By Brendan
The concept of missional living has been brought to the forefront of my mind as I have entered into this New Year. My paradigm of missions has been forced into a place of reflection and rediscovery. My own concept of missions seems to be evolving as God is faithfully opening my eyes to His very nature and character.
I have at one time or another thought of missions as supporting—whether financially, or through prayer—someone else. I have also at one point or another treated missions as something that one does through short-term trips (somewhere else) of relief or encouragement. And finally I have thought of missions as something that is lived out through love for those I am in community with, essentially attractional community—John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." But all of these conceptions of missions seem to fall short of the incarnation. Christ’s ultimate example.
The nature of God is characterized by His sending of His own son, Jesus. In doing so Jesus left the comforts of heaven and stepped down from his position of authority into our world and experienced all things as we do. Another aspect of the nature of God is apparent in Jesus’ life as He lived relationally. Jesus reached out to the “unlovable” those who were on the fringes of society, lepers, widows, prostitutes, “sinners”, the poor, and the unreligious. He set the ultimate example of love as he interacted with sinners, healed the sick, and called fisherman, and tax collectors to join Him on His mission.
Missional Living, as exemplified by Jesus seems to be the example of both go, and as you are going. What I mean by that is Jesus came to our world, and as he was going (living) He made disciples. So He was both sent and was obedient to live in a way that cultivated The Kingdom right where He was.
Jesus example has caused me to reflect on my understanding of missions and how it is practically acted out in my own life. Am I loving those who culturally are “unlovable”, those on the fringes of society, or those who I rub shoulders with daily? Am I following Christ example? Am I ultimately following Christ’s call for my life?
Definitely Jeff, I think that we will be most effective in doing this within community.
And no i don’t think it will be apart of my paper. Maybe i’ll be able to weave it in somewhere but i don’ think that’s the direction i’m going.
I completely agree with Laura, we should ask these questions daily. Possibly even more often! I also think that this is something that we can help each other achieve as a community. Is this a part of your paper?
Post graduation…man that seems to be quite a ways away, and honestly I have no idea what exactly I’ll be doing but one thing is for sure; it wont be lifeless or dull! I have found myself in some interesting places throughout my short walk with Christ, places I never could have imagined being. I can only chalk that up to following the desires that God has laid on my heart.
What Danielle said during their time with us really resonated with my story, I have followed the desire’s God has put on my heart and the things that He has gifted me in and, BAM! I’m in Europe playing soccer on a club team where none of the guys really have any idea who Jesus is ultimately and have never been around anyone that did and I was able to build relationships with a few guys and share Christ with them!
I just really think that God can and will use us through our desires and passions–that are ultimately from Him–to live missionally to those who share the same passions or desires.
I love the idea that we can participate in the Kingdom of God here and now. I think this changes our perspective when we live into the promise of the Kingdom today, right where we are, around the world, and in our own neighborhoods. The questions you ask are great, and are things I think we should be continually asking ourselves everyday.
Thanks for this post Brendan. My view of mission has been challenged as well. I’ve been most struck by the idea that we can do mission in our own neighborhood…we don’t have to go build houses in Mexico (although this is good too!).
How will this class impact your life post-graduation?