A few years ago, I was with a couple of Novo staff in a border city close to a closed nation in Asia. We were there to offer DBS training for a few workers serving in and for that nation. During our 5-day trip, we had an opportunity to visit a special prayer gathering that was for invited guests only. Arriving at a secluded, unfamiliar location, we entered a dimmed entrance to an old, faded building—it felt like we were in a suspense thriller. We were finally led to a room, and found it full of people already singing hymns at a controlled volume. There were more than forty people; we later realized that a few came from inside that closed nation and others were praying for various open doors to the country.
What completely astonished me was the fact that most of them were not ethnically like this nation. They were from Europe, North, Central, and South America as well as other countries near and far. All together in one heart, one voice to pray and seek God’s merciful breakthrough—to change the tragic narrative of the oppressed people who can’t hear the good news. I wondered to myself, Who are these people? Why are they here?
As a former senior pastor of a Korean church in the US, I had supported various “missionaries” and other initiatives related to this land, but that night God touched my heart to have a fresh perspective on what it means to be a catalyst of blessing in an unknown territory. These men and women, young and old, came from all over the world to stand together to bless this nation that is in desperate need of God’s blessing. And they came because they were first blessed, i.e., “blessed to be a blessing.”
“The Lord had said to Abram … ‘I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’” –Genesis 12:1–3
Our gathering reminded me of the famous explanation by a well known missionary writer, Don Richardson, about the promise in Genesis 12: “I will bless you…and you will be a blessing.” Richardson referred to these two promises as “top line" (I will bless you) and “bottom line” (you will be a blessing). Everything we have received from God is ultimately to be used to bless others.
The diverse group of men and women I met in that secluded location were from all over the world. They really knew exactly how good it is to be blessed and how much they were already blessed. And they wanted to bless the people of this nation for whom we were praying.
Bottom line. This does not just mean that it is at the bottom. It also means, “in sum” and “in conclusion.” Bottom line, we are blessed to be a blessing!
Reflection:
Do you feel there is danger that we will concentrate so much on the top line of all the “blessing” that God can give and has given that we will forget the bottom line?
In what ways in our daily walk can we be a blessing? How far are we willing to go to be a blessing as blessed ones?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Young Cho has been a Novo staff since 2018 transitioning from a senior pastoral role of a Korean-American church. In collaboration with a number of like-minded movemental organizations and NGOs, Young is passionate in serving as a catalyst to mobilize churches and believers around the world to share the compassion of Christ and to accelerate gospel movement, especially empowering International refugees and defectors.