John 20:21. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Do you have a mission? Are you a missionary? If you are a Christian, then the answer is yes you are. You have a mission. You have been sent by Christ, through the power of the Spirit, to continue Christ’s very own mission.
Paul calls us ambassadors. We are representatives of Christ and his kingdom. This idea goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, where God called us image bearers. Since the beginning, we have born the image of God. We have represented God in the world. As humanity, we have always had a mission. Our mission has always been to care for the creation and represent God’s rule on earth. This is worship.
Since the fall of man and the entrance of sin, the mission has become to turn fallen worshippers back to the worship of God through Christ. Christ alone can remake a person into a true worshipper. He does this by giving us his life and his heart. Through faith in Christ we have a new desire for God, and thus we are restored to being true worshippers of God. This is our mission.
Because we have used the word “missionary” to usually mean someone who travels far away to spread the gospel, many Christians today do not see themselves as missionaries. This needs to be corrected. We are all missionaries and we all must embrace our mission in Christ’s kingdom. In a very real sense, we are all on a “foreign field.” Why? Because this place is not our true home. We are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven not Earth, or America, or Bowie.
Here's the truth: you are on mission for something. You are living from some purpose. Is it Christs? Is it his truth? His message? His love? His kindness and grace? What would it take for you to start living on mission? What mindset would need to change? What choices would need to change? Let’s pray together that the joy of our salvation will overflow in mission to the world around us.
