I have been going thru a bit of a shift in my thinking about mission. Mission is something that I spent a lot of time on when I worked with students. We spend countless hours (probably way too much) on thinking thru our mission, purpose, values, etc. (remember you have to have the ladder on the right wall before you start climbing!) All that to say, there has been some shifting going on in my head. And while I dont think are 180 degree changes, it is a fairly major shift.
I will still operate with making, being, and unleashing fully devoted followers of Christ (FDFC). However, I think the shift comes with understanding what it means to be a FDFC.
I am an engineer. I like lists. Deal with it.
Before
Emphasis on Great Commission
Emphasis (or Priority) on Proclamation
FDFC Characteristics:
Has Quiet Times (Reading Word, Praying, etc.)
Attends Church
Invites People to Church
Serves in the Church
Give to the Church
May eventually teach in the Church
Social Justice, Orphan Widow Care, etc. is Secondary
(or at least a means to an end)
(with the end being proclamation)
After
Emphasis on Great Commandment (Love God, Love People)
Emphasis on Proclamation and Demonstration
FDFC Characteristics:
Has Quiet Times (Reading Word, Praying, etc.)
Involved in local Church
Views life missionally*
Serves in AND outside of Church Walls
Gives Generously to Expantion of Christ's Kingdom
Sees Spiritual Growth as a means to pour themselves out to the world
Social Justice, Orphan/Widow Care, Prison Ministry, Creation Care, Development, Relief, etc. are all viewed as Kingdom work alongside Evangelism
Another way to briefly sum it up is from an experience I recently had when I listened to the Gospel of Matthew. After going thru it in a fairly short time (less than a 24 hour period), I had a new perspective when I reached the Great Commission. Jesus says (my paraphrase) Go make disciples! And then he explains, these are the types of disciples I want you to make: Fully devoted ones that understand and live out everything I have taught. Even more specifically, everything that Jesus taught the disciples within in the book of Matthew. I think I got this before, but the emphasis was always on the making of the disciples rather than the content of which the disciples were to be made of. Yet Matthew devotes many more words to what Jesus taught than to sending the disciples.
There is much more to say on this and much more clarity to be had, but it is now getting later and I and I am starting to get tired! I would love to know if any of this makes sense to anyone else (it is all still swimming around in my head!). So leave me a comment or send me an email.
-jonathan
2 comments:
That makes complete sense. I think it helps me to read what are essentially the same as my own thoughts that someone else has written out so clearly. (I like lists, too.)
This makes perfect sense. The context (what Matthew had been pulling out throughout his gospel - esp the kingdom ethic of the sermon on the mount) shines tons of light on the great commission. People say "Context is King." But recently I heard... "Context is queen; Jesus is KING!" A little cheesy, but true!
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