Matthew 10:5-7
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’”

This passage is fascinating to me, because I relate to it. It kind of clarifies my calling.
In this instance, Jesus did not begin by sending these disciples to the region in greatest need of an awareness of God. He sent them to the religious lost.

Man, I’ve lost count of the number of times that someone has asked me:
Of all the cities that you could have started a church in, why Charlotte?
(Charlotte is often hailed the most churched city in America. I’ve heard the same about Atlanta and Dallas… who knows? Regardless, we are pretty dang churched.)
And honestly, I used to feel a twinge of guilt every time someone brought it up.
“Yeah, I’m a wuss. I should be in Seattle or Boston… somewhere with more lost people.”
Over the course of the last year, that guilt has slowly trickled out of my system.
Because I’m discovering out that it’s just as easy (maybe easier) to be lost in religion as irreligion.
I hear dozens of accounts every month like:
“I have known about Jesus all my life, but never known Him until the last 2 months in this church, and last week I was saved… thank you so much for starting this church.”
I’m growing more confident that I have an anointing to speak to the dead dry religion that is prevalent in a city like mine. And that’s why God directed me here. Others have an anointing to reap greater harvest in more irreligious climates. And God directs them to their perfect destination, too.

God has given me a call to a very religious city.
To reach a (for the most part) very religiously aware people…
Who are overexposed to church, yet largely unaffected by Jesus.

I can’t imagine another place where I’d be better suited and more fired up to pour out my life…
So that people far from God will be filled with life in Christ.