Joyful Urgency

Mark 6: 7-13 (from The Message)
Jesus called the Twelve to him, and sent them out in pairs. He gave them authority and power to deal with the evil opposition. He sent them off with these instructions:

“Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment. No special appeals for funds. Keep it simple. And no luxury inns. Get a modest place and be content there until you leave. If you’re not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.”


Then they were on the road. They preached with joyful urgency that life can be radically different; right and left they sent the demons packing; they brought wellness to the sick, anointing their bodies, healing their spirits.

From my journal: 12/14/2000
Now here's something worth emulating: "They preached with joyful urgency...." Not intense warnings of doom; not flaming arrows aimed at the heathen culture. Instead, a declaration of Good News; of escape and improvement from the evils of the day; of faith that lends assurance and strength.

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Truth is...I'm not sure if anyone has ever come to faith in Jesus because of losing an argument. The world could use a lot fewer preachers yelling at non-Christians for behaving like non-Christians and a lot more people who proclaim with lives of joyful urgency that there's a better way. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17) Or, as Peterson puts it in The Message, "God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again."