It seems to me that one of the most frequently asked questions as we were raising our kids was “Are we ready?”  I asked that question when it was time to leave the house.  I asked that question when one of the kids was about to take a test.  I asked that question before ball games and recitals.  And I definitely asked myself that question every time before I got up to teach.

“Are you ready” is an important question.  Because the essence of being sent is being ready.

“We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our 

own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” 

1 Thessalonians 2:8

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, 

and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” 

2 Timothy 4:2

“And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.  

1 Peter 3:15 (NLT)

Readiness is generally about two questions:

Am I prepared?

Am I confident?

Understanding our preparation is important.

John Stott gave us the essence of our preparation.  

“The God of the Old Testament is a missionary God.

The Christ of the Gospels is a missionary Christ.  

The Spirit in Acts is a missionary Spirit.

The Church in the Epistles is a missionary Church.”

It only makes sense then that the 21st century Christian should be a missionary Christian.

Our preparation lies in the very nature of God Himself.

He is a missionary God.

He lives within us.

He works through us.

He partners with us.

We are therefore called and qualified to be missionaries.

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  

 John 20:21 (ESV)

My confidence is not in my ability.

My confidence is in the ability of the one who sends me.

This is why I can take on a prepared frame of mind:  Lord – if you open the door for me to share, I will walk through it.

The world is God’s mission.  We are confident in Him.

The Christ follower is God’s missionary.  Our confidence is still in Him.

My trust is not in my calling.

My trust is in the One who calls me.

There is no God but the sending one.  Sixty-six times in the Gospel of John we are told that Jesus was sent by God the Father to the world.  We do not doubt His sentness.

God had only one begotten Son and He sent Him into the world as a missionary.

That same God now sends all of His sons and daughters into the world as missionaries.

There is no Christ follower that is not a sent Christ follower.  The message of the New Testament is that we are sent by God to the world.  We cannot doubt our sentness any more than we doubt the sentness of Jesus.

Charles Spurgeon wrote that “every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”  We must embrace this calling.  We must embrace this reality.  We must embrace this destiny.

We must decide that we are ready.

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