The Two-Hundred-Seventieth (Our Mission Part 1)

This week, we’re going to cover a topic that you may have wondered about as you studied scripture.  There’s bits and pieces of how we should act as believers and what we should do for the Kingdom of Heaven all over scripture, but if you just pick and choose something here and something there you’re not really getting down to the root of what our mission is.  In fact, I believe that our mission is summarized in something Yeshua told His followers they are, rather than what He told them to do.

In the teaching that’s commonly called the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua told the people that they are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16).  A lot of Christians today use this passage to talk about doing good, which is a perfectly fine message to give for these verses, but there’s something missing when that’s all you focus on.  Yes, Yeshua spoke about good works and the world seeing them so that YHWH will be glorified, but that’s not the end all and be all of being a light.

Just think about it.  When you look into the world, there are plenty of non-Christians doing very good things in it.  Food pantries, aid to the people of poor nations, housing for the homeless, and liberation of children and adults from human trafficking are just a few things you can see.  While some that do these things may be Christians, there are non-Christians that do them as well.

Are all those non-Christians, non-believers, also a light to the world?  Was Yeshua talking to them?  Clearly not, since He also talked about YHWH being their Father multiple times in that sermon, and the majority of non-Christians don’t even believe He exists.  

No, He was talking to believers, and His message of being a light meant more than just being boiled down to “doing good.”  In order for us to be a light, we have to be different from the world.  We have to be set apart in some way.  Otherwise, you could set a non-believer who does good works and a believer side by side and there would be nothing for the rest of the world to distinguish between them that would end up leading them to Yeshua and the Father.  Why would someone glorify YHWH, as Yeshua said, if a non-believer did the same good things the believer did?  Just because the believer says they follow the Father?  Of course not!

You have to ask yourself then, how do we set ourselves apart from the world as believers such that our good works will cause non-believers to glorify YHWH?  What do we do in our lives, besides just the good works, to make it so obvious that the Father should be glorified rather than us just being called a good person?  I mean, you look at Buddhists, Hindus, even non-radical Muslims and the world would call them good people.  Two of those religions believe in karma, so the basis of them doing good is for personal gain, but what does the world care?  As long as a person puts others above themselves, whatever the reason, the world calls them a good person.  In fact, it’s no wonder that unbelieving man has elevated himself and gotten rid of YHWH, because if that’s the way to define a good person then you would have to glorify man for being so selfless that they would sacrifice personal gain to help others.

There has to be more in order for us to be a light that causes the world to glorify the Father.  A non-believer has to look at a believer and see an undeniable connection to Him that give them no choice but to attribute that believer’s whole life to YHWH.  Our lives have to be a full, complete, all-encompassing light, and to figure out the way to do that we have to start back at the beginning.

What we sometimes fail to recognize as believers is the hierarchy of our lives and the requirement for us to ensure every level of that hierarchy is a light.  Even more, that in order for the next layer of the hierarchy to be a light, the previous one has to be a light as well.  There’s multiple lessons in scripture about this, but somehow it gets missed a lot of the time.  

The smallest, and most basic, level of our lives is simply ourselves.  As you might guess, since this level is the one that every other level is built upon, it is by far the most important one.  This one is actually the one that will give non-believers no choice but to glorify YHWH because it is the one that is directly connected to Him.  So, what does it mean to make this level of our lives a light?  

We see the answer in the Garden of Eden, and it’s emphasized in Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount.  Adam was given commandments by YHWH for him to follow, the most famous of which was for him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17), and following YHWH’s commandments is the light at the most basic level of the hierarchy of our lives.  Yeshua made this connection when directly after He preached about being a light He preached about the Law (Matthew 5:17-48).  

You see, the foundation of the hierarchy of our lives is ourselves, and if our foundation is weak or non-existent we cannot build any of the other levels of our hierarchy in such a way that it will be a light to the world that would cause the world to glorify the Father.  Again, Yeshua preached about the importance of a strong foundation during His ministry.  At the end of His sermon on the mount, He talked about listening and doing His words being a foundation of rock, and not doing them being a foundation of sand (Matthew 7:24-27).  And that wasn’t the only time He used this analogy (Luke 6:47-49).

He was telling everyone He was preaching to, and us, by way of the writings of Matthew and Luke, that the foundation of who we are as believers and the beginning of us being a light to the world is what we do as individuals.  If we don’t get that right, then we are building the rest of our lives on sand and it will all come crashing down.  Think of it like a lighthouse.      

Lighthouses guide ships at sea and also warn them of danger.  That’s their mission.  They wouldn’t be too successful in their mission if they were built on sand and toppled over during every storm or even due to normal, day to day wave action.  The same goes for us as believers.  The one thing that is guaranteed to cause structural failure of a building, like a lighthouse for example, is a foundation that allows for movement.  One that is unstable.  Without the immovable foundation of YHWH’s, and by extension Yeshua’s, commandments, we have no hope of being successful at being a light to the world.

Let’s look at a real world example of this.  This week, I listened to someone talk about his experience with the religion aspect of Christianity, with one of these experiences as him being a part of the worship teams of two megachurches at the same time.  He also had gone to multiple seminaries prior to this, and was raised in a conservative Baptist church, and he admitted that he most enjoyed the megachurch worship because he felt that it moved him the most.  

The problem was, he said, he would sit in the church meetings and there would constantly be the question of how to keep people from leaving the church.  “Closing the back door,” he said they called it.  The cause of this problem?  The church did nothing to address the foundations of being a believer.  It was all “be kind to your neighbor”-type stuff, so once the initial excitement of joining this massive church and singing praise songs wore off, the people found nothing to stick around for.

What’s worse is he became friends with one of the megachurch pastors, even considered him a mentor, and when that pastor wanted to go off and create his own church with the goal of it being based directly from scripture he gave this guy the task of finding out what that means.  After diligent study and seeking the answer from the Word and the Holy Spirit, the megachurch pastor didn’t like what this guy found.  He told him to go off to a house church for a year and then come back with what he learned or if he changed his mind, but it wasn’t six months before that pastor was preaching against this guy and saying he was “putting himself under the Law” and was “no longer under the law of grace.”

I’m certainly summarizing this whole story, but the bottom line is the pastor’s message continued to be about being a good person, which is literally something anyone in the world can be according to worldly standards, and when we create that as our foundation, that foundation can be moved.  Nowhere is this more evident than in progressive Christianity.  To the point where the next sin that the world justifies as acceptable becomes promoted by these churches.    

Once we have that foundation of rock in our individual lives, YHWH’s and Yeshua’s commandments and living our lives according to them, we have the first row of bricks, so to speak, of our lighthouse.  It’s a short lighthouse, so it doesn’t reach very far.  Only those in our immediate vicinity, our family and close friends, can see it.

The next row of bricks, and therefore the next level of our hierarchy, is our spouse.  When becoming one with someone in marriage, the first thing to recognize is that we’re building on that first row of bricks.  Yes, we should be working in harmony with each other, but I firmly believe that if you let the Holy Spirit guide you in laying that first row of bricks, you will be successful in this harmony without having to change out any of those bricks.

Every once in awhile, I think back to Adam and Eve and wonder what our world would be like if Adam had stuck to following YHWH’s commandment when Eve presented him the fruit.  What if he had remained steadfast to YHWH?  He obviously loved Eve enough to join her in transgressing YHWH, so what if, because of that love, he offered to YHWH that he should die instead of her?  I mean, if Yeshua was the last Adam and He loved us enough to die for us, it stands to reason that Adam could have done the same for Eve, prior to his sin, and what would have happened then?

It's this dedication to YHWH that He desires, and even rewards.  You can see that in the blessings that he laid out for following His commandments (Deuteronomy 28:1-14).  Even the world respects those who have values and sticks to them, so why not just have the ones that YHWH told us to have?  Your spouse will see this as a strength, and will be naturally inclined to follow your lead.  Especially if, through testing and adversity, you stand fast on that foundation.

You and your spouse standing on that rock and living in harmony with each other is the next layer of bricks in your lighthouse.  Yes, you’re going to have disagreements and will have to work through them, but if you do that in the context of scripture your marriage will get stronger with each one.  Now, your lighthouse is slightly higher and can be seen from a farther distance.  More people can see the light that you provide.  Your spouse’s friends and family are added to yours in being able to see who you are and what you do, and thereby glorify YHWH for it.  You and your spouse go off and do new things, making new friends and acquaintances as a couple, and they also see your light.

Can you guess what the next layer is?  That’s right, your children, whether born to you or adopted.  Let me tell you, this may be the most challenging layer of bricks to lay!  But, at the same time, it’s the most rewarding.  

You and your spouse raising your children according to the foundation that you are both on is how you raise your lighthouse to the next level.  Bringing them up according to the way of YHWH not only shows the light of YHWH to others as they see your family together, but once those children go out into the world they become a light themselves.  With the rebellious nature inherent in every person, it will not be easy, but His Word tells us that if we hold firm and stick with it they will be that light when they’re older (Proverbs 22:6).  With every child, your light reaches exponentially more and more people as they go off and interact with the world, eventually finding their own spouse, and building their own family.

These ideas are also scriptural, as we can see in Paul’s first letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 3:1-7), and from there, as you can guess, the levels of hierarchy of our lives expand in concentric circles.  From your acquaintances to your co-workers to the people you meet on the street, each level builds on the previous one so that all the way down to your core your light shines out.  In some cases, unfortunately, believers go out and want to be that evangelistic light to the world but when you get past their preaching and look at the next layer down you find there is no light.  Their children are ungodly, their marriage is falling apart, and their morals change with the wind.

These believers likely have the best intentions, but failed to recognize that when Yeshua talked about being a light to the world, He wasn’t just speaking about nations that are foreign to you.  He was talking about your spouse, your family, your friends, and literally any one you meet.  Once that next layer down is found by the person being preached to, the evangelist becomes just another “good person” and there’s, once again, a lack of justification for that person to choose being a believer over some other religion.

The other part about being a light that many overlook is how to spread Yeshua’s message when the Holy Spirit is leading you to do so.  A lot of times we see it as our job to convince people of the truth, or that we need to “win” people over.  Not only should we share the message gently when needed and more harshly when needed, as described by Jude (Jude 1:22-23), we should also recognize that Yeshua Himself told us the Kingdom of Heaven is like a seed (Matthew 13:1-23).  While we may plant the message, it will only grow if the conditions are right, and we must leave that aspect to the Holy Spirit.  Yes, we must be invested in those we are trying to reach with the gospel and desire them to believe in it, but we must also know the limitations of the situation or we will end up turning people away from the gospel inadvertently by aggressive tactics used to convince them.

Regarding this, what it really comes down to is trust in the Holy Spirit and letting Him lead.  We know that each believer is more talented in certain gifts over others (Ephesians 4:11-16), but even if you’re naturally a teacher versus an evangelist, for example, that doesn’t mean you’re never to evangelize.  Whatever situation you’re in, He may have you do things that aren’t what you usually do, and we have to be ready and willing to listen to Him on those things and do them.  Or, perhaps in one situation we’re just supposed to do or say a certain thing, but in another situation we’re supposed to go through the whole gospel and lay it out, in detail, piece by piece.

Many Christians today are lacking light at one or more levels in the hierarchy of their lives, not meeting their mission, and the reason is that Christianity has boiled down all of Yeshua’s teachings to “being a good person.”  Man has convinced himself that is all that’s needed in order to be in Yeshua’s Kingdom, and it has resulted in the world not being convinced that Yeshua is the answer for everything.  Imagine a world where every professing Christian has a strong foundation in YHWH’s commandments and is blessed as a result, their marriage is strong and healthy, and their children are kind, gentle, helpful followers of Him while the rest of the world is broken, sad, angry and depressed.  

We’ve convinced ourselves that rather than following the commandments it’s sufficient to be a good person, not realizing that transgressing those commandments, sinning, results in the brokenness we see in the world and the curses that we experience (Deuteronomy 28:15-48).  Blindness, nakedness, failed crops, sores, mental illness, sickness, destruction, it’s all there.  It’s the way He built the world; the way it inherently operates.  

We are to consult His Law and testimony and speak from it, otherwise there is no light in us (Isaiah 8:20).  We’ll be distressed, hungry, roaming, becoming famished and enraged and looking up at YHWH, cursing him (Isaiah 8:21).  Looking back at the world, we’ll only see distress, darkness, and gloom, being thrust into utter darkness (Isaiah 8:22).  

His commandments are the only foundation from which we can complete our mission of being a light to the world.  It starts with ourselves, and then works outwardly, concentrically, from those closest to us all the way to those we just happen by on the street.  Next week we’ll look at why we don’t see as many of these layers having light as we should in the world; how Christianity may have missed the mark in completing its mission in the world.

Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!

-Rob and Sara Gene

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The Gospel

We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)

The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death (Romans 6:23)

Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death (Hebrews 4:15)

His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death

(2 Corinthians 5:21)

He rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)

Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life

(1 Corinthians 15:17-18, John 3:16)