Are you familiar with the Great Commission? Do you refer to this work as evangelism? It tells you to go into all the world preaching the good news of the gospel to every creature. Evangelism is normally associated with making converts, but the Great Commission goes on to tell you to make disciples. Do you see these as being the same thing, or is making disciples a more demanding task than making converts? You have programs to follow with a systematic approach to presenting the gospel message. How do you go beyond that to encourage people to do their inner work to become disciples?

Are you familiar with the passage of scripture in which I was led by the Spirit into the wilderness? There I fasted, and was tempted. What else took place there? The text does not record it, but what changes do you notice in me afterward? The main message of my ministry was the Kingdom of God, and it was after I came back from the wilderness that I proclaimed this subject. So the wilderness experience for me was one of commissioning, although that term is not used.

What message from the Bible is the most difficult to implement in the culture in which you live? How about turning the other cheek, and resisting not evil, and going an additional mile when you were only compelled to go one? If you were to approach the Bible from the perspective of your culture rather than the other way around, would you consider this to be cowardice? Have you ever seen anyone do this? Did it appear to be cowardly of them? Do you make a distinction between taking the path of least resistance and being intentional and deliberate in the way you express love?

Do you live in a culture of capitalism and commerce in which you pay for what get, and get what you pay for? The same principle applies to getting paid and paying others. Are you familiar with the story of the workers in the vineyard, where the owner of the vineyard agreed to terms with those who reported to work early, and other workers joined in the effort throughout the day and even toward the end? Yet the owner paid them all the same, and those who started early complained that it was unfair to them. This economic model does not fit your culture, but I told the story for a reason.