The Mission of God

“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…” (Matthew 28:19)

One of Jesus’ final commands to his disciples, and to us as his followers, is to go into the world and make disciples.  It’s called the Great Commission; to be missionaries to our world and our culture, and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Theologians call this the Missio Dei, translated from Latin meaning Mission of God.

Jürgen Moltmann says, "It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church."

It’s God’s mission to spread His glory by using the Church to teach and train people to love and follow Jesus.  And in the Great Commission Jesus calls us to be a part of that mission.  That’s where the phrase to live missionally comes from—it means to live out the Mission of God.

Have you ever thought about the fact that God is a missionary God?  He is.  The great thing about Jesus’ call for us to go and make disciples is that He led by example!  The greatest display of the Mission of God is in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

How does thinking of Jesus as God’s sent missionary to you, affect your thoughts toward missions?

Spend some time today thinking about the fact that God is a missionary God who came into your world to reach you with His love through Jesus Christ.  His desire is to see you, and all people, reconciled, and redeemed.

Then, spend some time in prayer today, rejoicing in the thought of God the Father’s great love towards you, and that He sent His Son Jesus to reach, love, rescue, and redeem you through His finished work on the cross. 

Our Global Village

When I first learned to drive, my dad gave me some great advice, “Never lose sight of the bigger picture.”  He trained me to constantly monitor what was happening on my left and right, in my rear-view mirror, and as far down the road as I could see. 

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that Dad's words apply not just to driving a car, but to other areas of life as well.  In fact, I hear his words replayed in my mind almost every time I make a decision.

The Lord Jesus had similar advice when he spoke to his disciples about their role in the world. “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (John 4:35) (See also Matthew 9:37)

In other words, one of the first priorities and disciplines for every follower of Christ is to cultivate a global perspective.

When I use to jog through our community, sometimes I would catch myself looking down at the street in front of me.  I kept reminding myself to raise my eyes and take in my surroundings.  It's a far more inspiring view. Life is too short to spend it gazing at the pavement.  Many believers, to their own loss, don’t take the time to appreciate the grand sweep of God’s redemptive plan in the Scriptures, and how God has uniquely prepared them to participate.  

When we lift our eyes, Jesus points out, our hearts will be touched by the vastness of the harvest field, the scarcity of workers and the spiritual readiness of many to embrace the good news.

That Weird Feeling after a Mission Trip

When I would return home from my mission trips to India, there was always some readjustment to make.  Even after one week, I would still have a weird feeling.  You know, that weird feeling you sometimes have after a mission trip?  Like, your normal is no longer normal?  I just want you to know that if your life feels a little bit battered after a mission trip, congratulations!  That's supposed to happen!

In traveling on mission, I learned that a mission trip is the perfect opportunity for God to turn your world upside down, and I have had the privilege of experiencing that feeling myself.  It will wean you of the addiction to technology and artificial social networks.  

By spending a week eating, sleeping, and living in close quarters with those that were serving beside me revolutionized how I related to others.  It broke my attachment to emails, texting and cell phones, because I realized that in those exchanges I was longing for something deeper. 

Fervent prayer can cure you of your obsession with endless knowledge and dead orthodoxy.  In James 5:16 we are reminded that, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."  I didn't need to read another book about spiritual discipline or participate in another program.  I got to live it.  Since prayer was a means of survival on the trip, I actually experienced the Father's heart and walked away a different person.

In India, the abundant joy of the people we were serving helped displace my cynical worldview and general distrust of others.  Laughing and praying with them restored freedom to my faith and chased away a snobbish uncertainty of the church. 

But when I returned home, I didn't know what to do.  How is such an experience maintained, I wondered, and should it be?  Everything felt weird and uncomfortable; some things seemed even ridiculous (do we really need 50 different kinds of breakfast cereal to choose from?).

I believe we need to "fast" from our culture.  We take so many things for granted—like countless choices of places to eat out, much less the fact that we'll actually have food in our bellies each day.  While a mission project is just one means of this, even so, the "fast" is crucial to our spiritual growth. 

When we stand together with others in need, we learn that real life can't be contained, distributed, and purchased in mass quantities at your local grocer.  The real kind of life that we're looking for is a “narrow road” that few find. (See Matthew 7:13-14)  It's the sort of thing that you need to really search for, and when you find it, it demands everything of you.  You sell all that you have for it.  And as you lose everything that seems to be your life, you gain what is most important—your soul.  

Now, please don't misunderstand, I'm happy to be back where I can understand the language, drink and bathe in clean water, and soak up the air conditioning.  Yet, part of me longs for the not normal.

Because it seems that God works most powerfully when I'm out of my comfort zone, being stretched.  I don't know how to do this without going on a journey that calls me to sacrifice and surrender. 

A mission trip helps you do that.  It reminds you that your agenda isn't always God's agenda. You end up feeling like a whole person.  I don't know about you, but I need more of that in my life—more of my world getting turned upside down.  I need to remember that Jesus' definition of abundant life looks more like dying or being battered than it resembles a perfect resume or portfolio. 

And I need to remember that feeling a bit messed up after such an experience is a good thing.  It means that I was not made for this world. (See Philippians 3:20)  It reminds me of a story I heard years ago in Sunday school about a mustard seed and a tree, and a kingdom that is coming.