Have We Missed the Point?

At my pastor's urging, I have been going through all of David Platt's "Secret Church" seminars as of late. Wow. If you are reading this, join me. You can find all the materials (study guides included) ABSOLUTELY FREE at http://http://www.disciplemakingintl.org/media/schurch/?cur_tab=series. Seriously, you won't be disappointed.

In the very first session on the Old Testament, David says something that just cuts me to the quick:

"If what is discussed in the next few hours stops in your life, then we have missed the entire point, and we have received and given ourselves over to a self-centered study of his word. This night is aimed at reproducing everything that has been entrusted to us from God's Word and teaching it to others. Then, we will be a part of making disciples of all nations, and it won't just be thinking about the people in Africa, but we will have the opportunity to impact the people of Africa."

How many times have I given myself over to a "self-centered study" of God's Word? Where I focus only on how much knowledge or "spirituality" I can collect. How shameful. How foolish. How wicked.

In my sin, how many souls have I negatively affected? If I had only been more focused on the infiltration of the Word into enemy camps, how many souls would have turned to God? How far-reaching could my influence have been--when one person tells another, and that person continues the trend?

We mourn the loss of aborted children, or become enraged at the sound of heretical teachers, and we should! We should be an advocate for the unborn, and point out liars, but I wonder sometimes if maybe we spend too much time pining away for what is already lost. What if the message of Christ were to permeate our thought life and actions? Maybe we could have ministered to that young girl before she became pregnant. Maybe we could have been more interested in the young man who would one day become a false teacher. Maybe, just maybe, the wickedness we see in the world around us is a direct result of our indifference to the message of Jesus.

Oh, we say we love Christ, but when is the last time we got our hands dirty? When is the last time we mentored a student? When is the last time we did something God-honoring outside of a "mission trip" where we can "give a report in church" (which is often synonymous with "see how spiritual I am!")?

I guess the bottom line is: Do I care enough about the message of Christ? Do I care enough about Africa, or Asia, or South America? Do I truly wish to honor my persecuted brothers and sisters?