You and I are  are either a missionary or a mission field. I’m going to venture a guess that most of you reading this are “Missionaries.” Not perhaps called by Jesus to go overseas (although that might be the case for some of you) but perhaps across the street, or across town,  or across the office to someone He wants you to talk with. We might see ourselves as a nobody, but we can still pray and talk to everybody (in our world)  about Somebody!

Chuck Lawless shares some helpful and challenging thoughts for us today on the topic of getting the “Word” out there.

Guest Post by Chuck Lawless

Read this text from the Gospel of Mark, and think about the highlighted words:

“Now a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. For she said, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.’ Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.” (Mark 5:25-29)

Somewhere, somehow, this woman had heard something about Jesus.  We don’t know who spoke to her, nor do we know what she heard.  Maybe someone said to her, “Jesus is coming, and I’ve heard that he can give sight to the blind.  Perhaps he can help you, too.”  Maybe another said, “I understand that he can give ears to the deaf and legs to the lame.  Why, I’ve even heard that he can raise the dead!”  Whoever it was that spoke to this woman, she heard enough that she would risk all to get to this one named Jesus.

This unknown person likely took a risk to point a hurting woman to Jesus, who had already stirred up trouble among the religious leaders.  The dramatic change in the woman, though, was unquestionably worth the risk. A diseased woman was now well.  One unwelcomed among the crowds was now welcomed by the Son of God.  An outcast was now proclaimed a daughter.  A woman with a dying future now had renewed hope.

Everything had changed – and the witness received no credit!  His (or her) name was not even included in the story.  Have you ever wondered why that would be?

It’s really quite simple: the gospel is about the one to whom we witness rather than about us as witnesses.  The writer of Mark’s gospel was more concerned about proclaiming the majesty of Jesus than he was about giving glory to the witness.

This truth raises questions that are difficult indeed.  Am I willing to be a witness for Jesus even if the world never knows my name?  Am I prepared to do whatever Jesus demands even if my name is never mentioned in a book or on a website?  Am I ready to go to an unreached people group where I will serve Jesus in the midst of obscurity and anonymity?

Or, do I sometimes care so much about my own name’s being remembered that I rob Jesus of his glory?

If you want to be a Great Commission Christian, you must lay your name down and lift up his name alone. You must be willing to be a nobody for Jesus.