Odd & Stinky

Odd & Stinky

As I kid growing up in church I never heard about God’s mission.  Church was more like a formal exercise routine… lots of kneeling, memorized prayers, candles, special days, etc.  God seemed to be important – but distant.  I didn’t know God personally.  I just did stuff because that’s what people told me I was supposed to do.  I didn’t experience God relationally – in the vertical “me-to-God” sense – or in the horizontal “me-with-people” sense.  The extent of my knowledge of Christian mission(s) was the infrequent odd and stinky fellow (big bushy beard was apparently mandatory) asking for financial support for their efforts in some country I couldn’t pronounce.

For many people the idea of Christian mission is something similar: the odd and stinky fellow (or couple) from some foreign land asking for money.  We might feel a slight tug at our heart strings when we hear them talk, but that is quickly quenched by déjeuner (breakfast) or another engagement with family, friends, work, or a pillow…  ZZzzz.

Mission is the very heart of God and thus the Bible, i.e. God’s love story to humanity.  To the extent that we understand that ESSENTIAL truth determines our understanding of Scripture – and God.  I like to share with people that we read, understand, and interpret the Bible through lenses.  Those lenses are things like culture, language, history, tradition, experience, etc.  Those things shape how (in)accurately we understand the God-intended meaning of Scripture.  Despite what many people think - the meaning of the Bible is not “open” to subjective or fluid interpretation.  The question to ask is not, “What does this mean to/for me?” but rather, “What does God mean in this?”

Since we can’t transport ourselves back into time to fully understand Hebrew culture in the Ancient Near East we need to bridge that gap – bringing forward the meaning while simultaneously transporting ourselves in terms of understanding for the purpose of APPLICATION.  This happens most effectively through the lens of mission:

1.God is an eternally loving, compassionate, and altruistic God of Trinity.

2.God created humanity in Their image and likeness for a purpose (Gen 1:26-27; 2:15-17).

3.We wrecked that through rebellion/sin (Gen 3).

4.God won’t allow His sovereign purpose for humanity to be thwarted.

5.Beginning in Genesis 3 God began to reveal His missional plan of redemption.

6.God’s mission is stated in Gen 12:3 “through you all the peoples of the world will be blessed.”

7.God’s missional plan is the ‘undercurrent’ pushing human history forward.

8.Jesus Christ is the fullness of that biblical/missional revelation.

9.The Body of Christ (church) is the incarnational expression of God’s mission today.

Do you avoid reading through the Old Testament because you’re convinced it is has been replaced by the New?  Then you will fail to see that God has NEVER been anything other than loving, compassionate, altruistic, and just.  Jesus told us to love our neighbors in the New Testament because it was in the Old first.  It was in the Old because it has always been the heart of God for us to be in loving relationship with our Creator and with one another.  The Old Testament also tells us to demonstrate compassion to widows, orphans, and foreigners.  The Old Testament tells us about Abraham’s hospitality being rewarded by God – because God has ever been a God of hospitality, love, compassion, tenderness, patience, and altruism.

Mission is the essential lens – through which – we can correctly understand and interpret the Bible.  There are plenty of people who speak & read Hebrew (OT) & Greek (NT) fluently, but who have ZERO understanding of God’s heart and will.  Understanding MISSION is more important to understanding God than anything else.  When you understand mission as the essence of God expressed through revelation (Scripture and the person of Jesus Christ), then you will see yourself in the story of God – in redemption and in mission.  The gospel (Good News) was brought to you because someone else realized that too.

Now it’s your turn.  Not to fill the pews or start a new church program, but to actively participate in the mission of God as a member of the Body of Christ: i.e. sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with this lost and broken world.

God has uniquely gifted you for the place where you are RIGHT NOW to be ‘salt and light,’ to have an impact of the people of your family, neighborhood, community, workplace, nation, and world.  Start in your own heart…  through prayer and equipping by the Holy Spirit you can impact the story of God by willfully and actively participating in His MISSION.

You just might become that odd and stinky guy/gal whose sole focus in life is identification with Christ through His Mission…  so that “through you all the peoples of the world will be blessed.”  And you will ever praise Him for the privilege and opportunity.

Blessings,

-Kevin

PS Contact me @ LVNFIT68@icloud.com with prayer requests, comments, feedback, and suggestions for future blog posts.