Why I Am About Mission

Over the last several weeks, I have had several conversations with other Christ-Followers about why I preach the way I do, why am I so serious about the gospel and why is mission an almost consistent theme in my communication? I like talking about my passion for God, but it is the last question that seems to bring a sadness to my heart: Why is mission a consistent theme of my whole life and ministry? The questions and tone of the conversations carried the idea that I somehow did not fully understand how to communicate the heart of God or understand the purpose of the church. The fact that a Christ-Follower would ask this question shows how confused we have made the mandate of God to other believers. So, here are a few thoughts about why the church is to be about mission and hopefully all of us will move more in line with his heart.

• Genesis 3 - After the fall of Adam and Eve, God comes to the garden approaching near to the ones who had rejected his glory and were separated from Him. In doing this, God shows his heart from the very beginning is one of "being on mission".
  
• Genesis 12 - God tells Abram to go to a land that God would show Abram and that through Abram, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Further evidence that early on God's heart was on mission.
• In Exodus God tells Moses that God would deliver Israel from the hand of Egypt. Here, God is on mission to redeem and save the Hebrews.
• Isaiah 61:1-2 - "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." Here is a prophecy about the coming mission of Jesus.
  
• In Matthew 9 as Jesus was going along he calls a tax collector named Matthew to a life of freedom and purpose.
• Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he said these words in Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,". This is so clear, this is what we are to be about. There should be no controversy or question about that.

I could go on and on. These are just several of so many. The church is more than a place to socialize, hang out, hide, make sure we are never offended, etc. Today's church encourages the pursuit of stuff in the name of Jesus, but sadly it also teaches us that our feelings, happiness, and self-esteem are most important. None of those things will fix the sin problem the heart is corrupt with, only Jesus blood will.

So why am I about mission? Because God is about mission. If we seek a church that is not driven by the same mission God is, then we must evaluate why we are going there. We should get away fast. The mission of God must remain at the forefront of the message to proclaim.

I will be about mission no matter what people think about me. I will side with what the scripture says about God. He is missional.

Preaching so as Not to Convert Anybody

A friend of mine sent the excerpt below to me. May all of us who preach or teach stay true to the word. The stuff below comes from The sermon is entitled "Creatures Born to be Killed, Part 2" and can be found at www.gracetoyou.com by John MacArthur.

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"Over a hundred years ago, an article by Charles Finney was entitled, "Mastering the Art of Preaching so as to Convert Nobody." In it there were some ways to be sure you could preach so as to convert nobody. I paraphrased some of them. Here's a few.

Let your supreme motive be to secure your own popularity and success. If you preach that way you're not going to say anything to offend and if you don't offend you can't convert anybody. Aim at pleasing for money and sexual favors, rather than correcting for holiness. Let your sermons be literary, flowery, ornate, flowing beautifully so your hearers never remember the lack of content. Be sparing of thought lest your sermon contain enough truth to convert someone. Avoid preaching doctrines that are offensive to the carnal mind. Deal with sin in the abstract and make no allusion to the sins of your audience. Preach salvation by grace but ignore the condemned and lost condition of the sinner, lest he should understand what you mean by grace and sense his need of it. Make no appeal to the fears of sinners, but make the impression that they have no reason to fear, God loves them. Preach the love of God and ignore the holiness of His love. Do not rebuke the worldly tendencies of the church, lest you should hurt their feelings and convert some of them. Select your themes and so present them as to attract and flatter the wealthy, aristocratic, self-indulgent, extravagant, pleasure-seeking classes and you won't convert any of them to the cross-bearing religion of Christ. Ridicule solemn earnestness in pulling sinners out of the fire and recommend by precept or example that jovial, fun-loving religion and sinners will have little respect for serious preaching. Cultivate fastidious tastes in your people by avoiding all disagreeable allusions to the last judgment and final retribution. Treat old and uncomfortable doctrines as obsolete and out of place. And so exhibit religion as to encourage the selfish pursuit of it. Make the impression upon sinners that their own safety and happiness is the supreme motive of being religious. And see to it that you say nothing to any of your hearers to demean him or her, but only what is flattering.

That's the way they preach. You have to listen carefully to be able to discern it. Words full of nothing that convicts and nothing that converts. And nothing of truth that changes lives. And they entice, people are sucked up in masses to their empty wells."

The Freedom of Being All In

This past week I had one of those moments in the scripture that is still affecting me and it came from a passage that at first I did not think was all that insightful. Isn't that the thing with God's Word? Even the places that have not been deemed so important are still "living and active" and I should have known better. As we have been walking through the letter of Philippians, we came to the place where Paul gives some detail about the deep value that Timothy had in his life. Here are the words Paul uses of Timothy - "For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ". (Philippians 2:20-21)

Paul is in Rome and he has other committed Christ-Followers around him, but as he ponders who in the entourage would willingly go to Philippi for him, only one person stands out. One person is dependable and trustworthy and that is why Paul says "For I have no one like him". No one was his equal. No one was more like minded with Paul than Timothy. Paul knew this deep in his soul. No one around him would love and minister to the Philippians like Timothy would. Timothy is the real deal.

Then Paul says the amazing thing, "They all seek their own interests, not of those of Jesus Christ". Here he is surrounded by people who love Jesus and the gospel, but he describes every one of them as those who seek their own interests compared to Timothy. Those around him were interested in the kingdom and their own interests, and that can only choke the gospel out in our lives and leads to lukewarmness. This thought begs the question, "Why was Timothy so unique?" "What had he already decided that set his life apart? So, Timothy is uniquely dependable, trustworthy, genuine, and single minded.

Though I have never played poker in my life, I have seen it in the movies. When someone has the "hand of hands", they push all of the chips to the center and say "All In". Timothy was all in with the kingdom of God, only he had not pushed poker chips into the middle, he had pushed his life into the middle and was going for broke for the kingdom.

Here's why Timothy stood out to Paul and I wonder if these things are true of us. I call them the Triad.
1. Timothy was willing to go anywhere.
2. Timothy was willing to serve anyone.
3. Timothy was willing to sacrifice any and everything.

I believe that when these 3 are settled in us, then we begin to really live in the only real freedom that can be known. Freedom is not found when we are in control of our lives, but when we are willing to go anywhere, serve anyone, and sacrifice everything. For when we live out those 3, we have surrendered control of our lives to God. The church landscape in our day is filled with those who love God and talk of the realities of gospel sacrifice, but their lives are marked by their "own interests". That is not a life that is "All In".

I am a Triader. Are you? That does not mean that we are to go overseas. It could mean that we stay right here where we are. It does mean though that we are willing to do all 3.