Missional Church
I have just started doing some research in Colossians. In 1:1, Paul says: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,” (NASB). In discussing this, NT Wright, in his Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries), says:
This doesn’t indicate just the source of Paul’s authority, but links him and his purpose to the overarching divine plan of salvation. This was prepared in the Old Testament and brought to climax in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It was now being put into effect through the world-wide mission in which Paul had been given a key initiating role.
This got me thinking about our activities as people and as communities of Faith. Our activities should only flow out of on expression of His will. They flow from God as the source of his will, truly, but there is bigger issue. These aren’t activities for me or the church I serve alone. What we do is bigger than that. They operate from an intentional flow put together by God before there was time.
In transforming our thought process from God to God’s will, it causes us to see our plans as part of a bigger purpose – His mission. This is bigger than just seeing people come to Christ. This is bigger than putting together a mission trip. We need to locate all of our activities into the activity of God’s re-creative purposes: recreating the world and recreating the lives of people. Our actions have a impact that exceeds time, location, and space.
When we see are actions as part of the bigger will of God, we place ourselves and our communities into a world bigger than our own. It is not about us. It is about us and others together. We need to consider the implications of our actions and plans on the local communities of Faith as well as the global community of Faith. How does that new building fit into God’s plan for all churches in the community you live and serve? How does planting that church impact other communities of Faith that exist where you live and serve?
This thinking creates an “other” mentality. It should help us partner together to reach our communities, both locally and globally. When one church is hurting, all of our churches should hurt. When one church needs help, the others should rally around that church to help it. If God is blessing the church you serve in, work with leadership in other churches in your community to bring them along. If they refuse, that’s one thing. But to not want to help and to not offer help is an outrage.
It isn’t about us or even our church. It is about our place in the overarching will of God. The individualism that pervades our churches keeps us at odds with each other far too often. We need to let go, join together with those who confess Jesus as Lord, and move forward together, expressing our part of the will of God while helping other members of the body be healthy as well.
