SHEEP BEGET SHEEP
(JOHN 15:16)
The whole Calvary Chapel movement started with Chuck and Kay Smith sitting near the ocean at Huntington Beach praying fervently together for the lost young people that were all around. If we are walking with the Lord, it is essential that we have a heart for the lost, a deep and burning, unquenchable desire to see the lost evangelized and missions throughout the globe. Our zeal for missions and evangelism should be deep. Our congregations must catch the vision to reach the lost and be involved directly in missionary work, and evangelism.
Beware, however, of mission and evangelism programs and gimmicks. As pastors, our primary responsibility is to feed His sheep - the Christians - in order that they might do the work of the ministry (see Ephesians 4). If we are feeding the flock the pure Word of God, verse by verse study of the whole counsel of God, they will be healthy. And healthy sheep will automatically and naturally reproduce without the artificial aid of programs. Healthy sheep share their faith, they have a burden for missions, and they seek the lost. We do not have to pump them up or push them, it flows naturally. Feed the flock and it will reproduce.
Mission programs, outreaches of evangelistic nature, social help and relief are all vital, but they are by-products, they are the fruit of solid Bible teaching, not ends in themselves. You'll never find peace by pursuing it, it is only found in Jesus, find Him and you'll have peace as a by-product. Similarly, you'll never build a missions program by seeking it directly (at least not one that God's in). Feed His people, and missions will be part of the fruit.
And where does it start? It starts with prayer. Get together to pray for the lost. Seek God's face that He might give you souls for your hire.
