Five Devotions: Mission
The fifth devotion is the mission of the church. It walks hand in hand with the fellowship of the church. In the Lord of the Rings, there is no fellowship until there is a mission. A commitment to that common mission (destroying the ring of power) brings together a very unlikely team. As the dwarf, the elf, the man, the wizard, and some hobbits seek to fulfill their mission they become the best of friends. Our conversion to Christ puts us in fellowship with God and fellowship with the church all at the same time. That fellowship of which we are now a part is on the mission of bearing witness of Jesus to the world. Jesus states it this way to his disciples before ascending into heaven:
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus is very clear that the reason he is leaving the disciples behind is to tell the rest of the world about who he is and give them an opportunity to become disciples too. (See Matthew 28) He makes it clear that this message is not only to be delivered to the immediate neighborhood (Jerusalem) or the immediate region (Judea) but also across cultures (Samaria and the ends of the earth).
Christians are to be glocal when it comes to their involvement in the mission of the church. They are to see themselves as missionaries in their sphere of influence as well as seek to support the cause of the gospel in other cultures and in faraway places. They do this by praying for the work of spreading the gospel around the world, by giving money to these mission efforts, and by going themselves either short-term or as career missionaries.
You can help people keep informed with what is going on around the world by giving them some websites to monitor. www.imb.org is a great source of information for the world mission activities of the denomination with which we are affiliated (Southern Baptist Convention). www.joshuaproject.net is the site of an organization that is tracking all the unreached people groups on the planet. www.persecution.com is a good source for knowing what kinds of persecution our brothers and sisters around the globe are facing. Keeping up to date on a few websites will help to cultivate a prayer life that is consistent with Acts 1:8.
What usually happens when folks start praying for different people groups, is that they feel drawn to a particular group. This is a natural lead into giving to a ministry that serves that group and could then eventually lead to the person going and serving either on a short-term mission trip or discover that they have a call to go and serve overseas as a career missionary.
Reflection Question : How do I go about being a missionary in my own backyard?
So how do I devote myself to the mission of being a witness of Christ in my immediate sphere of influence? The Apostle Paul gives a great summation of his outreach strategy in Colossians 4:
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
The mission is accomplished in answer to prayer – devoted prayer. Paul begins by exhorting us to pray in a way that is watchful and thankful. The thankful part is a looking back. Considering all that God has done in the past in answer to prayer. It keeps us motivated to stay devoted especially at times when we just don’t see that much happening in answer to our prayers. The watchful part is a spurring on to have our eyes wide open to what God is doing around us so that we can join him by praying . We need to pray with the assumption that God isn’t going to do anything except in answer to prayer (this is a paraphrase of a quote from John Wesley).
Then Paul goes on to ask for specific prayer requests:
1. That God will open doors to the gospel
2. That gospel will be proclaimed clearly when door is opened
These two prayer requests reveal the two sides of human salvation. On one side, nothing happens if God doesn’t initiate with the unbeliever. We are dead in our sins (See Ephesians 2). A spiritual corpse can do nothing to save itself and has hope only if God intervenes. That said, the method that God has chosen to rescue people from spiritual death is the proclamation of the gospel by Christians to those who are outside of Christ. Paul says that the gospel is the “power of salvation” (Romans 1) and that “faith comes by hearing the word of God” (Romans 10). Paul is asking that prayers be lifted up for both parts of the missionary enterprise that has been entrusted to the church.
Once Paul speaks of proclaiming the gospel, he then gives some principles for how to do so. We’re exhorted to “be wise” in the way we act toward people who are not Christians. Christians (and really all other human beings) are notorious for creating their own subculture complete with its own language, music, entertainment, etc. We can become so insulated that we can no longer communicate the gospel in a way that makes sense to the average person on the street. It is very important that the church be a tight knit family that is constantly opening its arms to the newcomer. Consistently asking the question, “How is this understood by the outsider?” will help both the church and individual Christian to stay wise in the way they communicate the gospel to the world.
We’re also told to make the “most” of “every” opportunity. This reemphasizes that watchful idea. Not only are we remaining watchful for ways we can be praying within the will of God, but we are also looking for ways to represent Christ to those around us. These can be everything from a clear explanation of the gospel to a kind word or warm expression. Nothing is too small when it comes to being the witness spoken of in Acts 1:8.
This idea of making the most of opportunities is unpacked a bit in the next part. “Let your conversation . . .” One way that we bear witness is just by talking to people. Initiating conversation can be a first step to conversing about spiritual topics. If we never talk, then there isn’t even a chance for spiritual topics to be spoken of. Once we enter into that conversation, we’re told that our words should be “full of grace”. When we give grace, we give something good to someone that they don’t deserve. This sticks out like a sore thumb (in a good way) in our culture. Speaking words of encouragement to people around us is a way that we role play the gospel which is also something good that has been given to us that we don’t deserve. It builds relationships and cultivates favor and trust in those relationships.
This leads to opportunities to season our conversations with “salt” or truth. We don’t just want to be the nice guy in every conversation but also a person who is honest about who we are and how Christ has changed our lives. We don’t spend every minute of conversation trying to communicate the gospel – that would be like trying to serve someone a meal that consists only of salt. Instead, we wisely season our conversation with the truth of God and give the people we are talking to a chance to see what makes us tick. If we’ve prayed for open doors and the grace we’ve given has peaked their interest, the discovery that we are a Christian will hopefully lead to an in depth conversation/s about Jesus.
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