Missions

I hear people talk about "missions" often. Unfortunately though, I often hear missions spoken of as projects or statistics. For example, I may hear of "mission trips" where people go for a week to serve others in a different state or even country. Or I hear about the numbers of people who were impacted by those trips. But what about the other 51 weeks in the year? What about impacting the lives of those we live with and around? Shouldn't the emphasis of missions be a lifestyle that seeks to serve people here as well as out there? To share Jesus incarnate daily with a world that doesn't even realize He cares.

I believe missions is about a process we go through. As we discover the God who created us, we are compelled to help others to discover Him as well. This is about reconnection. This is NOT about converting people to be like us.

Jesus did not come to covert people. He did not come to make bad people good (quote by Ravi Zacharias). He did not come to make “good” people “better” (as well as self-righteous). He came to make dead people live. He came to bring a message of hope and joy to people who hadn’t experienced much of either.

He looked on people with compassion. These were broken people just like us. People who felt that they were not experiencing true life. They felt a great disconnect. That, this isn’t the way things are supposed to be. They could see that there is so much beauty and grace and order to the world we live in. But there is also anxiety and hate, and emptiness. Jesus came to bring out the former and crush the latter. He came so that people could awaken to the reality that the Creator of the Universe actually wanted to live in a relationship with us.

This is the message that God gives the Church to share with everyone. Missions is about seeking opportunities to share the life we have been given to others. It’s about living the life we were created to live. A life of hope, and authenticity. A life, yes, that is often filled with pain. A life that sometimes raises more questions (if we’re really honest with one another) than answers. Yet, a life that has joy because we are walking with our Creator. And we believe that He is in the process of making all things new. He is establishing a kingdom of reconnections, and He calls us to build with Him.