Written by: Pastor Matt Young
I don’t know how you are feeling, but personally I find myself experiencing some general sadness around the fact that life has not gone back to “normal,” whatever that actually means now.
In particular, I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out how it is we, as the church, can still reach out to our neighbors, co-workers, and community during this time. Missions, after all, is a core part of our identity as Christians.
Here’s what I mean when I say, “it’s a core part of our identity as Christians.”
In the beginning, God created the world perfect and good – He even created human beings in His own divine image and likeness, putting us into a completely different category in creation.
Then we messed that up… Adam and Eve sinned and as a result, sin has infected every aspect of creation and every faculty of our beings.
But how did God respond?
He responded by sending His one and only Son. God went on a mission to save His people from their sin, death and brokenness seeking to restore them to a right relationship with him through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
Then, Jesus commissioned his disciples (and us as a result) to be sent people on a mission to spread the good news about God’s mission to the lost world through Jesus Christ.
So, mission or being a sent people is core to our identity as Christians. Meaning, if we are not living as if we are on a mission and we are not viewing ourselves as a sent people, something is off in our Christian identity.
So, what does all of that mean for us then with Covid?
Mission has, in some ways, become harder. It means that we have to be more intentional, more in tune with other’s comfort levels with personal interactions, etc.
But in other ways, Covid has actually helped the church in her missional calling!
People are more willing during a pandemic to come to church services, hear a gospel presentation or are even actively searching for answers to some of life’s big questions (what is my purpose, why is there suffering, how do I live right now, etc.).
So, for the next five Tuesdays, I’ll be walking through five principles for how it is we can become missional people.
Just to be upfront, the acrostic “BELLS” (the word behind each letter is tied to a principle) is not my own. Michael Frost, in his book Surprise the World, walks through these principles in more detail. My hope is to use his framework as a conversation starter and to provide some specific application for those of us living in Lubbock, TX.
So, here is the homework until next Tuesday:
Really evaluate for yourself the following –
Am I living missionally?
Do I see mission as an essential part of my identity as a follower of Christ?
What are some of the reasons, really, why I don’t live missionally today?
I hope and pray that as we evaluate our hearts together as a church and we start to look more intentionally at how it is we can live on mission in our communities, we will be able to fulfill the commission that Jesus, himself, gave to us.
Until next Tuesday, have a blessed week!