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On a blog post the other day I mentioned that I wasn’t totally comfortable with the “missionary” title. As I think about it some more, I realize that my discomfort with the title arises from my wrestling with a theology of God’s called-out people. As one of God’s kids, I’m learning to take seriously such passages from our ancient texts as John 20.21 where Jesus says, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” In this text, the resurrected Jesus is directing these words to a stunned group of disciples who thought they were behind closed, locked doors.
However, I realize also that Jesus’ ministry and example and instruction extends to His people today just as much. Jesus was sent to the earth on a mission from God. As we examine His life and ministry in the Gospel writings, we see that He relied on an intimate connection with God the Father to sustain Him in that mission. And at the end of His earthly ministry, before He returns to the right hand of the Father, He says to us, His people:
“GO! In the same way that God sent me to participate in His mission to bring about His purposes on the earth, I send YOU! Stay intimately connected with me and with your Father in heaven. Speak light into the darkness. Reproduce into others the eternal, supernatural life that I’ve imparted to you. (Matthew 28.18-20) I spent the last 3 ½ years modelling the making of disciples and equipping you to do it. Now, do it in your own culture, but don’t you dare stop there! (Acts 1.8)”
This is a call to every Christ-follower. Therefore, every one of us as God’s people are sent as missionaries. Needless to say, we don’t belong to this world. Our jobs, our families, our neighbourhoods, our home country/culture – none of these things define who we are or provide meaning and purpose. Rather, they are segments of our mission field where God has sent us.
The motto of the particular nation that I was born in, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is radically incomplete and insufficient to describe the mission that my God has sent me on. As a result, it is crucial for me to remember that the ideal life that is communicated to me in American Christendom culture, though it sounds good, is a sham. “Get a good job where my boss is a Christian, obtain financial security and even economic prosperity, live a happy and comfortable life, look forward to a pleasurable retirement, go to church every Sunday, and maintain a bourgeois and respectable set of values and perspectives about the world around me.” These are things that, though not inherently wrong or wicked in and of themselves, constantly threaten to distract me from the mission that Jesus has sent me on as His follower.
So am I a missionary? Yes, but not in any sense that’s substantially different from any other follower of Jesus Christ. For Kristy and I and the 300+ employees of Greater Europe Mission, it’s just a matter of geography.
Categories: mission, God
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2 comments:
Hi Brandon!
Just read your latest post and i found it very interesting. I agree that we are all, as God's kids, called out to be missionaries. I want to contest though what you said in this sentence..."Our jobs, our families, our neighborhoods, our home country/culture-none of these things define who we are or provide meaning and purpose." Granted these things should not define who we are, but I would argue that they do provide meaning and purpose. All these things are the very ways in which we can even be "missionaries" at all. It provides a context to live out God's purpose for us. I think that I do understand what you are meaning to say but I think it's important that we don't look at everything in our lives, especially our families, as segments of our mission field, they are more than that and do provide much meaning and much purpose.
P.S. Please keep in mind that I am sick while I am writing this so my thoughts are a little muddied! =)
Say Hi to Kristi from us...we are really looking forward to your arrival in Ireland! Stacey
Actually, I think you've got a good point there, Stacey (even in your state of illness) =).
Is there meaning and purpose to be found in our families, jobs, etc.? Sure. But separated from our Divinely appointed puroses, these things are empty. And this is a key aspect of the Gospel. Our roles in life are infused with purpose and meaning when we live in the realm of God's Kingdom. I think that's kind of what you're pointing out.
For example, your role as a mother (as well as a wife) is infused with meaning and purpose in light of your intimate connection with your Creator and your participation in His Kingdom.
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