J. N. Ng’ang’a Meditations for 24th to 30th April 2011: What is your mission? Are you ambitious about fulfilling it?
Day 1
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Bible expects us to be witnesses everywhere including in the market places. Market place is not just Kongowea in Mombasa or Marigiti in Nairobi. Some people are likely to say, “I never go to Kongowea, therefore, I am not in the market place.” In my definition, your market place is anywhere where you do what God has called you to do. Maybe you are a student. Your market place is your school. If you are in college, it is the college. The Lord wants to use you in the market place. He has called you to witness at your market place. One of the things we should emphasize is that you are not supposed to do things that God has not called you to do. If you are a secretary, you are called to be a secretary and you are representing God in that capacity.
Mission involves your lifestyle. Your life is a witness. Therefore, lead your life in such a way as to witness to others.
Day 2
I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while
We are called to be missionaries. The Bible calls these missionaries ‘ambassadors’.
It is worthwhile to note that there is nothing wrong with desiring to succeed in your profession. There is nothing wrong with us being ambitious, aiming high and wanting to be a success. In fact it is something absolutely wrong not to have ambition.
In reading the book of Romans and the book of Acts, we note that Paul is talking about his zeal about the future. One of the things he tells the Romans is I am going to pass through Rome, on my way to Spain. Rome was not his target. Actually, historically, we do not believe Paul ever reached Spain. I think he was killed in Rome. But his ambition was not to go to Rome. It was to go to Spain. Spain was the ‘end of the world’ because they did not know Americas existed!
His desire was to preach the gospel to the ‘ends of the world” as the Bible instructs. He was ambitious. It is clear that he may not have achieved every one of his ambitions but, indeed, he was ambitious.
So when we have young people who are mediocre, aiming very low, they are not living as the Bible instructs. One of the ways of knowing you are a Christian is that you aim high. Being ambitious is for every Christian. But the issues is not just being ambitious. What is the reason behind the ambition? Are you ambitious in order to be famous and for people to know you? If that is your aim, that ambition is not worth having. It doesn’t add value to your life.
Day 3
Colossians 3:17 (New International Version, ©2011)
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
The issue is not just about ambition. It is about why you have the ambition. As we discuss a Christian’s mission, it is important to discuss your ambition. Some leave their careers and their professions because they imagine that the mission is to become a Pastor. So if you are ambitious about becoming the president of Kenya, during “mission challenge week,” we want to take that away from you so that your aim is now to become a Pastor or to become an Evangelist. In my opinion, that is not what scripture teaches.
The call of God does not just mean you become a Pastor or an Evangelist. Yes, some of us will be called to be evangelists. Some of us will be called to be pastors but the majority of us will not become pastors nor evangelists! You are more likely to become a president, a minister, an accountant or a lawyer.
So mission challenge is not about getting you to become an evangelist, or a pastor. In the mission world, the critical definition of the word is evangelism. Mission challenge urges us to be ambitious and to aim high. But be sure to ask yourself, why. My prayer is that during this mission challenge, the Lord will fire you to see yourself as going to greater heights.
Day 4
Romans 16:23 (New International Version, ©2011)
23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.
Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. (Emphasis mine)
It is my desire that one of these days, one reading this is going to be working for the UN in Washington! The Lord wants to use us, even in Washington DC. God wants to use us anywhere in the world. I look forward to meeting some of you in Japan, when the Lord sends some of you there. It doesn’t quite matter where else but He is going to call you to go and work. One of the things I have enjoyed in my life is to discover that some of the things we desire the Lord will bring them to pass. I still remember talking to a FOCUS associates group in the nineties. I was telling them the same message I am giving you, that the Lord does not necessarily call us to just be evangelists. To serve the Lord does not mean to become an evangelist or to become some type of a pastor. God can call you to any field. The important thing is, when He sends you, He wants you to represent Him and to be ambassadors for him in your profession wherever you will be. I remember telling them how the people who are going to affect the future will not be those called missionaries, necessarily. In many countries, such as Saudi Arabia, try Pakistan, try, even Ethiopia, and if you apply for entry as a missionary, they will not give you permit to enter. They will tell you that they already have pastors, and that they do not require any more of them. So if you truly want to change Saudi Arabia or Qatar or Afghanistan, you will have to have a different label from that of being a ‘missionary’.
These countries may, however, be looking for engineers. So God may call some of you to go to university and get high qualification in engineering so that He sends you to Afghanistan or Pakistan or to Japan! Your application will not be an application to go there as a missionary. It will be an application to give them service in your area of expertise.
My daughter has just come back from London. She was doing her second degree in London and came last year. She told me that one of her lecturers in the University was a Kenyan with British citizenship. I wondered how he got the citizenship. She told me that that was simple. Once one has a PhD and gets an opportunity to teach in the university and so long as you stay there four years, you will have no difficulty. They are in need of expertise. So if we want Britain to go back to Christianity , we need those with PhD in various profession to apply. This time round, it will not be you pleading with them. They will be pleading with you. Do you see the point?
So when we are talking about becoming a missionary, it is not becoming a pastor, it is not becoming an evangelist; it is getting into that profession where you will be God’s glory. That way God will use your profession to change the earth.
In my view, that’s what this mission challenge is all about. Do not aim low, aim high so that you can be an ambassador for the kingdom of God.
Day 5
Colossians 4:13
I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis
It is my prayer that in whatever you are aiming at, the Lord will remove mediocrity from you. There are people who go to work but are lazy. When they don’t get promotion, they say ‘ninaonewa’! I think a lot of Christians when they say ‘ninaonewa’(they are discriminating me because am a Christian), they say so because they have not opened their eyes. If, for example you desire to become an accountant. Let’s assume you have just graduated from university and you have only CPA I or II. The other members of staff are very busy doing their CPAs and eventually get CPA III and they are getting promoted. But you, because you spent all your time in church and in fellowship, you cannot complete your CPA course. When they get promoted you may complain ‘ninaonewa’. You have closed your eyes. And that’s why they must ‘onea’ you!
It is very important to understand it is wrong for a professional organization to promote somebody who left university with a B.Com, CPA II, when they are aiming at professional accountants. It doesn’t matter that you because you are a Christian. If you really want to represent God in high places, you must sit down and finish your CPAs, Not hide in fellowship.
Day 6
1 Corinthians 9:22 (New International Version, ©2011)
22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
The Lord wants to use you in all kind of high places but it will mean you must hate with perfect hatred mediocrity. Some fellowships have talked and made it look like you have to apologize for being ambitious. In Day 1 we saw that Paul wants to pass through Rome on his way elsewhere. He was aiming much higher.
I want people reading this who are thinking of themselves as the people that are going to serve the Lord in China, Europe, and everywhere.
Let me now take you back to FOCUS group that we mentioned in Day 4. Here I was talking to a group and telling them, the missionaries of the future will not necesarily be called missionaries. They will have other titles. One lady in that group got the message. She had a degree in English. She applied to become a teacher in Saudi Arabia. Many years later we met and she told me that she was an English teacher in Saudi Arabia. Many Arabs desire to know English, especially for their children. What may you use to teach English? A Bible Story! The child’s father will not mind that since he doesn’t understand English. All he desires is the child to learn English. This story shows clearly that the lady was able to get to minister to the children of Saudi Arabia through her English course, not by calling herself a missionary.
Day 7
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
When we talk about missionaries, we talk about the professionals of the future. And I have been very impressed because for the last thirty-something years I have been preaching in the universities in East Africa I realize that almost any country I now go to I am sure to bump into somebody whom I met in his university days . We were with my wife in Cape Town some years ago. As we were walking on the streets somebody stopped us. He called out, “Are you not Brother Ng’ang’a?”
I responded, “Yes.”
“Do you remember me?”
Of course I couldn’t remember him.
“I am ex-Kenyatta University. What are you doing here?”
“I am here on…” and he gave me the reason he was in SA.
We are speaking to you now, but we have absolutely no idea where He will send you if you obey the Lord and you are ambitious. God answers prayer.
Another time we are in Seychelles and we bumped into somebody who knew my wife.
Another time in Ethiopia and I was walking out of the hotel and somebody stopped me.
“Are you not brother Ng’ang’a?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t you remember me? I was one of the leaders of the CU.”
Of course I couldn’t remember him. He explained, “I am now here and I work in the Kenyan embassy.”
That person later became our acting ambassador in that country. What I am getting you to see is that if you pray God answers prayers.
But please don’t pray if you don’t intend to do hard work because God answers prayers by making you do hard work. The way to get your prayer answered is to put you on a programme because once, for example you put in your mind the fact that you are going to be the financial director, and then you know very well it is not enough to have one degree. I am sure you will also finish your CPAs! Ambition is action. Once you know what God wants you to do you must ask him the second question: what can I do today to prepare for tomorrow. I encourage you to read my book: A Leader Source of Influence. One of the chapters is, how do I discover my vision and mission. And I have written a whole chapter just to answer the question because, my first point was to emphasize that you are supposed to be ambitious and there is nothing wrong with ambition.