Jesus told his apostles "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
But we often hear "I am not called to foreign missions." By foreign missions we mean an optional program for a dedicated few who apparently are called. The rest of us are willing to watch the presentations of those few when they report what they have been doing hoping we will provide the funds for them to continue.
Where does the bible suggest missions are optional? That Jesus' instructions to his apostles were optional and not required. We have taken this command and made it something only a few "have to" do.
On the other hand we take Jesus instructions to the crowds "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" as meaning me.
We take Jesus' statement to his apostles: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" and say it refers to some people and Jesus' promise "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" means me.
As David Platt says, we have taken the obligations of Christianity to mean a few others and the privileges of Christianity to mean me. We send others who we say "are called" while the rest stay behind with the others because we "are not called."
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