Mission Ahead: Engage! (part 2)

Yesterday I covered some of my observations from Paul's template for engaging his community and his culture. Let me follow that up with four words of application.

1. We are responsible "to" the mission, not "for" the mission.
Reggie McNeal once said, “The church doesn’t have a mission, the mission has a church.” It is important that we remember that the local church is always subordinate to its God given mission.

2. The mission of God and the heart of God are one in the same.
Perhaps this principle is most clearly seen in John 3:16-17, which reads "For God loved (there's the heart of God) the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent (there's the mission of God) his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him."

3. We are accountable for our potential.
If you'll recall the parable of the talents, you'll remember that the basis of judgment upon the three servants was whether or not they reached their potential. The talents were distributed to each servant "according to their ability." When the king returned, the metric of his judgment was potential. I believe that someday God will call us to account for what we could have become and what we could have accomplished but were unwilling to trust him for.

4. We are dependent upon God for the results.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 tells us that we participate in God's kingdom work, but that any results are completely up to God. We water, we plant, we cultivate, but it is God who brings the growth.
There are many who are living paycheck to paycheck. This is a financial desperation that is difficult for people to manage. No one wants to be in that desperate financial position.
The church operates according to a desperation that is by design. Kingdom minded people live breath to breath. The breath of our prayers brings the breath of the Spirit of God who fills our sails and carries us forward.