death. We are told, “There arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (v. 1). We are further told in verse 4, “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” There are two things we should take note of in this passage.

First, notice the precise fulfillment of the Great Commission. They were preaching the word and ministering to people in Jerusalem, the first place mentioned in the scope of the Christ’s command. Then, when the persecution became severe they scattered to Judea and Samaria, the second and third areas mentioned by Christ. And of course, we know that later in Acts a great missionary movement was begun. The Great Commission was being specifically fulfilled, not generally.

Second, we need to note who was fulfilling the Great Commission. It was not the professionals. Note the last three words of verse 1, “except the apostles.” The apostles, the professionals, did not leave Jerusalem. They stayed behind, presumably to look after the church in its infantile stage of life. It was the ordinary people, not the professionals, who scattered through the regions beyond Jerusalem and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Each of us need to take the Great Commission seriously. It is the call of God, not just for the professionals, but for each and every believers. If the gospel of Jesus Christ has touched your life, if you have a story to tell, then certainly you ought to be sharing it. This is the call, the purpose, the mission that God has for you. Do not stand by and wait for the professionals to do the job, you do it. And besides, no one is more of an expert as to what God has done for you than you are!