I’m Going to Mars!

There’s a reason why guidance counselors don’t give kindergarteners career advice. It’s really hard to guide a student that early in life when the only information counselors have to work with is, “I’m going to be an astronaut!” I’ve said that. As I’m sure you’re aware, few astronauts have been found writing articles in Lindsey church newsletters.

However, there’s still hope. There’s a project called “The Mars One” that wants to colonize the red planet by 2022. They’re taking applications from folks who would like to be the first to make the attempt. There are some minor risks: Death by explosion, death by radiation, death by collision with space debris, death by suffocation and death by disease. All of these inconveniences are offset by the fact that you would get the opportunity to live the rest of your life in a container known as a capsule. “Capsule” is a term I most closely associate to something that’s swallowed and digested… just sayin’.

Jennifer Juarez from CNN summarizes all of these concerns nicely by simply stating, “There are financial and practical questions about this venture that haven’t been clarified.” Now just sign here.

I can’t be the only person looking at this application process and asking myself, “Don’t they have people for that?” Of all the activities that should have “people for that” isn’t space exploration one? Apparently not. NASA has a university! Wouldn’t it just make sense to recruit from there? According to The Mars One projects representatives, it will take a “very special” group of people to manage this task. There have been over 200,000 applications submitted to The Mars One project from would-be astronauts. 100 will be accepted and of those people only 24 will go.

Matthew 9:37 says, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Work needs to be done for the kingdom of God. The good new is that God has “people for that” and one of them is you. There’s no application process. There’s no vetting procedure. There’s no performance evaluation. Every believer who wants into the program gets in, but you have to want to be in the program and there are risks.

The disciples accepted the position and the risks despite seeing Jesus crucified. Why would they do that? I believe it’s because something about being Jesus’ disciples was worth the risk in their eyes. What did they see?

My prayer is that we see why being one of God’s workers is “worth it” and that we decide to get with the program. In the end, I believe accepting this mission will produce even greater glory than boarding a ship headed to a distant planet.

Pastor Travis