Monday
Dec212009
Mission: All to you I surrender
Monday, December 21, 2009 at 05:59AM | Share Article by: Sam Holmes
Thomas A Kempis once said, “Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish yourself to be.”
Recently I have been confronted with the truth that I do not have the ability to bring change to anyone, no matter how badly I wish for them to change. It does not matter what degree of revelation I have attained, I cannot bring anyone into that same place- not by any attempt whether through intellect or laying on of hands or any other means. But beyond that, I am now confronted with the same truth that I cannot even change myself- at least not if I desire the change that comes only from God.
I used to be under the impression that my will plays a part in my ability to follow Jesus- my will being my fortitude or ability to persevere along the same path. I still believe that might be a part of our journey, but I know now that it would only lead me away from the supernatural activity of God in my everyday living. My attempts at moral excellence or obedience in the natural only lead me away from that supernatural activity that God wants us to know and experience as natural in our lives. In fact, Oswald Chambers goes so far as to say that we do not bring the supernatural into our lives through prayer; rather, it comes to us when we sacrifice our natural tendencies and rights (Dec. 9 in My Utmost).
So what does my realization and conclusion have to do with mission? Missio Dei is Latin for “The mission of God.” I believe that we see this mission throughout the Scriptures. Time and time again we see that God’s mission is to bring reconciliation between himself and his creation. Adam and Eve had perfect relationship with the Lord. They were perfect- until sin crept in. Fast forward to Jesus who, being fully human yet without sin, was able to have that perfect relationship with the Father and by his death on the cross restored the ability for us to have that relationship with the Father. So God’s mission then is fulfilled as he perfects us through our faith in him. We are being perfected; we are not making ourselves perfect (that is the place where sacrifice comes into play).
So if God’s mission has been being completed throughout the course of human history, what then is the mission of man? It seems that our mission is two-fold: through our relationship with the Father we are to make him known, and we are to “go and make disciples (Mt. 28:19).” Maybe these two things are really one in the same. Maybe as we live in relationship with the Father and seek his will, we are led into conversations and circumstances that present an opportunity to make him know, not necessarily through a scripted presentation but through living out the Missio Dei. When I say “scripted presentation” I do not mean to offend or be harsh about what we say in conversation; it is just that we have a way about making conversation about God very awkward as if he isn’t right there in the moment or trying to make natural things supernatural instead of the other way around. My relationship and your relationship with God is a personal one- so personal that we ought to be interacting with him on such a basis that his activity comes out in our everyday interactions with others- or as one pastor says often that we live “naturally supernatural”.
The only way, in my mind, to do this whole “naturally supernatural” deal and to live out the mission God has given me is to surrender everything to God. My life becomes nothing more than seeking to know what he wants and then going about doing it. I leave room for him to change me from the inside out, creating space for his word to flow forth from me rather than me forcing it in my conversations, or even in my own thinking. Through this surrender, not only am I freed to do the mission God has for me, but God is also able to do his mission.
Or wait. Could it be that while the Missio Dei involves my reconciliation to the Father, I am also to be the mission of God? Just a thought.
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