Who Will Go?

Isaiah 6: ⁸ I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

“Tebow Mania” and “Linsanity” are terms that described the phenomena of Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin, two openly evangelistic Christian Athletes.  Tim Tebow, as a college & professional football player and a baseball player, and Jeremy Lin as a college and professional basketball player, both unashamedly used their athletic platforms to bring glory to Jesus Christ.

Many would say that it is only logical that Tebow is doing what he is doing for the Lord; after all he was gifted by God athletically and was given the spiritual gift of evangelism.   But Tebow himself would say that he is not simply on a journey that God engineered for him, but one which he decided to join.   Tim Tebow believes that many Christians seem paralyzed and ineffective, because they choose not to go. Tebow found that he would often hear people say: “’One day I’m going to go on a mission trip.’  ‘One day I’m going to start a diet.’  ‘One day, I’m going to get right with God.’ and that started to weigh on me.  I started thinking, we don’t know if we’re going to have just one day.  We don’t know what’s guaranteed.  But we do know we have this day so we need to start living this day as if it were our purpose with meaning, passion and significance.”[i]  I do not believe that Tim Tebow or Jeremy Lin waited around for the call of God.  I believe they handed their lives over to God, put their hands up, and said: “use me!”

God used Isaiah in a significant way to speak to his people at that time, but also to prophesy the coming of Christ.  Isaiah had a massive calling.  What is surprising, however, is how that call came about.  While God often called out men and women personally, in Isaiah’s case it seems he called out a need and gave Isaiah the opportunity to join in on what he was doing.  “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”  And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).  I’m not certain whether others heard this call as well, but it is clear that Isaiah could have plugged his ears and walked away.

I believe we all have the call of God in our lives.  Firstly, it is God’s desire that all would come into relationship with him personally through his son Jesus Christ.  “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2: 3-4).  And then for believers, we are all given the task of sharing our faith with others.  1 Peter 2:9 says: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” And Jesus himself instructs all believers saying: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20a).  This does not mean we are all called to be international missionaries as “all nations” include your own nation.  After all, Paul preached to the Christians in Rome, most of whom had jobs and would never venture further than their own city, but they were instructed to join in the mission of the church as one body to make disciples of all nations.  Are you waiting for the call of God?  Wait no longer; he has already called you.  Just tell him you’re ready to participate and ask God to lead you in your first steps.

[i] Relevant Magazine, September 25, 2018. “Tim Tebow on How to Start Chasing Your Calling Right Now”.