“This is what I was made for.” Nik Wallenda

“Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back.” Babe Ruth

Did you watch Nik Wallenda last Sunday night walk between two skyscrapers 600 feet above downtown Chicago? Then, he did his second tightrope walk blindfolded. Wow! 600 feet up without a net or safety straps. I love what he said during his tightrope walk, “I'm so blessed for these opportunities. You guys watching think I'm crazy, but this is what I was made for.” It’s estimated that 50,000 came to watch him accomplish this death defying feat.

  “This is what I was made for.” Those words really convict me. Too often I forget “what I was made for.” We were made to glorify God! We have a mission! It’s found in Jesus’ last words before He went Home, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). The truth is that I can easily get distracted and focused on nearly everything else but “what I was made for.” Can you relate? Yet, most of the stuff that can absorb my focus is so temporary.

  I wonder if believers in other ages had our struggles, particularly with our specific struggles. For example, I have to work to not be absorbed with politics. I know better. I know it’s all very temporal. I’m not sure why. I think that part of it is that we’re inundated with it. Part of it is that my friends are nearly always talking about it. Part of it is that I am so grieved to see the country I love degenerating and moving toward a moral collapse. Part of it is the lack of critical thinking, not to mention comprehension of the long term effect of an antichristian worldview generationally. Yet, I know that politics is not the solution. I know that those who hold views that are anti-Christian are not the enemy. And I know that I’m to love, pray and reach out to leaders who despise Christianity, but I still struggle to not be distracted by something that makes little difference in eternity.

  Then, I struggle with being a workaholic. I love to work…always have. Now some of you are probably thinking, “Well, you’re in the ministry…isn’t the ‘mission’ part of your work?” Yes, but there are many things that I can focus on that are non-mission oriented. This will probably surprise some of you, I tend to be an introvert. I could easily hide out in my office and go weeks without any human contact. I’m sure that I have enough work to keep me busy for several decades. That’s part of why I’m part of organizations that have a lot of unchurched people or those from other faiths. It pressures me to be mission focused. Because when I’m with those who don’t know the Lord, my heart breaks. It weighs on me that so many that I love and care about don’t know Jesus.

  Then, I love creature comforts. It’s easy to be distracted with ME. I can convince myself I deserve this, that I need a break, that I owe it to myself. While there is a time or place for that, I have to work to keep it all in balance. Now I don’t have the sports bug, but I have my own obsessions of entertainment. I love reading. I could easily keep my nose in a book 24/7. Then, I enjoy good drama. I’m also a news junkie. And I love to spend time with my wife and my family.

  My point is that though our distractions may be different, it’s easy and tempting to be absorbed with that which is good, that’s not evil or bad, yet it’s not “what we were made for.” I’m sure that if you took some time and prayed about this and did some reflecting, you’d find your own list of distractions that can easily absorb all your time and totally distract you from “what you were made for.”

  Have you ever noticed how easy it is to talk about everything else, nearly anything else, BUT the Gospel? We can even talk about the Bible, spiritual truths, even church…yet never get around to the Gospel. We make ourselves feel good that we’re having a lot of “spiritual talks,” yet we’re often neglecting the greatest need of the person we’re conversing with – the Gospel.

  Some of us just need to get out more. We’re so trapped in our safe Christian bubbles that we really don’t have deep relationships with any lost people. Maybe you need to join a group that has some common interests  but that’s NOT a church group or Bible study, so that it opens opportunities to befriend unbelievers and share the Gospel.

  Yet, for most of us, that’s not the problem. We’re inundated with lost people. We work with them, play with them, and have good relationships with our neighbors. For some, a large percentage, even the majority of our relatives, don’t know the Lord. And we will talk about anything and everything else, but that which really matters, that which is our mission, “what we were made for.”

  The next several weeks are literally filled with Gospel opportunities. Take the Thanksgiving Season. It’s not “turkey day,” it’s Thanksgiving. But who are we thanking? Who has ultimately given us everything that we’re thankful for? Our loving Heavenly Father. What a great opportunity to segue a conversation to the Gospel.

  Next Sunday night we’re even serving an opportunity up for you to reach out to a lost person that the Lord has brought into your life on a “silver platter” with our Harvest Celebration. What an easy opportunity to build a Gospel bridge. Just inviting someone to be your guest can open a conversation about the Gospel.

  During the Christmas Season, they are truly singing our songs. For over a month, great songs about the Incarnation and God’s great plan of salvation will be heard everywhere. Even atheists will be singing Silent Night. What an opportunity for a Philip and the Ethiopian moment, “Do you understand what you are ‘singing’?” (Acts 8:30).

  So why don’t we share the Gospel? Think about this. If I told you that I loved my wife, Jane, yet I never talked about her. If I never wanted to be seen with her in public and didn’t introduce her to any of my friends, would you believe that I really loved Jane? If I flirted with other women, if I talked about other women, if talked about and obviously enjoyed everything else, but the one who I said was the love of my life, would you believe that I really loved Jane?

  The point is obvious. If we believe that sharing the Gospel, sharing the One that we say that we love is “what we were made for,” you couldn’t shut us up. So take a small risk, not a Nik Wallenda risk, and share the Gospel, share the old, old story about the One who is the only hope for this world, for your world, for you lost loved ones and friends.