The Outbound Trail: Therefore, Go!
Matthew 28:19-20
Leaving Camp for the Next Adventure
Every journey eventually turns outward.
In the Boundary Waters, packing up camp usually means taking the familiar outbound trail: the portages, the hike to the access point, and the quiet satisfaction of reaching the car. But that wasn’t our outbound trail this Friday. Ours began after we loaded the gear, tied down the canoe, and drove away.
It began when everything went sideways.
Our drive home was interrupted almost right away and turned into a 24-hour detour without our car. My son Patrick, who was only eight, and I watched our plans fall apart, but we also saw God quietly change the day. During that unexpected time, God brought four different people into our lives, including a tow-truck driver named Lisa, in ways that still affect us fifteen years later.
Our car never made it out of the Boundary Waters. But the Gospel did.
I’ll save the full story for another time; it deserves its own telling. But I can say this: God left an imprint on both my son and me that still shapes us fifteen years later.
Outbound Trail moments are rarely planned but often require us to step out of our comfort zones. They’re about staying obedient when life doesn’t go the way you planned.
You start heading home, but the road changes. And God leads you into mission.
Outbound Trail is not leaving Jesus. It’s walking with Him into the world.
WHY WE GO: Because Jesus Commanded It
Jesus’ final words in Matthew 28 are not complicated:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
Three observations:
First, we call this passage the Great Commission, but the word commission has a depth we often miss. Our commission is a “co-mission”.
A commission is never a solo task. It is always a “with” task.
The mission of the Great Commission is to be sent with what is entrusted and sent with the One who entrusts it.
Second, notice what Jesus did not say:
“Come and stay.”
“Come and sit.”
“Come and watch.”
He says: “Go.”
You go because you’ve been with Jesus. You bless because you’ve been blessed. You witness because His life is now your life.
Our “going” comes from the abiding we talked about in my recent post, The Summit. Our commission is Jesus’ life moving outward through the disciple's life.
This is the outward movement of the Journey Compass:
Basecamp: Come to Me
Trailhead: Come and See
Path: Follow Me
Summit: Abide in Me
Outbound Trail: Therefore Go
Finally, the Great Commission is not the highest step on a spiritual ladder. It is the natural result of being united with Christ. We are entrusted, sent, and never alone.
WHERE WE GO: Wherever We Are Sent
Outbound Trail moments rarely happen in the places we expect.
Sometimes they happen in our neighborhoods, sometimes at work, sometimes in quiet conversations. And sometimes, like my Boundary Waters moment, they happen on a remote dirt road in northern Minnesota.
You step out of routine. You step into the unknown. And God leads you into someone else’s story.
HOW WE GO: With Prepared Hearts and Authentic Lives
Peter gives us the posture of mission:
“Always be prepared to give an answer…” (1 Peter 3:15)
Notice what Peter does not say: “Always be prepared to make statements.”
People ask questions when they feel safe to do so. This safety comes from our authenticity. They ask questions when your life looks like the Gospel you speak.
They ask questions when they trust us. I call this “earning the right.”
You earn the right to share the gospel first and foremost by living a life that reflects the gospel.
You earn the right through:
trust
consistency
humility
presence
Christlike love
Evangelism is most powerful in places where trust exists. What we say matters, but only after we've earned trust.
Francis of Assisi never said, “Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.”
However, another quote attributed to him says something similar: “It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.”
I have heard more than one pastor disagree with the first quote, as if it says never to use words. But I firmly align with both statements, regardless of who said them: our words have impact only after our lives have earned the right to speak them. Even an opportunity to share the gospel with a stranger on a plane is preceded by some form of relational trust-building.
Your walking testimony typically precedes your oral testimony. And your awareness of God’s activity often precedes both.
Mission is always happening around you when you’re abiding, when your heart stays aligned with Jesus and your spirit stays open to His leading.
Outbound Trail looks like…
Showing up at work with integrity, praying for your coworkers by name, and doing unseen work with excellence because Christ sees it.
Noticing the lives of people where you live, remembering their names, and offering help before it’s asked for.
Telling someone you know the story of how Jesus met you in your real life, not with polished answers but with honest grace.
Opening your home, your table, and your schedule to create space where people feel seen and safe.
Giving your time, resources, encouragement, forgiveness, and margin so others can experience God’s abundance.
Treating delays, detours, and unexpected conversations as places where God might already be at work.
Being the calm presence in meetings, family tensions, or difficult conversations.
Slowing down enough to notice someone’s need and letting your schedule shift toward love.
Letting your everyday life - the way you speak, drive, work, rest, parent, and respond - become a quiet testimony of Jesus’ life in you.
Not performance … participation! We are joining Jesus in what He is already doing.
It is facing the right way: outward, not inward.
A Boundary Waters Teaser: The Rest of the Story
Our outbound trail included a car accident along a remote dirt road with no cell coverage. It included my eight‑year‑old son watching my every move. But I believe it truly began when I offered a simple prayer out loud, and my son’s spoken prayer echoed mine. Our trail led to a gracious couple who stopped to help, a tow-truck driver who became a neighbor, and an entertaining shuttle driver the following day to the airport. The experience was a cascade of kindness that only God could orchestrate.
It was one of those times when life throws a wrench into your plans, and God rewrites the script.
Not to cause the hardship, but to use it.
Not to create the crisis, but to meet you in it.
Not to leave you stranded, but to send you.
That day became one of the clearest Outbound Trail moments of my life.
Not because it was dramatic, but because it was directed.
Outbound trails are not something you schedule. They’re something you step into.
Your Outbound Practice
Isaiah shared a powerful example of an Outbound Trail prayer when he said,
“Here I am. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)
Let’s follow his example.
“Jesus, send me today.”
Then look for the next outward step: pray with someone, share a Scripture, or tell someone, “God loves you!”
Our small steps down the outbound trail can become big stories in the Kingdom of God.
Transition to the Full Compass
Outbound Trail completes the circle, but the journey is never a straight line or even a simple circle. It is a repeated and often unpredictable adventure.
That’s the next movement: The Journey Compass Revisited.
In His Fields, Jon