By Michael Tummillo In Luke 10:2-9, we read where Jesus gave these instructions to His 72 disciples: The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house. And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.” There are some very important, applicable instructions here that are worth noting. In verse 2 Jesus tells them, essentially, “travel light for they won’t have to go very far to find what you’re looking for.” When He says, “Greet no one along the road,” could that be interpreted as “Don’t dilly-dally for you may miss the one for whom you are being sent!” When the time came that they DID enter a home, they were to look for like-minded people with a kindred spirit, eating and drinking whatever they offered. In Acts 16, we read where Paul sees in Lydia “a worshiper of God.” We know she was not yet a Christian. If she was a Jew, she was backslidden for it was the Sabbath and she was working down by the river. Yet, Paul could tell she was a worshiper of God. How? Be on the look-out for worshipers of God. Does that describe YOU? If so, could someone be looking for you? Like-spirits attract. Keep your eyes open. As such a worshiper yourself, you will be able to work with these people when you meet them. When you share your message with them, they will actually “get it.” The penny will drop. A light will go on. I’ve never had any difficulty ministering to devout Muslims or Hindus or even Satanists. Why? Because they were worshipers of god, i.e., the god they knew and chose to worship. As harvesters, when you reach for that fruit, it will virtually leap into your outstretched hand; no tugging or twisting of the stem required. This is critical to the mission upon which we are called to embark. Author and speaker, Wolfgang Simson says, “Relationships in the Kingdom, I believe, are not an accident; rather God has created very special people for us to “be joined with,” and He himself will choose them for us so that we can bond. God told Moses: “Take Joshua, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hands on him”(Num. 27:18). It was God who revealed Elisha as the successor of Elijah (1 Kings 19:1721). However, this may not always be to our liking, like with Saul who had such great difficulty accepting David as his successor that he literally died with the issue. Saul was proud and therefore jealous. Other leaders are bound by other idols: tradition, fearing people more than God, and have long ago missed the boat of “laying on their hands” on anyone. If they remain in that trap, they will die lonely, like Saul.” Simson goes on to say, “…God, being transgenerational, covenantal and missional at his heart, creates these tailor-made relationships mainly for the sake of “our life’s mission”: a territory, a people group or, rarely, an issue. Should we put the welfare of an organization or a church before that question, we will muddy our own waters and wonder why on earth do the relationships with “these people” around us not work out. Simply put: we are being idolatrous and put, in all practical purposes, a system of work, ministry, doctrine or tradition before God like an idol…” Simson claims that, as his own Church prayed that the Father would reveal to them those with whom they could work, they felt the Lord very clearly point out three distinct things to them: 1. Look for people who have not bowed their knee to Baal. …God’s counsel to Elijah and made us to examine ourselves, and the idols of our own heart….Selfishness, pride, denominational mindsets, ministry styles, pet theologies, methodology, takeover plans, you name it. But we realized soon: anyone “who comes to Goliath in the name of XYZministry,”…has, by default, a divided heart and a double agenda. Saul’s army…would be duly impressed, but Goliath would just laugh. A Christian version of Baal worship…does seem to pursue God’s agenda on the surface, but really be pushing its own alongside. “Would you like to see our brand new brochure?” No, I wouldn’t….Here’s the bottom line: Such a person has been bought by a system usually for the sake of a hired hand job, status, or pension plan and will most likely draw you into his trap, put you like a horse in front of his cart stuck in the mud, and quite seriously love you for a while, because you are so useful for his plans. Beware, said God. Look for people who have died to this game, who laid their agenda on my altar and asked for the fire to fall. 2. Look for people who covenant with my purposes, with each other, and with the land I gave them. This was a tough one, too. Ultimately, we like it the other way round: we love God to covenant with us, become a member of our board, our church, sanction our plans, be our, well, junior partner. Covenanting with Him, we saw, requires change…We realized we need to stop asking God to bless what we are doing and do what He is blessing. Stop asking God to sign our strategy papers, but we ourselves, with our life, sign His. We need to lay down our agenda, even die to it like the kernel of wheat that otherwise stays alone (i.e., stagnating, staggering on, barely making it, fruitless, taking up space but breaking no new ground). As we die even to our great evangelical agendas and let’s face it, many are again money and survival driven, come with prestige and job security, with inherited human tradition that we carry proudly we could become truly and undividedly part of Gods agenda, pledge ourselves to Him no matter what, be separated for His purposes and thus covenant with Him. As we then covenant with those who covenant with Him in such a way forming some sort of regional “Dead Poets Society” we only need to find those that have gotten an answer to the question: God, what territory or people group am I assigned to, what is my mission field, my “apostolic territory” (2 Cor. 10:1318), and who has “married it,” like our African friends sometimes put it. People like Bob Becket in Hemmet, California …bought his grave there as a seminal ministry statement not unlike that of John Knox of old: “Give me Scotland or I die!” 3. Do not trust anyone that does not limp. This reminded us of Jacob wrestling with God. He “won” a fight with the most powerful being on earth and came away limping, with a glaring weakness for all to see like Paul’s thorn. Our biggest fights are never with ourselves, our peers, not even our wife, or even with the devil. Our biggest fight is always with God, and yes, we will come away limping otherwise I believe we have never really fought with God, but with a harmless image of Him that we conveniently created. Beware of folk that come out of “meeting God” and seem pretty unharmed, with a triumphant smile asking you to join their winning team. Look rather for Jacobs-turned-Israels, losers-turned-limpers. Linger here for a while, would you? I had to, as well. It drove me to tears, I had to see some painful truths, and had to make some, yes, painful changes, including closing down a mission work that I had started myself. I had to go wrestle with God again, and no, it was no piece of cake business. Can I make an altar call here? Would you please take off some serious time and pursue God for the sake of pursuing God and ask Him to remove any idols in your heart, address this covenant business and start limping…? Thanks, Wolfgang. Folks, no one is saying we have to be carbon copies of one another. We don’t even have to agree on every issue. But we are called to love despite the issues we have with one another. Yes, they’ll know we are Christians…not by our elaborate buildings, our meetings, our Sunday clothes or our bumper stickers…but by our love for one another. Wolfgang Simson works in Germany as a strategy consultant, researcher and journalist within the DAWN International Network. He is the author of Houses That Change the World. Join us for the North Central Texas House Church Conference Jan 27, 2007, 10AM - 6PM Double Tree Hotel, Carrollton, TX Conference is FREE but Registrations ARE necessary by Jan 20th, 2007 TO REGISTER: Write team1min@our-town.com and type “CONF” in the Subject Bar and give the NAME of all attendees including children…we’ll be in touch after that. ABOUT THE AUTHOR His mission is to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body of Christ. Since ‘99, he has broadcast over 600 inspirational articles and a dozen booklets on subjects sure to interest the thinking Christian and accelerate the process of spiritual development. He is the founder of t.e.a.m. ministries. An Author, Pastoral Counselor and Teacher, his eMail broadcasts, known as “Your Town for Jesus” are read around the globe. Subscribe at team1min@our-town.com.com A licensed/ordained minister, a Certified Workplace Chaplain, and a Professional Member of NIBIC, he has ministered in Methodist, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Baptist, Disciples of Christ, College and Cowboy churches. He is the Workplace Chaplain for a Texas firm, overseeing the Spiritual Development of over 500 employees at ten facilities throughout the state. He is a strong advocate for the House Church Movement, readily available to assist Christians feeling that same inclination. A Speaker on the Christian Speaker Network, he may be available to speak to your church or Christian group. 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