Missional Living

GenSENDers, WHAT’S UP!!!! Privilege, Honor, THANK JOSH

The task I’ve been charged with today is to see what the scriptures say about Missional Living. Or as some would saying, Living on Mission.

Mission is not something that you do. Nor is it something that you can opt out of. And it’s not a strategy, preference, or style of ministry either.

Mission needs to be core to the identity of any and every person, as well as the local church. After all, someone without a clear understanding of their mission is someone without power. As scholar Martin Kähler said a century ago,

“Mission is the mother of theology.”

What It Means to Be Missional

I’m not talking about having a mission statement. I’m talking about the great and grand mission that God has invited us all into: the mission of God, the missio Dei. The concept of missio Dei is recognition that God is a sending God and that we are a sent people.

Jesus said to them again,

John 20:21 CSB

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

In describing the mission of the church, Tim Keller notes:

“God does not merely send the church in mission. God already is in mission, and the church must join him. This also means, then, that the church does not simply have a missions department; it should wholly exist to be a mission.” Tim Keller

We are not to simply to have a summer on mission; but we should wholly exist to be on mission, always.

As God sent Jesus, we have been sent to join the most important mission in the Scriptures. Jesus Christ embodied that mission; the Holy Spirit empowers for that mission; the church is the instrument of that mission; and the culture is the context in which that mission occurs.

As missiologist Wilbert Shenk points out: “The Great Commission institutionalizes mission as the raison d’être, the controlling norm, of the church. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ and a member of his body is to live a missionary experience in the world. There is no doubt that this was how the earliest Christians understood their calling.”

And this is how we need to understand the word mission or its adjective, missional, today. A missional church is a church that’s adopting the posture of a missionary, joining God on His mission, and learning and adapting to
 the culture around them while remaining biblically sound.
 Think of it this way: missional means living and acting like 
a missionary, even if you never leave your city.

Missional means living and acting like a missionary, even if you never leave your city.

So I start by saying that because regardless of what you’re here for this summer, what you’ll learn, and what you’ll experience isn’t for Denver Colorado as much as it is for you.

Because God hasn’t called you to be Missional while at GenSEND, he’s called you to a lifestyle of Missional Living for your entire life as a follower of Jesus.

“Missional living” has been misunderstood by some. For example, it includes evangelism, but mere evangelism does not constitute missional living. Evangelism can be as brief as an event or a presentation; missional living, rather, is a mindset. It is not a place to go; it is the priority of one’s life.

We are missional by living intentionally where God has planted us. For the next 8 weeks, that’s Denver. But after, that’s Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, etc.

A missional mindset affects almost every aspect of a person’s life. Being on mission affects how we dress, how we act, how we spend our time, where we eat, and the words we speak. St. Francis of Assisi is attributed with saying, “Go into the world and preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words” (although scholars don’t believe he actually said this). However, this saying is not biblically supported. What should be said is, “Go into the world and preach the Gospel, and since it is necessary, use words.”

Your success is not in how many people got saved because you shared it with them. Results are measured by how many people heard the gospel because you spoke it to them. Success in evangelism is in the sharing, not the saving. It is difficult to argue with a changed life.

The people around you this summer should not be viewed as projects to complete or boxes to check for proof of a super-spiritual life. Instead, you should live out the benefits of the gospel and genuinely display the love of Jesus—not as objects of attention, but as witnesses to God. A person isn’t a goal; a person is a precious soul for whom Christ died.

Do me a favor, let’s take a look at what the scriptures say about Missional Living by turning to Colossians 4:2-6.

Colossians 4:2–6 CSB

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

PRAY!!!

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How do we live a mission-driven life?

Often, when people prepare for a mission trip, they start going through rigorous training. They have days devoted to prayer, days of fasting, days of studying the Word of God, etc., to prepare. However, the reality is we are always on mission; people around us always need to be ministered to. Therefore, we should always be living a mission-centered life wherever God has placed us. Essentially, there should be no change when we go on a mission trip because we are already breathing mission—breathing the kingdom of God.

In this text, Paul is calling the Colossians, and therefore us, to live a mission-centered life. We see this call in his encouragement for them to partner in his ministry through praying for open doors and his preaching of the Word of God. Also, he encourages them to be wise in the way they “act toward outsiders” (Col. 4:5). He is essentially calling these Christians to be missional in their daily lives.

It should be noted, most Christians are not called to leave home and go to other nations in order to do missions. God places Christians in a family, a company, a school, or a workplace to be a light to the world (Matt. 5:14). The Scripture is full of people whom God placed in what might seem to be a “secular position” in order to be missional. We saw this with Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. We are all called to live a mission-driven life, whether at home or abroad.

A missional Christian is a Christian whose focus is seeing the kingdom of God come. They are not distracted from this aim by their schoolwork, their job, or their family life. They realize that God has placed them on this earth for a purpose, and that purpose is to be mission-centered. Right before Christ ascended into heaven, he said this to his disciples:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matt. 28:19–20).

The missional Christian understands that God has sent them to make disciples and the world is their mission field. Wherever they are placed, they realize it is their call to be actively involved in the great commission.

As Paul is finishing up his letter to the Colossians, he leaves them with a few missional exhortations. He exhorts them in their prayer life, their daily conduct, and their conversations. These are three areas in which we must daily pursue the work of missions.

Big Question: What are characteristics of the mission-driven life and how can we develop them?

I think we see from this passage, Paul gives us 3 characteristics of a Missional Life.

3 Characteristics of a missional life...

Prayer

Colossians 4:2 CSB

2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.

“Devote yourselves to prayer.” SAY PRAYER.

I think it’s fitting that Paul begins here with prayer. If you and I were honest with one another today, we’d probably admit that our prayer life isn’t what we’d desire it to be. That we could ALWAYS be better, be more consistent, and be more passionate about prayer.

I think that’s in part because we’ve really relegated prayer in church settings as something to do just to get people on and off of the stage, right? We play a song, let’s pray so the pastor can come up, and then we finish with prayer so the worship team can get back up here as well.

But prayer, prayer isn’t a moment of transition, it’s literally THE work. A friend of mine and pastor in Las Vegas says it this way,

“We don’t pray before we work. We pray, then God works!” Vance Pitman

I firmly believe that many of you are here today as an answer to a verse nearly every church planter prays at 10:02 every day...

Luke 10:2 CSB

2 He told them, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

My story with Amy Hadank and Andy.

“Our prayers lay the track down which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, His power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails.” Watchman Nee

If you’re going to live a missional life this summer and beyond… it starts with prayer. But Paul doesn’t stop there.

Partnership

Colossians 4:3–4 CSB

3 At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, 4 so that I may make it known as I should.

If there’s anything we can learn from Paul in his church planting journey and reaching these cities to whom he writes, it’s that he’s not doing it alone. Now, there were times I’m sure he felt alone, we see that in the book of 2 Timothy chapter 4, but HOW OFTEN does Paul mention the partnership of those helping and aiding in God’s work where he travels.

In spite of his imprisonment, which is where he wrote this letter, Paul knew that the prayers of faithful partners, those locking arms, those asking God to do what only he can, is THE WORK!!!! This goes back to point one with prayer, right? Not only does partnership work, but partnership in prayer, asking God to do what only he can, is how he knew that God would do the work of opening doors to proclaim Jesus.

We have 28 partner churches. Story of First McKinney and Door Hangers

The work you’ll do this summer, as missionaries here in Denver, starts this afternoon with prayer. But it won’t stop there. God will impress a heart and desire for this city on you that you probably haven’t experienced before, and that work continues as you go back to school this fall and next spring.

Church planters here in the city are nothing without faithful partners all over the country asking God for a revival here. Faithful partners willing to give up time to come and be the hands and feet of Jesus in a city where there aren’t a lot of hands and feet of Jesus.

So Paul tells us that to live a missional life, we must pray. He tells us that we must be in partnership. And he finishes out this chapter my mentioning that missional living means at some point we must open our mouths and proclaim the truths of Jesus.

Proclaim

Colossians 4:3b–6 CSB

3 At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, 4 so that I may make it known as I should. 5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

“To speak the mystery of Christ....” “Let your speech always be gracious”

And when we look at this, Paul gives us 2 ways our speech comes out.

Through our Lifestyle.

Colossians 4:5 CSB

5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.

Did you know that you say a LOT, even when you don’t say anything? If looks could kill, is the famous saying, right?

I mean, come on, eye roll meme’s, facepalms, you name it. One of my favorite sayings is that today, we should strive to be:

A living proof of a loving God to a watching world.

Strive this summer to be a living proof of a loving God to a watching world. You’re going to see some things you’re not use to. You’re going to experience a culture that’s not like yours. But your actions, your love, your looks, your grace, your mercy you have, will be like speaking the Gospel CLEARLY to people far from God.

But that’s not it, we cannot just REST on our words alone. Paul mentions in Romans, how will they KNOW unless they hear (SAY HEAR)

Through our Words.

Colossians 4:6 CSB

6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

Our words matter. Your words matter. And as we speak this summer, as we engage with those far from Jesus, we must be engaging, stimulating, and in a wise way. In fact, this passage from Paul is assuming that followers of Jesus are engaged with and interacting with those not spiritually connected to Jesus. And in doing so, in their regular rhythms, Paul is encouraging them to interact in a way that would commend the gospel to them.

Making the most of the time means that at some point, we MUST share clearly the gospel. This means don’t do it in a WEIRD way, but do so in a way that would engage the unbeliever to want more.

This summer, be full of grace and seasoned with salt, to give the flavor of Jesus to a hurt and broken city desperately in need of Jesus.

You want to live missionally this summer? You want to look back and live the life of a missionary? You want to see a city revived? You want to see those far from God draw closer to Him?

Do so with prayer, partnership, and proclamation.

Let Hunter come back up… Go into a time of prayer after worship.