Living With Urgency

I’ve been thinking for a few weeks about what it means to be “living with urgency.’ That is, do my life and ministry reflect an appropriate, God-given sense of urgency?

I find it’s often too easy for life to be driven by the “tyranny of the urgent.”Even as I write this, there are many pressing things I should be doing. Admittedly, some are the result of my own procrastination. It’s easy to be driven by the kind of urgency forced upon us by ourselves or others. But that’s not the kind of urgency that I’m talking about.

In my April prayer letter, Seeking Heaven, I noted that approximately 155,000 people die each day — too many of whom had not heard the gospel. With about 200,000 born daily, the world population increases by roughly 45,000 every 24 hours. So to, then, does the size of the mission field.

For me, this fact amplifies s a sense of urgency I feel about my ministry and, by extension, the Great Commission. The fact that so many people are entering and exiting this world each day creates an urgent need to share with them the hope of heaven. They need to know the way to achieve the reality every human is designed, and desires, to experience — an intimate relationship with their Creator.

If we as Christians are to truly follow the example of Jesus Christ, then we must live with the same urgency he demonstrated in his earthly ministry. Jesus told His followers to “seek first the Kingdom of God,” which means putting God’s purposes first in life. And the heart of the Father, His urgent desire, is for people to receive His gift of salvation. Jesus described the urgent nature of building the Kingdom when He declared, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”

Last month, my Global Media Outreach colleagues saw 90,000 indicated decisions for Christ — 3,000 a day! As I consider where I’m at in finding funding for my ministry, I ask myself, “How urgently do I want to be a part of this great effort?”

“Urgency” brings focus and motivation. It also brings conviction.