Where Does Mission Begin?

At the very heart, mission begins in Genesis 1. To me, it would be illogical for mission to begin in Matthew 28, by-passing the entire Old Testament. In addition, it would even be illogical for mission to begin in Genesis 12 with the call of Abraham.Not to discount the importance of these passages, they do provide specificity to the mission—they are just not the origin of the mission. I believe that the missio Dei, the mission of God, originates in Genesis 1. The very first book and passage of Scripture provides the details of God (YHWH, ELOHIM) creating the domain of earth. The purpose of his creation is assumed rather than explained. By ascribing purpose and function to the contents of his creation, there must be purpose and function behind God’s creation. Later on in passages such as Psalm 19, the purpose of God’s creation is understood more clearly: “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge.”

In short this morning, I believe the creation of man reveals God’s intention for his created order. When God creates man he does so in his image as well as with his breath, with the intent of being intimately connected to him in the Garden space. It is with man, God’s prized creation, who is given specific instructions, that God brings his heavenly kingdom to earth. This whole idea of heaven coming to earth is woven throughout Scripture:
– God’s call on Abraham contrasted to the earthly fleshly city, Babylon
– God’s call on Israel
– Jesus coming and declaring the Kingdom has come and is coming
– The church as the body of Christ, the house of God, and as agents and signs of the Kingdom
– The coming of the new city, New Jerusalem (Rev 21-22), when heaven comes to new earth

Therefore, at the core, the mission of God is to create a peaceful and good kingdom or domain, where he is supremely and preeminently glorified as God, King and Creator; and to have a people set aside for his own glory and praise who proclaim (and spread) his greatness and grace, as well as demonstrate (in all spheres of life as they spread) the glories of his righteous, pure, and holy kingdom.

My Thoughts on Thanks-giving and Thankfulness

I believe it is good for Americans to celebrate a holiday that is geared towards being thankful. And I hate to be a pessimists (normally I’m not) about the fact that the Thanksgiving holiday, although celebrated, mostly lacks substance from the many who celebrate it. Many can say “Thanks,” “Thank-you,” “I’m Thankful for you,” “I’m Grateful,” etc. Nevertheless, thankfulness, giving-thanks is not necessarily words, it is actions; it is a lifestyle. Thankfulness is rooted in the heart and flows out of life. Even though it is rooted in the heart, thankfulness begins with perception and belief about what you deserve.

This is where, for many Americans, thankfulness becomes quintessentially difficult. For although the belief about what we deserve varies, the belief about what we deserve still exist. Many believe that they deserve a home, owning a home, a car, a job, a decent/high wage, good health, excellent health care, fair treatment, justice, a nice family, and the ability to buy nice clothes and materials.

The truth is, we deserve none of those things. When you begin with the premise that we deserve those good things, the premise is faulty. It is faulty because we do not deserve good things due to the fact that we, in and of ourselves, are not good. How can evil, wicked, sinful, depraved, unholy, unrighteous people perceive they deserve good? If someone wants to argue that we are good and not evil, and that we deserve good things—here is what I would argue: The simple fact that we, in this world, face injustice, oppression, evil, wickedness, pain, suffering, and death exemplifies the by-product of human substance and existence. We experience what is at the core of our humanity—bad, which is the opposite of good. We are all at fault to what this world has become!

However, there are glimmers of good and right throughout our world because God is still at work in the world, for he is passionate about redeeming and restoring this fallen, bad, damaged created order. This good we see and experience makes us long for more of the good. In fact, without God in the picture, many begin to feel entitled to the good. This longing for good becomes a idol; an idol (god) that leaves people dissatisfied with people and systems, bitter and angry at the world, complaining about everything (and how everything is unfair), unfulfilled and lacking, and pessimistic about what they don’t have, but long to have. In essence, this idol leads to an ungrateful society and culture. Case in point—look at our botched up political system and the polls that come out describing people’s feeling towards the president and congress. And most of the fight coming out of congress and our political system is how we can give people more, who feel entitled, without going farther into the financial abyss of debt. Our society and culture has a major problem—it is called Ungrateful. This attitude flows from a greedy, selfish, entitled, and distorted vision of what “we all” really deserve.

We will never be grateful or thankful unless we understand that we deserve nothing—more specifically nothing good. We are sinners by nature, who, unless the gospel of Jesus Christ penetrates and saves us, live antagonistically towards a holy, omnipotent, righteous God. In Luke 16:11-19 only one of the ten lepers that Jesus healed came back to give him thanks. The other nine went there merry way, failing to give thanks. And I would assume, although not specified in the text, that they failed to give thanks because they felt they deserved to be healed. The leper who came back not only was a leper, but was a Samaritan who had been healed by a Jew. He understood there was no way he should have been healed, especially by Jesus, a Jew.

Until we understand we deserve nothing good, will we ever begin to live a grateful life! Essentially, thankfulness flows from an understanding of grace and mercy. Happy Thanksgiving and may we live thankful lives!

I am attempting to start a weekly series that writes on the following subjects:
– Monday is for Mission
– Tuesday is for Truth, Theology, and Treasure
– Wednesday is for Worship
– Thursday is for Thoughts on Ministry and Culture
– Friday is for Family

Although these topics may change and evolve overtime, my goal is to put my thoughts in writing.

So today is on mission. My simple thought for mission begins with the foundation for mission: the glory of God. If this is not our foundation, whether it be a church, a company, a organization, a non-profit, or an individual, the foundation is faulty at best. The glory and praise of God is the foundation of mission. If we fail to start here, the other facets of mission, such as the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, will not have the powerful force of the Spirit of God driving the mission, because it (the focus of the mission) will be on people-not the glory and supremacy of God. Let God be the center from which the mission originates.

Everyone has a center; a place from which life flows. Think of center the way the heart works; a central organ pumping blood throughout the body. As long as the heart is pumping, the circulation of blood sustains life. If the heart stops, well, you get the point. Just as we have a physical heart that pumps blood throughout our body, sustaining our lives—we also (all of us) have a spiritual heart.

Here is how this spiritual heart works. Whatever it is in our life that we have elevated to the status of God (god), the supreme and ultimate reality in our life, is the very thing or person pumping energy and life into all areas and spheres of our life. In other words, our center drives every sphere and area of our life. It drives our personality, dreams, ambitions, vocation, career, money, family, relationships, decisions, emotions, feelings, actions, behaviors, reactions, responses, etc. The way we live in each sphere reveals the condition of our spiritual heart.

This is why when times our good and everything is going well, the true condition of the heart is able to have a sort of facade. However, when there is tension or situations in life, whether they be financial, familial, relational, emotional, transitional, the facade is stripped away and the spiritual condition of the heart is laid bare. This is the essence of the gospel and the work of the Spirit—to strip away the facade to reveal to people that everything, particularly their (spiritual) heart, is not healthy, it is not right.

For believers in particular, the tensions, valleys, struggles, failures, disappointments, and difficult times in life expose areas and spheres of our lives that do not have a healthy center. [Remember, one of the goals of the Christian life is to bring every sphere and area (of our life) under the Lordship of Jesus Christ (center).]

I guess the reason why I was prompted to write about this topic, this morning, is because of some recent revelations in my own life; areas of my life that have unhealthy centers. And there is a temptation that I could just chalk up my unhealthy centers and say, “This is the season I am in,” “It is has been a difficult time in my family and I’s life,” “I am under a lot of pressure,” “There is a lot of unknown variables in my life,” etc. However, I must realize that as James points out, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). Paul puts it this ways in his letter to the church in Philippi, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13). Furthermore, the author of Hebrews, throughout his exhortation, encourages believers to look to Jesus, “the author and perfecter of faith.”

I praise God this morning for exposing and revealing areas of my life that need to fall under the Lordship of Jesus. To be honest, it is not fun to be spanked by God; however, on the other hand, I would not want to be disciplined by anyone else.

I end with what I read this morning 2 Peter 1:3-15. In this passage, Peter explains that believers have been given everything they need to have the gospel, to have Jesus, to have the divine power of God, as their center driving and pumping (spiritual) blood to all areas and spheres of their life. In addition, Peter provides a list of qualities that should be in our life, and increasing. These qualities, according to Peter, described in God’s word, are extremely important. These qualities keep us fruitful, clear-headed, and grounded. Read this, and may we all be challenged this morning to have at the center of our life the gospel, Jesus Christ.

“3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.”C

The author of Hebrews writes about Abraham and how he looked forward to the city, “whose designer ad builder is God” (Heb 10:10). Furthermore, he notes how Abraham desired this better country, this heavenly country; a city that God was preparing for his people (Heb 10:16). The truth is if attentive and aware of what takes place in our cities, there will be a holy discontent that things are not right. The presence of injustice, poverty, homelessness, broken homes, violence, murder, greed, child negligence, immorality, and all sorts of improper sexuality will ignite a flame in one’s heart—“something is wrong.” The Bible expressively explains that something is wrong. Sin has left this world and its cities and civilizations in disarray, damaged, and distorted. In other words, the cities and civilizations of this world are broken, of which we (believers) are included. However, God promises that there is another city, another civilization. This city, designed by God, is perfect, undefiled, without blemish; it is a city where death, disease, pain, mourning, or crying ceases to exist (Rev 21:4). It is proper and right for believers to have this holy discontent with this world (cities and civilization) and a longing for the one to come. However, a lack of longing for this [eschatological] city means one or two things. First, it can mean that believers are so shortsighted on their own worries, concerns, and pains of life they are paralyzed from looking ahead. Second, if there is a lack of desire and longing for the city of God, there may be an unholy love for this city and world.

In longing for this eschatological city, believers reflect and foreshadow, in their lives, and especially in the corporate fellowships (churches), the reality of this soon coming city.