I recently led a small band of brothers known as the Iron Tribe through a journey of The Scriptures based on two words: mission and incarnation. Since these two words have been getting a lot of chatter in the Christian world, I thought that we might as well dive into the conversation head on and dig up some meaning behind these two words.
...and you know, I like to swim in the deep end.
I also wanted to put some context to how the Scriptures refer to how to best live out these two words. My only hesitation was that during our brief 1-1/2 hours together, we would only scratch the surface. However, the surface has been scratched. The doorway has been opened.
Let's begin...
I started with a simple question... What does God want from us? Everyone tossed around a bunch of good ideas and then I recommended that we take a look at the Scriptures to read what God says. We read the following:
Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
John 6:28-29, NIV
John 6:28-29, NIV
Jesus was of course talking about himself. What work must we do for God? The Jews really wanted to know this answer. After all, the 611 laws that they were following must have been fairly exhausting to keep track of so it makes sense that they would ask this question. It's funny, but I think we overlook the simplicity of this statement. All God wants us to "do" is believe in Jesus. Period. But what does that look like in our lives? How does this practically play itself out? How do we live this type of life? What purpose is there?
That led us to begin this discussion of mission.
What is the definition of "mission"? I asked someone in my tribe to look it up (as I scanned the room for anyone with a web-enabled smart phone). One of my guys has an iPhone so I picked on him. Here is the definition that we worked with for the night...
1) a group or committee of persons sent to a foreign country to conduct negotiations, establish relations, provide scientific and technical assistance [more simply, provide assistance], or the like .
18) Those sent.
Those two definitions came from http://dictionary.reference.com and I liked them just fine. I suggested that we refer to the "provide scientific and technical assistance" part very simply as "provide assistance." Think about it. What could these definitions be telling us as Christ-followers? How could these definitions help us contextualize our mission as followers of Jesus?
So we looked up some Scripture.
"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." 1 Peter 2:11, NIV (italics added)
This one works well too.
"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." 2 Corinthians 5:20
So here's a question... how does definition #1 compare to Scripture? Or does it? What similarities do YOU see? How does this impact your view of mission?
We discussed the implications. We are to be Jesus' ambassadors. We are now His messengers in this foreign world. We then moved on and I asked the next question...
What was Jesus always talking about?
Wanna give it a guess? What do you think? I'll give you a hint, Jesus even referred to this in his famous prayer that SO many of us have memorized. Jesus was always talking about the Kingdom of God (or the Kingdom of Heaven- same thing).
Check it out...
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Mark 1:15, NIV
“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” Mark 1:15, NLT
After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the Message of God: "Time's up! God's kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message."Mark 1:14-15, MSG
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." John 3:5, NIV
After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3, NIV
So if Jesus was constantly talking about the Kingdom of God, then as His followers, shouldn't we? What prevents us from telling everyone the good news that God loves them, that God has taken on humanity and flawlessly removed any barriers between us and God?
The truth is that no other god is coming for us.
That's not bad news... that's just reality. Seriously, go search the other world religions. There is no other god that has loved humanity SO much except the God of the Bible that He was willing to come to us to do what we could not do for ourselves to attain for us what we did not deserve.
That IS good news! God has come to us and His name is Jesus. Our mission is to proclaim this good news... or, as some say, Gospel.
We have a mission. We are representing... or should I say, re-presenting Jesus to the world so that they too can come back to God through Jesus. This brings us to our second word- incarnation.
Here is the definition that we used for incarnation...
To embody Christ; a physical re-presentation of Jesus.
This definition is a mashup of definitions from the dictionary as well as Scriptural references to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every Christ-follower. But it is one that we all agreed seemed to fit. After all, it does fall inline with who Christ was/is- God in the flesh; incarnate. Now, Christ lives in us, right?
Read this and pay attention to the last seven words...
In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church- for we are members of his body. Ephesians 5:28-30, NIV (italics, bold added)
[The] mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. Colossians 1:26-28, NIV (italics, bold added)
This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me. Colossians 1:26-29, MSG (italics, bold added)
Do you see it?
The missional-incarnational calling that we have as Christ-followers is to be co-missioned with Jesus in proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is available to everyone who has faith in Jesus as their Lord. Or to put it another way... this message is for anyone willing to trust in Jesus as the leader of their heart, mind, and soul living a life of moment-by-moment connectedness to God to do whatever He asks of them.
So here is the co-missioning from Jesus that I prayed over my guys that night...
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20,NIV
Go.
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composed by
dave
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