Missional in Nature

In the heart of who Jesus was while he was on earth, it is clear that he was deeply missional in nature.  The activity of his life was missional in the way it was expressed when he came into contact with people or as they placed themselves in his path intentionally.  Missional living is not something we turn on and off but it is to be our life – it simply is who we are.

Here is what it looked like for Jesus:  being missional meant he taught, ministered to prostitutes, called tax collectors to be intimate disciples, touched lepers, went through Samaria and spent time there (extra time), spent all night praying before a leadership decision, ministered to foreigners, discipled leaders, valued women and children, confronted religious hypocrisy, faced demons, ministered and healed the sick, lame, blind, and deaf.  It meant he observed, laughed, cried, entered people’s homes for meals and went to a wedding, and most importantly – he died for the sins of mankind.

Being missional in nature is not how we program, but it is who we are.  Here is how it worked with Jesus.

John 5: 17Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

He saw the Father working wherever he went and did exactly what he saw the Father do.  The four gospels are this evidence.  Jesus lived in complete obedience to the Father and it is the pattern for our lives as well. We can learn this missional life in our intimacy with Jesus and embracing the depth of the truth of scripture, for it is where we see him at work while he was here physically. 

It is my prayer for me and you that we would see the encounters we have each day, both the ones we seek out and the ones others seek out with us, as the activity of the Father in our lives.  If we would, then we might have much more impact daily in these encounters for we would see them with his eyes.  Maybe we would not have to program spiritual activity as it would be much more natural and effective.  

 Let’s have fun encountering!!