Christian missionary work does not belong to just a few selected people anymore. Evangelization of the world is the responsibility of every disciple of Jesus Christ. All of us are called and empowered to be carriers of the good news of Jesus Christ.

The evangelization of the world will not be accomplished by fulltime Christian workers. Believers from all walks of life will be required to fulfill God’s purposes in these last days. The Great Commission is not the great suggestion. It is a mandate for all of us.

David Shibley talks about this in one of his books. According to him, each believer needs five things to accomplish God’s purposes for the world: 1) a global world view, 2) an open mind, 3) a clear understanding of the gospel of salvation, 4) a Pentecostal experience, and 5) a noticeably different Christian lifestyle. In other words, Shibley is calling us to return to our roots, but he is not calling all of us to full time ordained ministry.

Evangelization belongs to men as well as women. The world desperately needs women missionaries. There are 500 million Muslim women in the world who need to hear the good news. They are prohibited from dealing with men. Only women will get to relate to them. There is a reason why the prophet Joel said, “Your sons and daughters will prophecy.” Our daughters must join our sons and declare the word of the Lord to this generation. They must share the gospel in word and deed.

Have you considered this? God the Father is a missionary. God the Son is also a missionary. So is God the Holy Spirit. As the Father sent the Son, so the Son has sent us into the world.

God called a people in the Old Testament and prepared the world for the savior. In the New Testament, God sent His Son into the world as Savior. The Father and the Son sent the Spirit to empower the Church. But will the Church go and change the world through the power of the Gospel?

It is time for all Pentecostal groups to actively cooperate on efforts to evangelize the world. Building organizations or facilities is not a substitute for evangelization. Pentecostal young people must lead the Church to obey the Great Commission.

We are all missionaries. We should not wait for others to do our part anymore. We must go ourselves. We must go to the nations. We must go to people groups near and far. We must go to the rich and to the poor. We must go with the mind of Christ (Phil. 2: 5), the word of Christ (Col. 3: 16), and the peace of God in our hearts (Phil. 4: 7). We must go.

We must forsake our national and cultural superiority complexes and go. We must go indebted to Jesus, empowered by the Spirit and compelled by God’s love. The love of God that is shed aboard in our hearts must overflow into the world. This is what the Spirit is saying through many to the Church today.

We are pilgrims and aliens in this world. Pilgrims are identified not by the country through which they travel, but by the country of their destination. We seek a city whose builder and maker is God. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We have been called to be sent. We are a family and a community of faith. We are the people of God called to bear witness to the power of Christ by living a radically Christian lifestyle. Our testimony must get outside the four walls of our churches. This may involve only part time ministry and short term missions, but it involves fulltime Christian living!

I call you to such a life in the name of Jesus Christ!