to be missional
q. How can I remain in this world and not of it?
A thought I have been pondering a lot lately seems to bring me back to this question. I recently wrote an email to a friend after having been overwhelmed by the evidence of anti Christian sentiment that continues to make a mark on our thoughts, our people, our governments, our world; it stated the following:
"...i used to think that this country was over-saturated with christ followers, and that missionaries were more needed in other parts of this world- especially the 10/40 window. that is obviously not true...san francisco. new york. new orleans. las vegas. minneapolis. wherever...where is this [world] headed? sometimes i wish i didn't know."
Quite frankly, I am ashamed to have spent one too many days playing the thick in the head game, trying to convince myself that I would only serve a purpose in a place that I was passionate about. I would seriously lay awake at night and dream of where I would be used in the future; I would pray and plead that God would send me somewhere real soon, so that I didn't drive myself crazy where I was at. What I failed to realize is that it had nothing to do with place, & everything to do with people. All people. Every people. God's people.
I recently came across a short post in which David Crowder writes of his definition of a missional lifestyle. I appreciated the correlation between people & place.
"[To be missional] means that we understand ourselves to be missionaries in today's culture. Missionaries are those whose lives are constituted by a mission: to know Him and make Him known - this is our purpose, our goal, and our end in life. An ongoing relationship with God should result in a lifestyle that is God-centered and seeks to incarnate Christ. Missionaries always seek to understand 1.) the culture in which they live, and 2.) how to embody Christ amidst a kingdom that is not God's kingdom.
For several hundred years now, America has always been considered a Christian nation in which Christianity has been the predominant religious influence. Since Christianity has been the predominant religious influence in America, many American Christians understood "missionaries" to be those people who take "our" gospel to non-christian people overseas, therefore, since American Christians ceased understanding themselves as missionaries, we no longer saw the need to discern the culture in which we've lived.
Many American Christians have bought into several American (cultural - not biblical) mindsets. Here are a couple: 1. Capitalism - that our purpose, goal, and end in life is to be profitable in business or other avenues in the professional world; therefore, we understand that all of life is ordered to that end...that our involvement in school or work is primarily about capitalism, not primarily about mission. Does this mean we neglect excellence and diligence in school or work? Absolutely not. This mindset actually motivates us to "do all things as unto the Lord" with excellence and diligence, yet with a different mindset - that our ultimate goal here is not about financial profit but bringing others along in our faith journey. 2. Consumerism - that the reason things exist in this world is for me, the consumer, to consume; even though the local church is called to be a body of people sent on a mission into the world striving to establish the kingdom of God (definitely not a consumer mentality). Unfortunately, although the local church has been ordained by God to carry on the mission of Christ, most American Christians simply view the church as another venue that simply exists to meet our individual needs.
...How can I be missional? Accept the call of Christ to live out your life as a missionary amidst a culture that constantly tries to sell us a different purpose and a different vision in life..."
I am learning the ways and culture of the place I am in. It may take the rest of my life figuring out how to balance all that this culture entails. But my main goal should always be to know Christ first, and to in turn make Him known. Could he send us away on an adventurous journey to the seven seas and beyond with nothing but the clothes on our backs? I love knowing it's possible. But my mission field is here now. Never later.
Side note. Speaking of mission fields, I have my very own battlefield in my own back yard. D has ten times the will of his mother if that is even humanly possible. I think I will start fresh there in the morning. Make that 5 hours.
A thought I have been pondering a lot lately seems to bring me back to this question. I recently wrote an email to a friend after having been overwhelmed by the evidence of anti Christian sentiment that continues to make a mark on our thoughts, our people, our governments, our world; it stated the following:
"...i used to think that this country was over-saturated with christ followers, and that missionaries were more needed in other parts of this world- especially the 10/40 window. that is obviously not true...san francisco. new york. new orleans. las vegas. minneapolis. wherever...where is this [world] headed? sometimes i wish i didn't know."
Quite frankly, I am ashamed to have spent one too many days playing the thick in the head game, trying to convince myself that I would only serve a purpose in a place that I was passionate about. I would seriously lay awake at night and dream of where I would be used in the future; I would pray and plead that God would send me somewhere real soon, so that I didn't drive myself crazy where I was at. What I failed to realize is that it had nothing to do with place, & everything to do with people. All people. Every people. God's people.
I recently came across a short post in which David Crowder writes of his definition of a missional lifestyle. I appreciated the correlation between people & place.
"[To be missional] means that we understand ourselves to be missionaries in today's culture. Missionaries are those whose lives are constituted by a mission: to know Him and make Him known - this is our purpose, our goal, and our end in life. An ongoing relationship with God should result in a lifestyle that is God-centered and seeks to incarnate Christ. Missionaries always seek to understand 1.) the culture in which they live, and 2.) how to embody Christ amidst a kingdom that is not God's kingdom.
For several hundred years now, America has always been considered a Christian nation in which Christianity has been the predominant religious influence. Since Christianity has been the predominant religious influence in America, many American Christians understood "missionaries" to be those people who take "our" gospel to non-christian people overseas, therefore, since American Christians ceased understanding themselves as missionaries, we no longer saw the need to discern the culture in which we've lived.
Many American Christians have bought into several American (cultural - not biblical) mindsets. Here are a couple: 1. Capitalism - that our purpose, goal, and end in life is to be profitable in business or other avenues in the professional world; therefore, we understand that all of life is ordered to that end...that our involvement in school or work is primarily about capitalism, not primarily about mission. Does this mean we neglect excellence and diligence in school or work? Absolutely not. This mindset actually motivates us to "do all things as unto the Lord" with excellence and diligence, yet with a different mindset - that our ultimate goal here is not about financial profit but bringing others along in our faith journey. 2. Consumerism - that the reason things exist in this world is for me, the consumer, to consume; even though the local church is called to be a body of people sent on a mission into the world striving to establish the kingdom of God (definitely not a consumer mentality). Unfortunately, although the local church has been ordained by God to carry on the mission of Christ, most American Christians simply view the church as another venue that simply exists to meet our individual needs.
...How can I be missional? Accept the call of Christ to live out your life as a missionary amidst a culture that constantly tries to sell us a different purpose and a different vision in life..."
I am learning the ways and culture of the place I am in. It may take the rest of my life figuring out how to balance all that this culture entails. But my main goal should always be to know Christ first, and to in turn make Him known. Could he send us away on an adventurous journey to the seven seas and beyond with nothing but the clothes on our backs? I love knowing it's possible. But my mission field is here now. Never later.
Side note. Speaking of mission fields, I have my very own battlefield in my own back yard. D has ten times the will of his mother if that is even humanly possible. I think I will start fresh there in the morning. Make that 5 hours.
posted by - e - | 1:31 AM
4 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
e -
that is a great post. you have been flying sort of under the radar with this blog thing and thats cool. but you really do have some good stuff to say. keep it up!
I really appreciated your post. It presented some good thoughts that hadn't occured to me. Thank you for taking the time to do it-I noticed that it was pretty late/early (3:13 AM). God bless.
thank you both for the encouragement!
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