DAY 12

GET OUT OF THE CHURCH

ROB MCCORKLE, PASTOR, AUTHOR & EVANGELIST

One of the strongest verbs in the New Testament refers to casting out a demon. Casting out is taken from a compound word, ekballo. The root word ballo means to throw, and the prefix ek means out. This verb is used emphatically with force and authority. When Jesus encountered a demon-possessed man in Matthew 9:32, He didn’t waste time chatting to the demon. With great authority, Jesus threw the demon out of the victimized man enabling him to speak.

The verb throw out is used by Jesus in another context. Scripture says,

Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:35–38

The harvest is plentiful, Jesus said, meaning your community is filled with many needy persons who are distressed and discouraged. Look around, people in our world need the good news of Jesus Christ. They are straying and lost like sheep without a shepherd. But there’s a problem. Jesus said there aren’t enough workers in the fields. The implication is that people are sitting comfortably in the church not willing to take the gospel beyond the walls.

The answer to this dilemma, Jesus said, is to pray and ask the Lord to send out (ekballo) workers. The Lord wants to throw us out of the church. This is not an optional assignment. He desires all of us to be launched, deployed, and dispatched into our cities. It’s not enough to show up to church or even pray for your city. The Lord doesn’t want us to remain in the church but to be working in the harvest field. He wants to send us out to minister to lost and discouraged people.

This passage is on the heels of an intense personal ministry schedule by Jesus. He’s taught, touched, healed, and cast out a demon. Now it’s time to send out other workers into the community to do what He’s been doing. Let me offer four things to keep in mind from this passage in Matthew 9:35–38 and our call into evangelism.

First, evangelism is going. Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, which is the starting point of evangelism. This indicates that evangelism is more of a lifestyle than a program.

Evangelism begins the moment you are walking through crowds and rubbing shoulders with people throughout your city. Evangelism happens when you go shopping or to the grocery store. It occurs when you go to Starbucks to get a coffee or to a restaurant for a meal. Evangelism starts the moment you are outside the walls of the church. Wherever you walk, you carry the message of Christ within you and the power of Christ upon you to make an eternal difference in people’s lives.

Second, evangelism is seeing. To see in this context means to experience something deep on the inside when you look at people. When Jesus saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them which means to be affected at the deepest level of His bowels. He observed that people were beat down, distressed, and lost. Crowds were never an interruption to His busy schedule but targets of the Father’s affection and love.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, there was always a contrast between what He saw and what those around Him could see. In Matthew 8:28-34, Jesus saw two guys who needed deliverance, but the town’s people saw a herd of pigs that had just perished. In Matthew 9:9-13, Jesus saw a tax collector becoming His follower, but the Pharisees saw a worthless sinner.

What do you see when you look at people? Are you moved with compassion for them, or do you merely make judgements based on outward appearances? We need His eyes to see as He sees when we are amidst lost people. We need eyes that see past the flesh; we need to observe others from a spiritual perspective (2 Corinthians 5:16).

Third, evangelism is praying. Jesus said to beseech the Lord of the harvest. This word means to cry out with great passion. One expositor said it means to bind your life to a request, so you never let go of what you’re crying out for until there’s an answer. In the context of this prayer, we’re asking the Lord of the harvest to send out workers. This means we won’t stop praying for a spiritually lost person until someone is sent to them, or we are deployed to them. The point is evangelism includes intense prayer that won’t relent until a lost person is evangelized and ministered to.

Fourth, evangelism is ministering. Jesus called His band of followers and gave them authority over unclean spirits, diseases, and sicknesses (Matthew 10:1). Then He sent them out into the field to preach, heal, and deliver people from bondage (Matthew 10:7–8). This commission to minister was not merely given to the early disciples, all of us have received the same call. Our assignment is to go and make disciples everywhere; we’re to evangelize, baptize, and teach others about Jesus (Matthew 28:19–20).

Before Jesus ascended, He said we would receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon us enabling us to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). I want to propose that being His witnesses occurs best in the context of our communities and cities. So, it’s time to get out of the church. We’ve been called and equipped to evangelize. Let’s penetrate our cities, open our eyes to see as He does, cry out to the Lord of the harvest, and minister in the power of His Spirit.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for calling us beyond the walls of the church and into the harvest field. Open our eyes to see people as You see them, fill our hearts with compassion, and empower us with Your Spirit to share the good news. Send us out with boldness, love, and obedience, so that others may come to know You. Amen.