Has anyone ever accused you of over thinking an idea or a plan? Maybe you were looking at something at work and you analyzed it so deeply that you lost the point in the first place? I am referring to the condition of “paralysis by analysis” sound familiar?
I was recently reading in Luke’s gospel where Christ pushed the disciples out of the proverbial nest and sent them out to spread His gospel and heal the sick in order for Him to determine if they actually learned anything because of the time spent with Him. I think the most interesting portion of these few verses was the fact that God didn’t send his disciples out with the Christian Marketing Plan or lets say, a better planned journey? No, that was not His way. Instead, He sent them out with empty hands.
Jesus called the Twelve together. He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to heal sicknesses. Then he sent them out to preach about God’s kingdom and to heal those who were sick.
He told them, “Don’t take anything for the journey. Do not take a walking stick or a bag. Do not take any bread, money or extra clothes. When you are invited into a house, stay there until you leave town. Some people may not welcome you. If they don’t, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town. This will be a witness against the people living there.”
So the Twelve left. They went from village to village. They preached the good news and healed people everywhere. Luke 9:1-6 NIV
Why would Christ ask His disciples to begin ministry this way? Why would He specifically send his disciples out and tell them NOT to bring anything, or pack anything, but rather just go? He gave them advice and then told them to depart. He didn’t send them to classes or make them read and test out on the basic tenants of the gospel. He also didn’t load them up with the 5 steps to salvation books.
Does that sound like a great marketing plan for spreading the gospel to you?
Well, that’s the interesting part because to you and me, Christ’s marketing plan doesn’t look like much of anything that would ever succeed, let alone thrive for a couple thousand years. But as I have mentioned here before in this blog, God does not think like you and me. Christ had a very different idea in mind for His disciples while out on the road. He didn’t want them to over think any planning or preparation for this journey but rather fully rely upon Him for the strength. He didn’t want them to focus on the worry that comes from planning the itinerary, but rather focus entirely on Him for guidance.
If I were to analyze myself, I would say I’m a guy who is proactive and more of a planner than not…I do tend to spend certain amounts of my time in preparation for whatever challenge I’m about to take on and I would also say that in some cases, I probably do over think and over plan more than I should.
Now, please don’t misunderstand me here. Christ is NOT coming down on planning or planners like you and me, but rather he’s making a distinction between the “action” versus the “preparation”. In reality, all of us, during any planning process can over think something and then experience the aforementioned paralysis by analysis.
My point is simple, when it comes to just getting out there and doing something or saying something for Him,
Christ’s plan for us is very simple;
JUST DO IT…
Don’t hesitate
Don’t plan
Don’t worry
Just do
All He wants is your “doing”.
Our only job is to trust in Him exclusively and rely upon Him to take care of our needs by providing us the necessary words when we are required to speak. That is exactly the same advice He gave to his disciples.
He just told them to go with the clothes on their back and their empty hands.
To some of you who will read what I am saying you will think this is absolute craziness. There is NO way you would or could ever consider anything I am writing here. Without a plan, it is NOT happening…
Sounds like you may be paralyzed?
All I am asking from you is to just think about the real Christian Marketing Plan…
When the opportunities present themselves…just go…just speak…and He will take care of the rest…
Until next time guys…
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