Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Joni Eareckson Tada

Go Out of Your Way

January 28, 2019
00:00 4:00

What are you doing with the mission that God has given you?

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and we all have a mission. It’s virtually the same as our Lord's and it is laid out in Luke Chapter 19 verse 10, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Oh, friend, it couldn’t be simpler or plainer. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and our mission is the same. God saved us so that we might be His agents of mercy in sharing the Salvation message with others.

Now, there’s something you can learn from the way Jesus sought out the lost. In order to carry out His mission, He connected with virtually every person the Father put in His path, every kind of individual in every strata of society. He didn’t bypass anyone. Look at the ones Jesus sought out. In the first few verses of Mark Chapter 5, He befriends this guy with a serious mental illness, something no Jewish fellow would be caught dead doing. Then in Luke Chapter 5, He started up a relationship with a tax collector; a conniver and a known cheater. In John Chapter 4, He connects with a Samaritan: a woman who was a loner, a rebel. In Luke 15, we see Jesus going to parties with bums. He gets to know people with questionable reputations. He goes to see shut-ins, widows, and elderly folks. He connects with town leaders and magistrates. And as we’ve already seen, Jesus seeks and saves the lost among those riddled with disease and wracked with psychiatric disorders. Whoa!

Now here’s the thing: If we are to follow in Christ's steps and carry out His mission, (that is our mission) we have to do the same. It won't be easy; it’ll take you out of your comfort zone and you’ll be tempted to relate only to those with whom you identify, you know, people with whom you feel at ease. But if we want to follow Jesus, then it will mean making inroads, that is seeking out those we don't normally connect with.

My good friends Paul and Jill Miller recently lost Ashley, their adult daughter to an aggressive cancer. But when she was alive, even as the cancer was spreading and even as she was undergoing treatment, Ashley never forgot her mission. Because not only were the medical staff part of her mission field; so were the people she encountered on the way to the chemo clinic. Like the homeless people she would meet on the street or at red lights. Whenever Ashley went in for a treatment, she’d pack up small bags filled with items like socks, a tooth brush, tooth paste, a sandwich, a bottle of water, hand sanitizer, and a hand-written Bible verse. That way, when Ashley passed someone who was homeless, she’d have something to offer, something to show them the love of Christ. These homeless people never saw in this lovely, successful looking woman any indication that she was suffering horribly with cancer or that she would soon lose her life. But that made her effort even more glorifying to God. In her own loss, Ashley carried out the mission Jesus had given her – a mission He has given us all, to seek and save the lost at every cost.

Every day we bypass people who are considered outsiders, loners and second-class citizens. Yet God has put these individuals around us in our neighborhoods, on our street corners, at the mall and in parking lots. Ashely did not allow her cancer to deter her from her mission; in fact, her cancer expanded her mission field to people she might not have normally met. Like her, let’s make inroads in our community "mission field." Ashley sought out the lost. Can you do the same?

Featured Resources From Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Listen to Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope on Amazon Echo and Google Home Learn How

About Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope is a broadcast ministry of Joni and Friends committed to bringing the Gospel and practical help to people impacted by disability around the world. Joni and Friends has been advancing disability ministry for over 40 years. Their mission to glorify God, communicate the Gospel and mobilize the global church to evangelize, disciple and serve people living with disability answers the call found in Luke 14 to “bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame… so that my house will be full.”

About Joni Eareckson Tada

Paralyzed as the result of a diving accident at age 17, Joni Eareckson Tada envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. As the Founder and CEO of Joni and Friends, she is known worldwide as an author, speaker, disability rights advocate and radio personality. Her 10,000 radio programs are broadcast across the country and around the world, inspiring listeners to realize that there is hope in every hardship.
Joni Eareckson Tada is an esteemed Christian stateswoman and respected global leader in disability advocacy. Although a 1967 diving accident left her a quadriplegic, she emerged from rehabilitation with a determination to help others with similar disabilities. Mrs. Tada serves as CEO of Joni and Friends, a Christian organization which provides programs and services for thousands of special-needs families around the world. President Reagan appointed Mrs. Tada to the National Council on Disability, then reappointed by President George H.W. Bush. During her tenure, the ADA was passed and signed into law. Mrs. Tada served as advisor to Condoleezza Rice on the Disability Advisory Committee to the U.S. State Department. She served as Senior Associate for Disability Concerns for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. The Colson Center on Christian Worldview awarded Joni Tada its prestigious William Wilberforce Award, and she was also inducted into
Indiana Wesleyan University’s Society of World Changers. 
Joni Eareckson Tada has been awarded several honorary degrees, including Doctor of Humanities from Gordon College and Doctor of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary. She is an effective communicator, sharing her inspirational message in books, through artwork, radio, and other media. Joni Tada served as General Editor of the Beyond Suffering Bible, a special edition published by Tyndale for people affected by disability. Joni and her husband Ken were married in 1982 and reside in Calabasas, California.

Contact Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope with Joni Eareckson Tada

Mailing Address
Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope
PO Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376-3333

Telephone
818-707-5664