Global, Local, Short Term, Long Term: Biblical Models for Being “Missional”

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The New Testament gives not one but several models for doing missions. New Testament models of missions are far more flexible and less narrowly defined than the way we typically think of missions. The usual conception of a missionary as one who follows a “call” to go abroad is just one facet of missions. In this session we will explore the Biblical patterns and trajectories of what it means to do missions—at home and abroad, and discover what the Bible has to say to us about being “missional” in the 21st Century.

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The Challenge Of Faith
Christians face the same challenge every day of their lives, namely, the challenge of living by faith. We perceive that challenge differently depending on our circumstances, but it is no more or less real regardless of what we face on any given day. These days, however, the challenge can be overwhelming. The current challenge is no further away than a quick swipe or touch on a phone. As COVID-19 sweeps the world, we are inundated with news of rising case numbers, death tolls, social and economic crises, lockdowns, sheltering in place, hoarding of food and supplies, and often conflicting and confusing predictions of worst case scenarios as well as less than comforting best-case scenarios. Early assurances from some government officials and a few news outlets that the virus is nowhere near as bad as some “experts” in the media make it sound, have all but evaporated. The Pollyanna hope that we’ll soon turn the corner and find that it was really nothing more, or even less, than seasonal flu is gone. Now we are all facing an uncertain future in both the long and short term. To say that COVID-19 and all its ripple effects is a “challenge” for every human being is an understatement, but for Christians there is a particular issue at stake, namely, whether we will be shaped and conformed by what we hear and see, or whether we will live, as we say we do, by faith. In times of uncertainty, tragedy, and loss, we often turn to one of the more well-known verses in the Bible for comfort, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28,ESV). The reasons we love this verse are easy to recognize. The Apostle Paul assures us that, no matter what, God is on our side, and even working for our good. Why is it, then, that such a profound and glorious verse sometimes brings (if we’re honest) cold comfort? For one, we often use that verse like a spiritual Band-Aid we offer one another, and to ourselves, in times of trials. Not of course, that we shouldn’t remind ourselves of it, but we do need to be thoughtful of its meaning and application. The big problem is what we think the word “know” means. Paul is not offering knowledge of a spiritual blueprint that will explain the behind the scenes work that God is doing in our lives. Neither is he saying that we will “know” how God is at work for our good like the way we know the latest COVID-19 case stats. That latter is knowing by “sight”—what we see, hear and experience. The knowing Paul speaks of is the knowing of faith. In other words, Paul is not saying that given enough time, we will see exactly what God was up to in our lives and one day say, “Now I see what God was doing!” Sometimes that happens, but not all the time. What he is saying is this: faith believes that God is who he says he is, has done all he says he has done in Christ, and is, therefore trustworthy. God can be trusted even when everything around us would line up as evidence against his promises. Faith in Christ is not the absence of doubt, fear, anxiety, or stress—it is believing in the face of doubt, fear, anxiety, and stress. Here’s why you, as a Christian, can believe that God is on your side and working for your ultimate good. Later on in Romans 8, Paul gives a long list of things in verses 38-39 that he says “will never separate us from the love of God in Christ.” The list needs to be read primarily as painting a holistic picture rather than trying to break down each part and find individual parallels: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” All those things represent what we may see, hear, encounter, experience, sense, and perceive. Some are physical and some are spiritual in nature. All together they represent a vanguard of realities that would line up to attack and ultimately destroy our faith (not unlike the news lately). COVID-19, and all its related effects, fits into that list. Paul offers us the hope that regardless of what we see, we may know by faith that God really is on our side. 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