What would happen if Jesus told you not to go on a mission trip? Do you have a grid for that?
“Does that even happen? Is that even conceivable?”
Do you remember the man named Legion in the New Testament? This guy is filled with so many demons, he would make that girl from The Exorcist nervous. He lives in a cemetery, breaks chains like dollar bills and is usually naked.
And then Jesus shows up.
Legion falls down before Jesus, and then he is no longer Legion. The demons are banished from the man and into a herd of pigs (Luke 8:33). And then “the man” is in his right mind, clothed (praise the Lord) and is sitting with Jesus.
Jesus and An Applying Missionary.
And then Luke tells us this often forgotten bit:
The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8.38-39″ data-version=”esv”>Luke 8:38-39 ESV)
The man begged to go on mission with Jesus. Pleaded.
And Jesus said no.
Shocking isn’t it?
This guy has a killer testimony. He probably has a heart for those who are oppressed by demons, and he wants to minister to them. He applies for the trip, and Jesus says, “No.”
Jesus didn’t want him on a mission trip. He wanted him at home. “Go home and tell everyone how much God has done for you.”
Jesus wanted him on mission—right where he lived.
