A few years ago, I found myself in a place of exhaustion. I love what I do, but I found myself wondering what it would look like to just quit. I imagined a life of indefinite sabbatical, hanging out with my husband and family, relaxed and unburdened by the heavy weight of this call on my life. I asked God, “Is this the time? Do we close everything down?” Looking back, I was just so weary.
As I asked God what to do, a friend of mine prayed specifically for God to give me clarity. The very night of that prayer, I had a dream — a dream that Jesus was coming back in ten years. While I have no idea if Jesus will actually come back in ten years or tomorrow or generations from now, what I do know is that this dream changed me and I haven’t been the same since. I haven’t thought about quitting one time since, because I have resolved that in the small chance He is coming back soon, I am going to do my part.
What about you? Imagine if you knew with absolute certainty (reminder, we don’t) that Jesus is coming back in ten years. What would change about your life? What would change about what you’re thinking about and what you’re doing with your time?
Here’s what I know down deep in my core: if we as a Church knew this, it would change everything. We would become ablaze with single-mindedness, and we would fix our solely eyes on Jesus. More specifically, I believe that if we as a global Church knew that Jesus was coming back in ten years, we would know our mission, we would come together, and we would hate our sin.
We would know our mission.
Matthew 28:18-20 tells us Jesus’s last words to his disciples and is known by most of us as the Great Commission. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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’” (ESV). Jesus couldn’t have been clearer: the mission of the Church is discipleship.
What is discipleship? It’s leading someone who doesn’t know God to the ways of Jesus. If we’re also discipling people who already know Jesus, then we should be discipling them to disciple people who don’t know Jesus to know Jesus! (Is that a tongue twister or what?!)
If we knew Jesus was coming back in ten years, we would be obsessed with helping the lost know Jesus. This mission to “go and make disciples” would feel crystal clear and incredibly urgent.
But many of us have found our mission out of a place of drive rather than calling. How can you know if you’re living driven or living called?
Driven people…
- Need affirmation before they feel good about something.
- Spend more time online than with Jesus.
- Compare their results to others’.
- Constantly look to arrive at an achievement.
- Live frustrated at their lack of opportunities.
- Get anxious when they aren’t performing.
- Check numbers all the time.
- Think of how others can elevate them.
- Share their weakness publicly before they confess it privately.
But called people…
- Have nothing to lose and nothing to prove.
- Celebrate others’ successes easily.
- Enjoy the work that God has for them no matter the results.
- Are comfortable confessing weakness and sin.
- Seek out and recognize others.
- Enjoy Jesus.
- Prioritize real life relationships over online significance.
- Think about how they can elevate others.
“Driven vs. called” is one of the main ways that the enemy has hijacked the Church’s mission because we have been distracted by looking for significance rather than focused on kingdom impact. We have loved other things more than God and made things more complicated than Jesus intended. I believe that if the Church knew Jesus was coming back in ten years, we would live as called people on a mission to make disciples.
There are 2.5 billion Christians on Earth, and 5.5 billion people on earth who don’t know Jesus yet. How could the world be changed if each and every Jesus follower discovered, resolved and were commissioned into the cause of making Jesus known? This is what we will be doing at Gather25 — mobilizing the Church to participate in the mission of God and to “go and make disciples.”
We would come together.
When we’re all looking for significance, we tend to separate from each other. We live isolated and become lonely as we focus on our own drive. But when we lean into living called, we come together for the only thing that will last: the kingdom of God. Like the Avengers coming together (do you love the Marvel movies as much as I do?), when we work together as a team, unbelievable things are possible that we simply cannot do alone.
This idea of coming together is intrinsically tied to our vision for Gather25. Our dream is to gather the global Church — every man, woman, and child who follows Jesus. Leaders across many different streams of Christian faith share our vision to work together for the gospel.
Acts 2:42-47 (ESV) describes the early Church this way: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
If we are living like Jesus is coming back in ten years, we as the Church will come together in a similar way; we will fellowship together, we will be devoted to the teaching of the Word, we will praise God together, and we will sacrificially love our neighbors.
A picture God gave me of this coming together is of a big boat with lots of small boats behind it. Believers all around the world, across different continents, languages, and denominations, have been rowing in their small boats. But the time has come for us to get on the big boat together. We need each other, and it’s time that we all set aside petty arguments and division and instead get caught up in the big story of God!
We have called Gather25 “the greatest group project ever,” and that is how we see it! Through technology that has only recently existed, we can gather the global Church to participate in the same livestream and instantly translate our content to 14 languages. We are bringing Christians around the world together so that we can send them back out to their local communities with a shared vision for the mission of making disciples.
We would hate our sin.
Hebrews 12:1-3 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
If we as a Church knew that Jesus was coming back in ten years, I believe that we would hate our sin. We would be renewed in the fight to, as Hebrews says, “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” as we look to Jesus. We would fix our eyes on Jesus instead of the trivial pursuits that do nothing but distract us from our mission.
What would this look like? A few ideas…
- We would not be consumed with materialism.
- We would not numb out with entertainment.
- We would not be in sexual sin.
- We would not yell at our kids.
- We would not lie or hide.
- We would not gossip or be critical of others.
- We would not be addicted to our phones, to food, or to the approval of others.
- We would lay down self-loathing and insecurity.
- We would lay down greed and discontentment.
Holiness is the way we will show people our God. It’s the way Israel showed people their God, and it’s the way Jesus called us to show people. The world doesn’t hate Christians because we are like Jesus; they hate us because we aren’t. The more we become like Jesus, with holiness, truth, grace and love coming together in our lives, the more we spread Jesus to our churches, communities, and the world.
Have you been afraid to name the sin that’s entangled you? Sin flees when it’s brought into the light. If we truly want to throw off the sin that so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1 NIV), we have to name that sin. We have to confess to one another.
When Jesus comes back — whenever that might be — let’s be the most single-minded, full-hearted, confessed people on earth. There is no condemnation (Romans 8:1)! Live your life in the light and help others live in the light. Be brave, and share the thing you’re scared to share with someone you trust.
Be ready.
At Gather25, believers will come together not only to worship and be inspired, but also to pray and repent.
Jesus is coming back. We don’t know for certain if it’s in ten years, but we don’t know for certain that it’s not.
He has called us, his beloved Church, to know our mission, come together, and hate our sin, all for the sake of making disciples of all nations. This is why Gather25 exists. Will you join us?
Get the exclusive Gather edition of the NIV Jesus Everywhere Bible at 30% off for a limited time at FaithGateway.
American author, speaker, and visionary of Gather25, Jennie Allen has been inviting womenfrom around the world to follow Jesus and to disciple others to do the same for over a decade through IF:Gathering. With a dream and vision to gather the global Church, Jennie began assembling a team for Gather25 in 2023. Find out more about Jennie’s ministry atjennieallen.com.
