To celebrate the 23^rd anniversary of our church’s founding, I thought I would emphasize our motto of: “Reaching Out to the World, and Beyond!” Following is an excerpt from my book, “Trinity of Balance” (Tate Publishers, 2012), about the Great Commission.

We watch the evening news and are taken aback by the violence on the streets—the murders, rapes, and robberies. Then we hear of the white-collar and political crimes around the world, often more heinous for their injury or death to hundreds, if not thousands. And we ask ourselves, “Where is God during all this?” Maybe He is waiting to be introduced to these perpetrators by you. Maybe there is something you can do to make a difference.

One former white-collar criminal, Charles Colson, of Nixon-era Watergate infamy, made a commitment to follow Christ while he was still in prison. He was serving time for breaking into the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Apartments in Washington, DC. After his release, he began a prison ministry to reach through the bars to men and women just like him. I would speculate that the recidivism rate has been cut drastically among the convicts whose lives were changed as a result of Chuck’s ministry.

You do not have to be a convict to reach those behind prison walls. Nor do you have to be drug abuser to tell an addict about the reforming power of Christ’ love. Some ministers, especially those who are soliciting donations for their ministry, might say that you can send someone else in your stead to fulfill your obligations under the Great Commission. It’s true that you should find one or two foreign mission projects that have a good record of financial accountability to regularly support, the best of which are supported by your denomination’s conference or synod.

However, that does not let you off the hook for doing whatever witnessing you can do closer to home. After all, Christ told His disciples in Acts 1:8b (paraphrased) to be witnesses for Him in Jerusalem (their city), in Judea (their state), and in Samaria (the neighboring region), and to the ends of the earth. So just because you have sent your proxy to the ends of the earth, your witness is still commanded in your city, state, and region.

You can begin fulfilling your commission by first living a life beyond reproach so that you give no offense or excuse for others to reject what you offer in the name of Christ. Then, as opportunities are presented, you can plant seeds in their hearts that the Holy Spirit can grow to conversion. So, with whom do we share the love of Christ? With the prisoner, with the banker, with the Gentile and the Jew, with the harlot, with the painter, with the many and the few!

One way to share the love of Christ is by showing courtesy and restraint in traffic. A few years ago, when the little chrome fish Christian symbols that you stick on the rear of your car were gaining in popularity, I heard about a couple atheists who would search out cars on the highway with such chrome fish or crosses on their car. The one in the passenger seat would use a video camera to capture the Christian symbols, and then they would drive past them and cut them off. The atheist driver would slam on the brakes as he gave obscene gestures out the car window. Unaware of the camera, the presumed Christian would many times return the obscene gesture with a scowl on his face.

So if you cannot control your anger when someone tries to steal your joy, please do not have a little chrome fish or a “Follow Me to St. Joseph’s” bumper sticker on your car. On the internet, there is a painful example of a Christian driver who needs to scrape the religious message off his rear glass. You can see this at www.youtube.com/watch?v=th9-ZYSdKOs.

A corporal in my Marine Air Wing squadron in Beaufort, South Carolina, had a George Wallace ’68 campaign sticker on his rear bumper. He was from a very liberal, neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, so when he would go home on leave, he would temporarily hide it. He would place a Hubert Humphrey sticker, to which he had glued small magnets, over the Wallace name in order to help prevent political vandalism to his car.

Sometimes I think that some Christians should cover their little chrome fishes and “Jesus Saves” stickers with something a bit more secular rather than presenting a bad image of Christ by the way they drive. Please do not be the star of your own YouTube video. Drive courteously, and practice restraint. Before we “reach out to the world,” we’ll need to show that we have something they will want when they see it!