If you’ve ever thought that you weren’t spiritual enough, qualified enough, or brave enough for missions, you’re not alone. Sadly, it’s incredibly easy to fall into thinking that missions is something reserved for the spiritual elite or the special Christians who have it all together.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Often, we think that we need to clean ourselves up or get our lives together before we can respond to what God may be calling us into. We think “God can’t use me” or “I’m not good enough for that”.
The truth is, God’s call to join His mission isn’t reserved for a select few of super Christians. It’s for everyday believers—people who are ordinary and imperfect.
God wants people just like you to be a part of what He is doing around the world. He doesn’t need you to be perfect or have your whole life together. He’s a whole lot bigger than that.
So if you’ve ever wondered whether you belong in the story God is writing, the answer is simple: you do. From fishermen to tax collectors, scripture shows us that God delights in using those who simply say “yes”.
To this, you are no exception. All you have to do is say yes, and in His faithfulness, God will handle the rest.
Table of Contents
- A Universal Call for Ordinary People
- God is Bigger Than Your Barriers
- Saying Yes Is the Start, Not the Finish
- Take Your First Step Beyond Comfort
A Universal Call for Ordinary People
When Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), He wasn’t just giving a command to one person or one group of people. No, the Great Commission is for all followers of Jesus. It is a universal calling for ordinary believers. As Christians, our response to the Great Commission shouldn’t be “When I’m ready,” or “Once I have it all figured out.” It should simply be “Yes”.
When we look at the people standing on the hill with Jesus when He said the words found at the end of Matthew, it’s easy to only see unachievable examples and impossible standards. So quickly do we forget who the disciples of Jesus started out as. We forget that Peter was a simple fisherman, Matthew a hated tax collector. Yet these are the men who Jesus called to be the foundation of His church and messengers of the greatest news the world has ever known. Jesus didn’t choose the powerful or the influential. He chose the weak and the despised, men who weren’t perfect and didn’t have it all together.
These were ordinary men that God invited into extraordinary things. All they had to do was say “Yes”.
Take the example of Matthew. This is the description of Matthew’s calling that we find in his gospel account: “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.” (Matthew 9:9).
That’s it. Though I’m sure there was much more Matthew could have said, he leaves it beautifully simple for us. Matthew was an ordinary man whom Jesus called to follow him, and Matthew simply “rose and followed him”. How profound and inspiring that this is all that Matthew chooses to say of himself in the book that he wrote. Jesus called, and Matthew simply said “yes”. What else needs to be said?
Let us be like Matthew. Ordinary people who simply say “yes”
God is Bigger Than Your Barriers
Though “yes” is only a three-letter word, it’s often a lot more difficult to say than we’d like. Just because something is simple, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy.
There are countless things in our lives that try to get in the way of us saying yes to God’s invitations. Many of the fears and barriers we have are genuine and understandable. We’re scared for our safety, for our finances, for the plans we have for our lives. We think we’re not spiritual enough, we don’t know enough, or we aren’t qualified.
These things are legitimate. However, we serve a powerful God, one who is intimately aware of our struggles and fears and wants to meet us there. We can trust that He is much bigger than any barrier or fear that we may face.
We’re not saying that when you say “yes,” God will immediately erase all your barriers and make sure none of your fears ever come true. In fact, when we continue to look at the example of the disciples, we see that sometimes it’s quite the opposite of this. These men didn’t exactly live easy or carefree lives after they decided to follow Jesus. Your journey probably won’t be as extreme as the examples of the disciples, but it is possible God may be inviting you into something really scary and really hard. Regardless, when we choose to say “yes” to God’s invitation, it rarely looks like what we expect, and it almost never comes without a cost.
This is why there is so much hope and encouragement in what Jesus says right after He gives us The Great Commission. Jesus promises us “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Because of this fact, we can trust that no matter what God may be inviting us into, no matter how scary it is, we have nothing to fear. No matter what the cost or what we must give up, we can fully trust that when we say “yes” to Jesus, what He has for us is always what is best.
It may even be that the very thing you are afraid of is the thing God wants to use to show His strength and goodness. It is in our weakness that His strength is made evident. It’s true that there are some barriers we just can’t overcome; we aren’t strong enough. But what is also true is that there are NO barriers that are too big for God to overcome. Where our strength fails, He is always there to lend us his, all we have to do is surrender and depend on Him.
Saying Yes Is the Start, Not the Finish
Before we continue, it’s important to make something clear: saying “yes” to God’s invitation doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ready to step onto the mission field this time tomorrow.
When we say “yes” to God, we’re saying yes to the process He has for us, to the journey He wants to take us on. In His gentleness, that rarely means flipping our whole lives upside down overnight. Sometimes that happens, but praise God, it’s not often.
More often, there is a gradual process of equipping and preparation before we see the bigger changes take shape in our lives. Missionaries rarely go to the field within the same year God calls them, and that’s not a bad thing. It would, in fact, be unwise to send even the most mature believer into a new cultural context without intentional preparation. The process of being equipped isn’t something to rush past. It’s a beautiful and necessary part of the journey.
When we look back at the disciples, we see this clearly. These men sat under the teaching and mentorship of Jesus for years before stepping fully into their own ministry. Along the way, He gave them plenty of opportunities to learn and grow before what would eventually come, even sending them out on some “short-term mission trips” (Matthew 10:5-15, Mark 6:7-13) to gain experience.
Their journeys weren’t easy or straightforward. Their “yes” wasn’t a one-time moment; it was a difficult, ongoing journey of continued yeses. Peter denied Jesus three times. Thomas doubted the resurrection until he was able to touch Jesus’ wounds himself. The disciples were not perfect and certainly not “ready” the moment God called them.
And yet, they are the very people God chose to use to build His Church.
It isn’t about having it all together. It’s about trusting Jesus in the process and allowing Him to shape and equip us for what He has called us into. We don’t need to be fully ready when we say “yes.” We just need to be willing. God doesn’t call the equipped—He equips the called.
He has all the strength, all the wisdom, and all the ability needed for what He invites us into. Our role isn’t to bring those things ourselves; it’s just to be available. And when ordinary people make themselves available to God and trust Him in the process, He does extraordinary things.
Take Your First Step Beyond Comfort
So what does it actually look like to say “yes”?
Well, for every person, it looks a little different. We all have different roles to play in God’s mission to reach the unreached. Some are called to go, some to give, some to send, and some to faithfully pray, but all are called to take part.
Saying “yes” doesn’t always mean getting on a plane. Sometimes it looks like praying more intentionally for the nations. Sometimes it means giving generously so others can go. And sometimes, yes, it does mean stepping out in faith and going yourself.
The question isn’t if you’re called to be part of God’s mission; it’s how. So, what might your next step be? For some of you, that next step could be something like our Edge program.
Edge is a short-term missions experience designed for young adults who are ready to step beyond comfort and explore what it means to be part of God’s global mission. It’s not about having everything figured out; it’s about being willing to take just one step.
Over 8–12 weeks, the young adults on Edge serve alongside a field team, receive training and mentorship from long-term missionaries, and step into a new cultural context overseas where they can learn what it looks like to live and love like Jesus.
It’s more than just a trip; it’s an opportunity to grow in your faith, be stretched in new ways, and begin to discover how God might be leading you. For some, Edge becomes a stepping stone into long-term missions. For others, it brings clarity for how to live on mission right where they are. But for everyone, it’s a chance to take a meaningful step forward.
And that’s really what this is about. It’s not about having it all figured out. Not about being perfectly ready. It’s about being willing to take the next step God is placing in front of you.
There will always be things that try to hold you back. Fear, doubt, the feeling that you’re too ordinary or not ready yet. But God has never been limited by those things. He is in the business of calling ordinary people to be part of extraordinary things, not through their own strength, but through a life fully dependent on Him.
All He’s asking for is your availability.
Your obedience.
Your “yes.”
So… what’s your next step?
Feeling an Invitation?
We’re here to help you explore what your next best step could be.