I'd be interested to hear what you think about this question: what is mission? Here are a couple definitions that I've heard...
*Celebrating what we have in common.
*The whole church bringing the whole gospel to the whole world.
*A two-way reshaping in total engagement with a particular context.
I definitely like what I see on all of these definitions. We need to find what it is that we have in common. For when we are standing face-to-face or shoulder-to-shoulder with other people in need of God, the message we share with our words and our lives is better communicated and better received. We all have in common the need to have our fragmented lives and communities fused by the grace of God in Christ. I like a focus on wholeness as well. The whole church can and should engage. The age is passing of sending a full-time missionary from a church where 99% of the people will never leave their home state or even local zip code. Today it is possible for everyone to engage in some way. And the message needs to be holistic. It can't simply be about eternity; it can't only be about meeting physical needs. There must be balance and connection between the two. For an example of this kind of ministry... read the Gospels! And we must all admit that the one who goes is as shaped by the missional venture as the one who receives. Actually, quite often it is the one 'in power' that receives the greatest gifts from 'the powerless.' Again, for examples of this kind of ministry, read the Gospels!
It's a fun topic, isn't it? More than that, it's a critical and profound topic. As Christians in a globalized world filled with extreme poverty and extreme abundance, we need to address these questions, mobilize our churches, join the revolution, and live the adventure of compassion.
What do you think?
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