Every one of us is, in every sense of the term, creatures of comfort. We enjoy everything this modern world has given us and enjoy the company of our friends and family. This reality even enters into our religious life, even though God has commanded us otherwise. In fact there are more than 67 verses that talk about our responsibility to witness to the masses.
Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. – Matthew 5:15
Many of us don’t like to witness because we are afraid that it will make us, and the people we are talking to, uncomfortable. Even though the Holy Spirit pulls us to witness to the people around us, we resist and hope that somebody else will do it for us. While it is easy to sit back and wait for somebody else to spread the Good News, God has commanded us to be that somebody. As uncomfortable as this makes you, you must remember that you are not trying to sell Amway, but eternal salvation. You are not preaching to annoy these people but are preaching to save them from an eternity separated from God. This is not just a nice thing to do, but it has been commanded to you by God through His son Jesus Christ.
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 all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. – Matthew 28:19-20
In pulpits around the world we hear preachers talk about going outside of our comfort zone and going to the unreached in order to spread the gospel, but few obey these commands. One of the groups of people who are in desperate need of salvation are the hundreds of thousands of veterans that live in our communities, but have yet to find God. The sad reality is that many service members’ entire time in the military was spent relying on themselves or their comrades, while their Heavenly Father was oftentimes the furthest thing away from their minds. Our chaplains do an unbelievable job ministering to those who seek them, but they are limited by what they can do as far as evangelizing. Unless this nation’s service members look for God themselves or have a brother or sister to help them, they can go their entire enlistment without even stepping within earshot of someone who would tell them that Jesus loves them and died for their sins. Actively seeking out veterans and showing them that they are not the sum of their experiences is not just a nice thing to do, but is our responsibility.
Being friendly to the people within your circle of friends or family doesn’t help grow the Kingdom of God. Stepping away from that which is comfortable and into what is right does. These men and women who sacrificed so much for our country deserve to know the peace and comfort that comes with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Those of us who know Him have a responsibility to spread the gospel to those who haven’t given their life to Christ, not because some guy on the internet says so, but because Jesus told us so.
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. – Mark 16:15
As you sit at your kitchen table tonight and pray over your meal thanking God for everything that you have and finishing it off by asking Him to bless your body to His service, think about what that really means. Think about the early church fathers that died horrible deaths in order for you personally to understand salvation and the love of God. They did not have the benefits of modern comforts, but they did forgo their very lives in order to do what is right and what God commanded them to do. Kind of difficult to complain about an uncomfortable conversation in light of this, doesn’t it? This is not a condemnation, for God knows I have not done everything that I could have, but it’s just a plea for all of us to do a better job of reaching out to the unsaved veterans of this country. They’ve earned it, but they need you to take the first step.
