Rethinking Our Position on Missions
These current events have us re-thinking life as we know it. We have come to expect so many things based on our traditions, rituals and customs, and they may vary from person to person. Where we once worked from home, as a leisure, it is now mandated. Where we once were free to walk about wherever we wanted to go, entering, and exiting at will, now big bold letters demand that we must wear a mask. Things have changed dramatically, and perhaps our lives will never be the same. We have experienced change before, and we have adapted, whether willingly or by force. I remember the first time I went into the bank to make a deposit, and there were no pens or deposit slips. I was shocked and appalled. But I made the adjustment. It was no longer a choice if I wanted to continue banking. I remember when we could come to church on a Sunday morning, freely, and worship and that is changed too. Maybe forever. Truth is, we are having to re-think most things that affect our daily lives. December is the time of the year on our Church calendar where we focus on Missions. We are good at Worship, Fellowship, and Giving, but this focus gives us the opportunity to re-think our position on missions. I do not know that we understand or give enough attention to its meaning or God’s directives.
What do you think it means? In checking my concordance, and my bible dictionary I did not find the word “Missions” at all. Yet we know that missions are a mandate from God. Much like wearing a mask these days, it is not an option. Not for the Church. The best definition I could find using the internet is, “a Christian mission is an organized effort to spread Christianity to new converts; or having a strong sense of duty to do or achieve something.” So, then what should we be doing, as the Church, when it comes to Missions? What is your understanding? I am not equipped to give you the answer to this important question. My goal is to stir you enough to ask the question of yourself, and our goals together as the Shiloh Baptist Church. We have a mission statement, and I feel that our directives are well-stated. But do we put feet on it. How do we put hands upon it? How do we put eyes upon it? As Christians, we are born again. Therefore, we have a new nature; elected to God in Christ Jesus, we are a new race; aliens on earth and kingdom-dwellers at the same time. We are set apart, servants of God created for His purpose. I do not know that we clearly understand what that means. But it does not mean that we are saved to live a life of prejudices and patriotism to what we deem important. The creative purpose of God for our lives as Christians is that we lay them down, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. If we have any mission at all, on this earth, it is stated in our Mission Statement: “To Be like Jesus.” Through the salvation of Jesus Christ, the purpose for which we are created is to serve God. He has put his very nature in us and empowered us to do his will.
“When he had washed their feet, taken his garments and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know that I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.”
John 13: 12-15
A key test of our commitment to Christ is our love for one another. We realize, in rethinking our position on missions, that it is not just our words, but also our attitudes and actions that express our willingness to do and to be all that God has called us to. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are made supernaturally. We cannot be that on our own. The grace of God in our lives begins with His election, and I am humbled every time I think that Jesus wants to use ME. With all that He knows about me, He has invested His power in me, and He empowers me to do His will. Through Him we have supernatural capacity to serve Him. He only asks us to do the things we are perfectly fitted to do by His grace, as we look at His commitment in dying on the cross. In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the climax of His Father’s will upon the Cross, and unless we go with Jesus there, we are incapable of entering into His work. Nothing ever discouraged our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through villages where He was persecuted, and sometimes He stayed too long, or did not show up when He was expected to. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord away from His purpose. May our understanding of our mission be the same. When the works of God are manifested through us, people will be blessed, some will show gratitude, and others will not, but nothing should stop us from Being Like Jesus. The disciple is not above the Master.
Submitted By Trustee Stanley Ridley