The Caboose: Develop World Vision

 The Caboose: Develop World Vision

We visited making disciples in the post “The Dining Car: Serve Others”. I have posted at length the 5 great commissions starting with “The Un-understood You”

“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 everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

So is Discipleship at the heart of developing world vision? For me it is. Discipleship is at the heart and the very beginning of BQTT. Seven or eight years ago I was texting people my quiet-time thoughts after writing them in a notebook. I was talking with the Pastor of the church I was attending at the time and he encouraged me to start a discipleship blog. I did and BQTT was born. But also what I saw born out of our conversations was a group he called “Young Lions” which was filled with young men whom he would be discipleing. 

As we saw in “Serving Others” discipleship is not the only goal of “World Vision” but salvation is also included. 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Acts 1:8 begins our Christian walk with power from the Holy Spirit. For we cannot do anything powerful without the Holy Spirit. If you happen to believe the power of the Holy Spirit died off with the early church, then let me challenge you to begin to ask God to show the power of the Holy Spirit working in your life. And I know that He will reveal it to you pretty quickly. 

Second, we are told to be His witnesses. We really don’t have a say in this. If we call ourselves Christian we are declaring to those around us to watch our lives. The choice we have is whether we are properly displaying Jesus or misrepresenting Him. If we are living like the world then we are misrepresenting Him (see “Separate From The World”). 

Third, we are to make disciples of Jesus wherever we go. 

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations”

Matthew 28:19a

“in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8b

Acts 1:8 contains a target of focus for our witnessing and disciple-making. The inner ring is our Jerusalem, the people closest to us: family, friends, and co-workers. Next ring out, is our Judea, those whom we run into at Walmart, the gas station, or the street corner. The second to last ring is our Samaria, those we can reach out to via text message, Facebook messenger, or USPS mail. The last ring is the ends of the world, those we can touch by hopping on a plane and spending time being a missionary, but must leave to go back home. Or by our support of missionaries.

The smaller the ring the more impact we have. The bigger the ring the less impact we have. 

Do we have the proper world vision? Does the world see Jesus in our actions, speech, and love? If we were to truly view the world with salvation and discipleship in mind I think they would.