Centripetal/Centrifugal

Not gonna lie, I had to look up the spelling for the title words. There's a reason I'm not a physicist...or an English teacher, I guess. Anyways, what do opposing forces have to do with missions?

I had never heard this concept explained this way, but it makes a ton of sense when I think about it.

In the Old Testament, movement towards God was centripetal - everyone moved to a central location. In God's infinite wisdom, this central location was the temple, located in Jerusalem, which really is the center of the Old World. God placed His people at the conjuncture of three continents, which gave them unique access to the trade routes and all the kingdoms of the world. In the Old Testament, everyone who worshipped Yahweh, Jewish or foreign, came to Jerusalem to the the temple.

However, we see a very different pattern emerging at the command of Jesus and throughout the book of Acts. God uses the phenomenon of people coming to the temple from all over the world to start His Church at Pentecost, but this is not the norm. The 3000 people that were saved at Pentecost, and the thousands more who heard the Gospel in their own language, take this good news home with them. Jesus commands the disciples to take the Gospel to Jerusalem AND Judea and Samaria AND to the ends of the earth. The movement is now centrifugal - moving away from the center to everywhere else.

Likewise today, our goal should not be to get people to come to a church building at a particular time. Our goal should be to take the Gospel with us into the world, wherever we go. We should be meeting people where they are, rather than asking them to go out of their way to find God. Ultimately, this isn't about we need to take more missions trip, but that every moment of my day should be focused on God and His glory and how I am to reflect that glory to a lost and dying world. The normal everyday encounters I have should cease to be just that - as I begin to see each encounter as an opportunity from God to share His glory.

Light Bulb!

I get it. I think I'm finally starting to get it.

For the past two years, I've known without a shadow of a doubt that I am called to mobilization - training the Church to be involved in God's global purpose for the sake of the Unreached, those who don't have access to the Gospel.

For at least the past year, I've had this acute inner struggle, wrestling with the fact that God has not called everyone to reach the Unreached. I came to grips with this fact at Semester, realizing that God calls us to different things. I'm not called to fix all the problems of America and reach the Unreached, but God will accomplish all His purposes, working through each member of the Body.

Not gonna lie, I've still been frustrated (to varying degrees) with a lot of people. I've been frustrated with the people and ministries that are focused only on reviving America. I've been frustrated with the people who do missions, but in places that already are reached with the Gospel and having a multiplying church. I've been frustrated with God, wondering why He keeps calling people to places that already have the Gospel.

(I’m very aware there isn’t (or shouldn’t be) any sacred/secular divide. The scope of redemption is the scope of creation, and therefore we are called to be agents of redemption in every area of life. At the same time, it seems we should have a particular urgency in taking the Gospel to those who have no access to it. But I digress.)

However, I'm seeing now that my whole vision and focus has been misplaced, therefore my whole perspective has been skewed. In other words, while pursuing good work for God, I've been pursuing idolatry.

My primary focus had been on the secondary motivation of missions - the people. Yeah, there are 1.7 billion who have never heard the name of Jesus. Yeah, there are 6500 people groups that are completely unreached with the Gospel. Yeah, there are tens of thousands of kids who died today because of completely preventable causes, like starvation and unclean water. Yeah, there are billions of people who are lost and dying without knowing Jesus.

BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!

The point is this: God's glory!

I've heard that all my life. I've been taught that in a dozen different ways by all the people who have influenced my life. Somehow I've never REALLY understood it until now. Maybe I haven't really understood what it means to "glorify God." Sure, I know the catechism. The chief end of man is to glorify God and/by enjoy/ing Him forever.

It's all about God's glory! The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the seas! (Habakkuk 2:14) God's glory is the primary motivation for missions, for everything we do!

Every Christian has the same calling: to know Christ, and out of this relationship and a passion for His Name, show His glory to the world. Love God and because of that, love people.

If people were the main motivation, then my frustration with those not going to the Unreached would be rightly founded. But they're not, and it's not. God's glory is the motivation, and this calling unifies us as the Body of Christ, even though we each live this out in a different way. Therefore the person who goes into American politics is just as valid in his ministry as the person who goes to people who have never heard the name of Jesus (assuming both are obeying and glorifying God). It's not about location, going somewhere else or staying here! It's about knowing God, and out of that passion for His Name, faithfully fulfilling God's global purposes wherever you happen to be!

To be sure, God’s purposes are global. From Genesis 12 onward, we see that God blesses His people that they might bless all the nations of the earth. (Paul declares that this is the Gospel in Galatians 3:8.) Everything God does in redemptive history is for the glory of His Name, that all the nations might know Him (Ex. 9:16; I Sam. 17:46; Isa. 37:20, 49:6; Eze. 20:9; Dan. 9:15-9; Phil. 1:29; I Jn. 2:12). Ultimately, we know every tribe and tongue and nation will stand worshipping before the throne of God (Revelation 7:9).

Every Christian is commanded to be a part of this in some way. But it’s not about geography, where you live. It’s about obedience and submitting to the lordship of Christ. Whether I never leave Carrollton, Texas again, or I spend the rest of my days in Timbuktu, my calling remains the same as yours – to know and glorify God, that all the nations come to know His glory. We’ll live this out in different ways. God has given you a different focus (including location, vocation, passion, culture) than He has given me. But God will fulfill His global purpose, using each member of the Body for His glory.

Random Thoughts

Today was the first Sunday of missions week at our church, and the services were incredible.

I want to go to the Unreached. I want to mobilize the Church to go to the Unreached.

My heart is burning within me, and this passion isn't going away.

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I've been thinking about the "Kingdom of God" recently. It's definitely a concept we talked about at Semester, and while it's something I've always been familiar with, I think it's probably harder for Americans to understand it. We really like our concepts of rights, but as Bauman said, rights are an American invention, not a Biblical principle. As a Christian, I have no rights, only responsibilities. God asks for my unconditional surrender, not my vote in the democratic process.

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I was going back through old posts, and I found this verse, quoted from the Message.

God, it seems you've been our home forever; long before the mountains were born, long before you brought earth itself to birth, from "once upon a time" to "kingdom come" —you are God. - Psalm 90:1-2

I like the phrasing here. I love how it brings out the story motif.

And I like how Moses ends the psalm.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

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Tomorrow marks the start of new year for me. I have goals and plans for this year, but I trust that God has even greater plans, plans that I don't see yet. More than anything I want to be apart of His plan for His Kingdom, not my plan for my life. Just as He orchestrated the events of this past year (and all the years before that) in ways I would never have begun to imagine, He will prove His faithfulness again this year, because that is who He is.

May this be my prayer this year:

I do not ask to see the way
My feet will have to tread;
But only that my soul may feed
Upon the living Bread.
‘Tis better far that I should walk
By faith close to His side;
I may not know the way I go,
But oh, I know my Guide.

His love can never fail, His love can never fail,
My soul is satisfied to know His love can never fail.
My soul is satisfied to know His love can never fail.

-For the glory of the King and the growth of His Kingdom!

It is a dark and stormy night...

And I can't sleep. Which is really annoying cause I went to bed early and everything. Forgive the fragments, I'm tired. And can't sleep.

Therefore, I started a new blog, devoted entirely to missions mobilization. http://missionsmobilization.blogspot.com

I intend to keep this blog going for more personal and random thoughts, whereas the new blog is obviously for the purpose of exploring missions mobilization. I hoping it will be of value both to me, as I learn and write and process, and to others - a yet undefined audience.

So feel free to tag along and join the journey. I'm planning to post several times a week on missions mobilization, and I can't promise anything about the frequency/spontaneity/sporadic-y of this blog. However, I will go out on a limb and promise that normal/correct grammar and vocab will return next time...

Waiting Game...take two

It seems like waiting has been a constant theme for the past year or two, probably cause its a constant theme in life. We walk by faith, not by sight, and thus we don't always know where we're going. It's part of the Christian life - waiting on God, keeping in step with the Spirit.

But its kind of a new experience to be on this side of the waiting game, knowing the direction I am to take and having peace about it, just waiting on the timing. It's not to say I enjoy this, but in some ways it does seem to be easier than the former task of waiting for insight, direction, and peace. I think the struggle for peace over worry is always an issue, to some degree, and there are new challenges. Rather than feeling stranded and confused with no direction, I'm experiencing a time in which I know what I am called to do, and I wait, restraining the passion within me for the time and situations God will appoint. Kind of like the guys walking to Emmaus, I feel like my heart is burning within me, as God has shown me His word and His plan like I have never seen before.

We're more than halfway through this year, and while the time has flown by (prompting a blogging-leave-of-absence), it's exciting. I wrote six months ago that "I know 2009 will be a time of change and transition, and I'm not sure I'm ready. But my God is faithful." God is faithful, and He has brought me thus far. I'm excited about the little I see of His coming plan and I know that now, as I wait, He is preparing me, even as He prepared me for what I have already experienced this year.

So I'm waiting, but I'm at peace. I'm excited for what God is doing. I'm resting in His faithfulness and seeking His face. There's no better place to be.

Home

I went to the grocery store a couple of days ago. It was quiet, bright, peaceful, and kind of surreal.

Preface: my nine days of spring break were spent overseas in Asia. My last market experience was typical - all the senses are assaulted at once. Color and chaos is everywhere, smells and sights range from tropical fruit to animals being slaughtered to the satisfaction of the buyer, and a perpetual cacophony accompanies.

I miss it.

It is so different than home. And in a million ways, I'm so glad to be home. But for the first time in my life, I've recently entertained thoughts that "home" may be far from my beloved Texas.

I couldn't be happier with my home as it is right now. I'm not looking for a one-way ticket to Timbuktu or anywhere else. But my heart longs for Home, and deep down, I know my allegiance is first and foremost to that Place, to Him who makes it Home, and not to geography or ideals or people.

Meaning, I know I will have to be in whichever place He decides is most necessary for His glory and the good of all those who may one day call His presence "Home."

And as much as I would like it, His description of His Home doesn't look much like Texas. When I see it with His eyes, it is much more beautiful.

There was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the Throne and in front of the Lamb. Rev. 7:9

That. Is. Home.

I don't yet know how I'll get there, or what this home will be like until then. It could be a stone's throw from where I'm sitting now. It could be a couple hours away. Or it could be halfway across the world. I don't know.

And I don't need to know right now. He knows. God will reveal His plan in His time. As the Message translates Moses' words in Psalm 90:

God, it seems you've been our Home forever; long before the mountains were born, Long before you brought earth itself to birth, from "once upon a time" to "kingdom come"—you are God.

Mobilizing the Church

I've been throwing the term "mobilizing missions" around quite a bit lately. I've discussed it here before, but I'm realizing that at the very core, mobilizing missions is not the passion of my heart. There's something even more basic, which is implied, but needs to be specifically addressed: mobilizing the Church.

Mobilizing the Church to do missions is important, and something I very much want to be involved in, but there is a more basic need, and it's probably a larger problem than I would like to admit.

The American Church is in dire need of being taught/transformed into being who the Church is called to be. Therefore, mobilizing the Church to be the Church, and mobilizing Christians to think, have a Christian worldview, and be Kingdom Christians, must proceed mobilizing missions.

(Kierkegaard thought the worst sin for a Christian was apathy. I agree to a point, but I also think it's pretty repulsive for a Christian to not know how to think biblically. At all.)