six degrees of separation

today we're reading Matthew 10:1-10

read this text

I, growing up, wasn't really a homebody. I liked going out, exploring new places, and being as far from home as possible. 
Being home was boring. 
I knew too much about it. 
I couldn't find new things to do. 
It wasn't exciting to me. 
You could imagine how last year was for me.
Ask my parents; they'd tell you I was going stir crazy trying to find new things to do.
However the more time I spent in my bubble, I was able to identify new things to pursue.
I saw things differently than I had before, and I began to treasure them even more than I did before. 

I imagine that's why Jesus asked us to 'stay home' too.

In today's passage, Jesus appoints and calls the 12 disciples and gives them advice contrary to what we normally align with Jesus' commands of evangelism:
He asks them to stay close to home. 
We as believers like to jump to the Great Commission of Matthew 28 without starting with our first commission here in Matthew 10.

Think about it: if you are unable to preach the Gospel to your neighbors, to your friends, to your family, to your co-workers, what tells you that you can preach the Gospel to complete strangers?

Jesus is intentional with calling us to reach out to our communities.
Every single place on this Earth is filled with brokenness. 
Our hometowns need Jesus. 
Our school campuses need Jesus. 
Our streets need Jesus. 
Our workplaces need Jesus. 
The world needs Jesus, and right now my world consists of my school, my hometown, my friends/family, and my job. 

That's a hefty commission if you ask me.

The more I look at the world and my home, the more brokenness I see. 
You don't have to travel the world to see a need for Jesus; take a walk around your neighborhood. 
People are hurting. 
People are broken. 

​People are in need of a Savior.

Don't get me wrong: I want and pray that every single heart on the face of this earth will know and believe in the power of Jesus. 
More than that, however, I want every single person I've ever come in contact with to know Jesus. 
I want my world to know Jesus so that they can share Jesus with their world, and that the chain will continue until every single heart on the face of this earth will know Jesus. 

That is the great commission. 

There's a belief that on average, all people are about six degrees of separation from each other. 
Whether you believe it to be true or not, I believe that we can truly spread the Gospel to the entire world just through our little circles.  
If this past season of quarantining showed us anything, it's that sharing the Gospel is easier than we think. 
People are yearning for Jesus. 
People are ready for a revival. 
Heck, I'm ready for a revival. 

Could the revival we're looking for be right under our noses?