The folks at Lead Like Jesus reminded me in a recent devotional that Jesus’ role on earth was to make God known. And since we are to pattern our lives after Jesus, it seems that should be in our game plan, too.

So, if I asked you what is the purpose of your ministry, what would it be? While in Brazil recently I was reminded that many people in that country never think of God. Yes, there are many Christians in Brazil. There are many Christians in America, too, but as I look at the culture I wonder if they consider God in their daily lives. The examples of a nation far from God are all around us.

A recent Disney animated series for FXX television is about a young girl who is the product of Satan having sex with this girl’s mother. One film industry website described the program this way: “After being impregnated by the Devil, a reluctant mother and her Antichrist daughter attempt to live an ordinary life in Delaware.”

What? Disney? If anyone at Disney or FXX is thinking of God, it isn’t in a good way. In all my years I have never seen a time when people needed to see the light of the Lord and know the sacrifice He made for their sins like today. The words to an old hymn by P. P. Bliss ring as true today as when penned in 1875:

The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin,

The Light of the world is Jesus!

But how will our world know of Jesus and His love if they don’t hear it and see it in the lives of Christians? That holds true for our ministries, too. What happens when a non-believer comes across your ministry? What happens when they encounter you in the daily routine of life? While not every experience with those who don’t know Christ is your spiritual responsibility, we ought to be sensitive to the fact it might be our assignment.

You may say your ministry is not largely evangelistic. Yet you do have a responsibility toward those God brings across your path. Henry Blackaby pointed that out.

“We were not saved from our sin simply so that we would qualify for heaven. God delivered us so we would have a relationship with Him through which He could carry out His mission to redeem a lost world.”

We should not be content with simply entertaining Christians or even just building them up intellectually for their own edification. Our goal as followers of Christ is to grow and to learn so we might better reflect the nature of God to those around us. It is a dark, sinful world we live in. The need is for the Light.

After telling His followers they were to be salt and light, Jesus said:

“Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Matthew 5:16 NASB

Glorify God. Make Him known. Let others see Jesus in you.

God’s best…