Courage to Stay: Readjusting if You Return to Your Hometown
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
- Matthew 28:18b-20
Growing up in the Midwest, I couldn’t wait for the day that I would leave the Midwest. The mindset in my hometown was to grow up and get out. I felt a very real social pressure to leave my current home, and to go start a new one somewhere else.
In Matthew’s account of the gospel, we receive the words of the Great Commission.
Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18b-20).
I always interpreted these final words of Jesus’ as a conviction telling me personally to pack up and leave the Midwest. Surely, I was being called to go to the next big city, maybe even new country, to go and make disciples.
When Jesus says to go, what does he really mean? Over the years, I have had to adapt my mindset around the traditional idea of “going.” Yes, “go” might be an invitation to physically get up and leave, but what if “go” is an invitation to something else. Maybe “go” is my charge to change my current mindset. Maybe “go” is my cue to reset my routines and habits. Maybe “go” is a time and not so much a place. Maybe I can “go and make disciples” while staying where I’ve been planted.
As I was contemplating whether I should go or stay, a pastor I look up to shared this quote with me.
“The grass may not be greener on the other side, but, it’ll be greener where you water it.”
I never through that my hometown could be a place of green pastures. I had assumed that I would be settling for less excitement and adventure by returning back home, but I was so wrong. Packing up my life and taking it somewhere else does not guarantee greener pastures. But, when I start investing in where I am at, I can begin to see new life come up from the dirt. Whether that is my community, my career, my routines, my spiritual walk, etc..... they will grow when I invest in them.
Maybe “go” isn’t about a destination, but it is about a direction. Jesus is inviting us to “go” in different facets. Whether you are returning home or starting a new one somewhere else, “go” whole heartedly. God has given you the authority to make his gospel known in whatever context you find yourself. Do not be discouraged by the location, but be encouraged by the opportunity.
“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot over- come it.” Walk with confidence in the One who lights your path and directs your steps. Whether you go, or stay, do so loving the Lord our God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
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Tyler Gates is a recent graduate from IWU with a double major in Worship Arts and Music Ministry. Currently, he serves as the Pastor of Worship & Discipleship at Huntington First Church of the Nazarene.