...the Christians all became missionaries... Part II

Last week I noted that for our community of Christians to become missionaries means 5 things.

1.) we are to be a missional movement
2.) those committed to our community are to be missionaries
3.) as a missionary, those committed must define their mission field
4.) we must be strategic, prayerful and intentional about meeting needs in the mission
fields
5.) we must provide places in which to invite those we serve into Christian community and the redemption of creation when the seeds begin to sprout

This week I want to focus on that first point.

What is a missional movement?

Great question.

Jesus emptied Himself of the Godhead and came to live as one of us (Phil. 2:5-8).

That is one of the most basic theological truths. However, so often we miss what it means to our daily lives. You have heard me use the phrase “broken bread and poured out wine” often. This mental image is a perfect example of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. As a person living a life of oneness with my Savior, I must allow Him to live His life through me. Therefore, I must empty myself of my puruit to be my own Godhead! I must be willing to be sent to the trenches as Jesus was. I must allow Christ to come to the places where I live and work... through me. That is the essence of missional living.

Now, to be a missional community is to simply do this together. To be a missional movement means to not only pour our individual lives out, but to be “broken bread and poured out wine” in our corporate lives together. We have done this well in some areas of our walk together in the past 15 months. I am proud to be a part of a community who cares about giving to, loving, and embracing the world around us. I’m proud that you do not judge, but you simply bring life and offer hope. Jesus said that even He, the one person who actually had a right to judge, did not come to judge, but to bring life to a dead world (John 12:47).

Now, let’s make sure we provide opportuities for Christ followers to plug into Christian community, but let’s not stop there. Let’s adopt the idea of saying to those who need Jesus, “Don’t come to us, we’ll come to you.” Then let’s put our feet behind it and be embedded missionaries in our communities, places of business and in our social circles. I think Jesus would be proud of that.

I must say here that this doesn’t begin in the world, it begins in our personal lives. To go out as missionaries without having been made whole ourselves is to send untrained soldiers directly to a war zone without proper preparation. Remember those 50,000 people not connected to a faith community we’ve been talking about. They need us to be at the top of our spiritual game. Jesus wants to put us on His first string team.

Let’s do our part to get in shape.