Just be a Follower

In the broadcast industry, the time in between news shows is usually slow. The studio lights are off, the cameras have been pushed to the back wall, and the buzz of the people in the newsroom has dulled to a low hum. You can still hear a phone or two ringing, but the operation speed of the newsroom has declined by a great deal.


It is during these times that I have the opportunity to read e-mail, surf the Internet for fun mini-vacation ideas, check bank account statements, watch TV, or call family and friends to catch up on life and their little corner of the world. I also like to take these few hours to think, meditate on and read God's Word (via the Internet), and pray...not nearly as much as I should, however.


Several months ago I was sitting at my desk in between the 6 and 11 o'clock shows; I believe it was a Saturday evening. I was recalling a conversation I had with a dear friend of mine on benevolence. The simple act of giving. I remember discussing how different churches use the offering and which of these practices made no sense. For example, continuing to pay a youth minister when the vast majority of the congregation wasn't happy with the quality of his work. To dish out more and more of your congregants money like this is maddening! There are much more productive ways to use weekly contributions than that!


I'm not sure why, but after recounting that conversation my mind took flight. I began a series of thoughts along the lines of "If I Could Just be a Christian". My brain raced with all sorts of ideas of how Amy and I could spend our time if all we had to be concerned with was simply being Christ's followers. Of all the possibilities, my mind and heart came together solidly on one.


If I Could Just be a Christian I would work to bring the Bible, appropriately translated, to every nation in the world. That's it! If we didn't have to worry about providing money, health, security, safety, and a future to our families this is what I would do.


It sounds daunting. It sounds insurmountable. It sounds impossible. I know.



I once heard a joke that went, "You wanna make God laugh...tell Him your plans". I must have had the Almighty Creator of the Cosmos rolling out of His desk chair and on to the golden street outside of Heaven's Gates when he heard me think like that.


But what a mission that would be! The hours spent tracking down translators of rare languages, planning and coordinating with a church body in the host country, building relationships with its people, praying over the work and letting God have full control. Knowing that all the while you toil it is only God's grace and mercy that will give the increase.


That is truly living!


Imagine accompanying each and every delivery of God's saving Word to the people of a land controlled by tyrannical governments. Seeing the faces of those who are, at that very moment, braving pain of death just to have the chance to read their own copy of the New Testament would be almost too much to witness. Knowing not a single word of their native tongue but speaking Christs' love just by holding the hands of these brothers and sisters in Christ as ear-to-ear smiles go unceasing... talk about having a purpose!


I will likely never get that chance but...


If I Could Just be a Christian, I would take a translated Bible to every nation in the world.


What would you do?