Recently in Sunday School we were talking about decision making. The passage we were studying was the book of Ruth. Elimelech and his family made a poor decision to leave Israel during a famine and move to Moab. They were plagued with many problems and the end result was that Elimelech’s widow finally returned to be with her people where she should have been all along.

We talked about making large decisions that impact all the smaller decisions we have to make in life. A practical illustration was given that makes this clearer.

Where do you want to eat?

A husband and wife decide they want to go out to dinner. They can’t make decide where to go, but they get in the car and drive down to the end of the street. They could go left or right depending on which restaurant they want to eat at. Because they did not make a decision as to where to eat before they left the house, they now have to make a smaller, yet important decision. At this point in the trip they could make one decision and drive right to the restaurant. Instead, they make the decision to drive to the right and see which restaurants appeal to them when they get there. Again, they are faced with choosing between 5 or 10 options. At each light and intersection they are still trying to decide.

Do you ever feel like your life is just like that car ride? You can solve all the little decisions by making one big one.

If the couple had decided to go to Restaurant A from the very beginning then they could have driven there without agonizing over ever turn, stop sign and traffic light.

What big decisions can you make today?

When you are making decisions in your life, you should take care to make large, over-arching decisions that will make the many smaller decisions easier. If you decide that you will reflect Christ in the things you do as an individual or family, then that automatically decides for you the many things that you won’t do. You don’t have to decide each time a question comes up–your decision is already made to glorify God.

Some families have to decide each weekend if they are going to go to church, stay at home on Sunday or engage in some other activity. The weekly decisions take care of themselves if you make one large decision that you will always be at church on Sunday morning.

There are many such decisions in life.

Make the big ones and the little ones will be much easier.

Isn’t it funny how you can read the same verses again and see something different in them the next time around? Recently the first few verses of Acts 13 struck me in a new way.

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Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

—Acts 13:1-3

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In Acts 13:1 it says that there were many teachers and workers in the church at Antioch. Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were two of these men.

We often talk about being called to the mission field. I don’t know if that is a bad thing to say. However, here it appears that Barnabas and Saul were not called, but sent. They were already serving in the church. They were already teachers and preachers in the ministry. They were sensitive to the Lord’s leading. They were spiritually mature. In that environment, the Holy Spirit moved within the people of the church to send Barnabas and Saul out to start other churches. They did not come down to an alter and “surrender their lives” to the ministry. They were already surrendered. They were already involved.

Are You Called?

We’ve probably all heard stories of missionaries and pastors who said, “I wasn’t sure I was called, but I wanted to serve the Lord.” As a result they continue to say that as they got involved in serving in their local church then God clearly led them into the ministry. I think God often works in that way.

First Steps

Often I get the question, “I want to be a missionary, what should I do first?” This is usually by people whom I have never met and know nothing about. My first response to them is that they should speak with their pastor. Their pastor knows them better than I do. He knows their spiritual maturity and current involvement. He can give them much better information than I can based on their current spiritual condition. And, I submit, that he probably will know if someone is called to the ministry before that person even knows. Though Saul and Barnabas were already involved in ministry at this point, it appears that God first moved in the hearts of the other pastors, teachers and church members to send these two men out for missionary service.

Called or Sent?

Should you be called or sent? The result is the same. I believe that if you are serving the Lord where you are right now, then God will show you, and those around you, what you should be doing in His ministry.

I recently returned from The Latin Bridge conference which focuses on church planting efforts in Latin America. This was hosted by Jason Holt, a missionary in Chile.

One of the speakers for the conference was Randy Stirewalt who has been a missionary in Kenya, Africa for over 30 years. Bro. Stirewalt challenged the young missionaries to go to the field and train men to plant churches. While the missionary can, and should, plant a church, more work can be done if the missionary will train others to plant churches while he is in the process of planting one himself. This multiplies the missionary’s efforts many times over.

Bro. Stirewalt challenged us from these verses in 1 Samuel:

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

—1 Samuel 18:1-4

Jonathan knew that the next king in Israel was to be David. Even though Jonathan’s dad was king, God had already told Saul in 1 Samuel 13 that his children would not be king after him because of his foolish acts. In chapter 15 God rejected the fact that Saul was even king. The next chapter Samuel anointed David king, even though he would not take the throne for many years.

In these verses Jonathan recognizes the kingship of David. He gave David his own royal robes. He even gave David his sword, bow and girdle. Not only did David get the royal robes, but he was equipped with everything he would need to be king.

Bro. Stirwalt’s challenge was this:

Beloved, we are king makers, not kings. Our job is to take off our robe and give it to another.

Give them the Word of God. Teach them principles of leadership. Help them to stand and represent Jesus with their life. But we must step aside and lower ourselves like Jonathan did to David, stand beside them and say, “You are the king.”

Obviously, as children of God we are all kings. God promised that to us in the first few chapters of the book of Revelation (1:5, 6; 5:10). The point Bro. Stirewalt was making is that we don’t go to the field as missionaries to be the king over our own domain. We go to equip others to be kings. Like Jonathan, we have the royal robes that we can pass on to other men with everything they need to do God’s work–the Word of God. We don’t go to be the king, we go to train others to be kings.

“Beloved, we are king makers. Not kings.”