It Seems to Me:
The Christian Layman’s Call to Service
By Bob Beanblossom
22 June 2021
I grew up in a church that strongly supported world missions. In those days, the ladies of the church would meet to “roll bandages” from torn strips of cotton sheets for our missionaries where medical supplies were in short supply. This simple recurring act of service gave substance and relevance to missions for a young boy.
I understood the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) to be a call to foreign service for a few missionaries and a call for support from the home-front for the rest of us. Today I have a far different, and I trust, more accurate understanding of what that mandate actually means.
Mark also recorded the familiar words of our risen Savior: “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Somehow, I didn’t connect Acts 1:8 with Christ’s Commission: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
As I learned that the Scripture is a whole, not just a collection of “key verses,” and “proof texts,” my understanding of His complete message improved. I learned that I am among the “ye” called to serve as certainly as any missionary sent by a local church to some far-away land. My field—my Jerusalem--begins where I am standing and extends to my family, friends, and casual contacts. My mission field is where I am.
The call to be a layman in the service of his Savior is not a lesser call than to the ministry, but a different one that encompasses the majority of Christians. In the context of our local churches, we hold the solution to the problems of the world in the pages of our Bibles, and we are commanded to share that Good News with our world, beginning with our own homes and extending to every reach of our personal worlds.