Monthly Devo - Here and To the Ends of the Earth
Fourteen years ago, my wife and I felt a strong calling to go to peoples and places that didn’t have access to Jesus. Jesus was, and still is, the best thing in the universe—life-altering and eternity-changing—and we couldn’t rest knowing there were those living and dying without ever hearing about or experiencing him.
As we were checking out different organizations serving in these kinds of places, researching, praying, and asking the Lord for his leading, a thought kept lingering in the back of my mind: Do I want to serve with an organization that only does work "over there"? The answer was no. If we—and the organization we were going to serve with—were serious about Jesus and his ways, then wherever we found ourselves, we would be doing the work of Jesus.
When we visited One Collective’s home office to learn more about the organization, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only did we have an office in Elgin, IL, but we also had a team there doing the work of Jesus in the community we call home as an organization. This just felt right to me. It felt full of integrity, like One Collective was living out the same convictions that also compels us to send people far away to "the ends of the earth."
A lot of ink has been spilled over Acts 1:8:
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
People have debated these words for a long time. Some argue that Jesus was placing more importance on one location over another, convincing people to focus on home first instead of sending people to the ends of the earth—or vice versa. I think that misses the point. In fact, I think it misses the larger narrative of Scripture. Jesus was painting a picture of every place being touched and transformed by the power of God. The Kingdom of God coming, touching every place and people.
At One Collective, this means we don’t get to ignore any people or places. We can’t ignore those in unreached people groups who don’t have access to the good news of Jesus—we have to send people there. It also means we can’t ignore the hurting and broken in our cities here in the US or other countries around the world. We have to go there, too.
Thank you for walking this Jesus journey with us as we (You and One Collective) follow him into every community he calls us to. Whether that is Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, or the ends of the earth.
Derrick
One Collective Disciple Making Strategist
