Moving on Can be Godly
“But he replied, ‘We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too, because that is why I came.’ So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and expelling demons from many people” – Mark 1:38-39 (NLT).
Jesus never stayed in one place for long. This is ever and always the sacrifice of the evangelist - - to know no real home, to stay nowhere long, to ever be moving, changing, pressing on.
Paul was the same way. He rarely stayed in one place for even a year, and usually much less. He never knew the joy of a long term ministry, or only serving one church for his entire career. To the contrary, he preached and moved, preached and moved, just as Jesus did. He was the tip of the spearhead that first penetrated the darkness with the light of life in Christ - - then others followed who stayed to labor in one place for a life time.
Perhaps the church should abandon its constant push to make EVERY person that attends their services, a lifetime member. We often frown on those who come to our churches for one or two years and then move on - - when in fact it may have been that God sent them there for a season to help us, and then moved them on to help others just as Jesus moved on to other towns.
Too often we fall into the thinking of our “church culture” that says that if a person does not stay for life in the church of which he or she is a member, that they are a flake, a “church hopper” worthy of being the brunt of jokes or derision. “They simply can’t be satisfied or content, and are always looking for perfection that can never be found,” we say.
But while this may be true, it may not be true at all. It may be that God has bound up in the heart of some people the spirit of the evangelist. After all, evangelism is one of the gifts of the Spirit that some people have, and while this involves saving lost people and bringing them to Christ and the church of which they are a member, it also involves a restlessness to go on to other cities and towns and areas to reach out to those who have not heard. This is not sinful or selfish, but is sacrificial and Godly when the vision to move on is borne of God in the human heart.
The world is a place of spiritual thirst where many hearts are in need of the living water. Someone has to be willing to go to offer them a drink. Someone must be willing to be the tip of the spearhead that does the rough, hard, heart-breaking work of first penetration of darkness. Someone must care enough to shine the light of Christ on darkened hearts, and if God cannot find someone in one church who is willing, he may summon someone from another church that is. God will go to great lengths to save souls.
He went all the way to Calvary to save them. He will certainly move some people from place to place to do the same.
I remember Hank Weaver. Hank was a preacher from the old school. He told it like it was and didn’t care who he offended. He would look right at a church and tell them about their sin, their lukewarmness, and their need to repent. There comes a time for that in the life of most churches.
Hank rarely stayed in one place for more than a couple of years, and then he would move on. In each church many souls would find Christ. Many Christians would repent, and many feathers would be ruffled!
But when he left, the church was spiritually awakened, and God had done his work, then the evangelist would move on. My grandfather was also such a one - - preaching and moving on every few years. He touched tens of thousands of souls for God, though he never had a long ministry, or a “successful” one by today’s standards.
May we have the spirit of the evangelist in wanting to touch lives for God. May we also love those that God has so gifted and empowered and appreciate their contributions to the kingdom. May we refrain from hasty judgment of those who may move on - - for perhaps God has called them.
For moving on can be Godly, if the voice of God beckons a solitary light to move to new darkness.