To engage in mission is a powerful and wonderful gift. Although sometimes

relegated to small committees composed of the willing, when a

church fully embraces the power of mission, it tends to inspire, build,

and deepen not only the congregation but the entire community. Participating

in mission goes beyond accomplishing a checklist of things

Christians vaguely feel God wants them to do. To participate in mission

is to participate in the missio Dei; literally, the mission of God. In the work

of mission God allows us to be partners with God in the work of building

God’s reign on earth, as it is in heaven. We may only achieve glimpses

of God’s reign in our world, but there is no more powerful privilege and

responsibility than to partner in God’s own work.

We sometimes define participation in the mission of God too narrowly

when speaking about mission in our churches. When bathed in

the light of God’s mission, what we mean by mission must go beyond

simply “we who have much, giving to those who have little.” Mission

instead becomes living into the image of God. We reach out to others

because God first reached out to us. Let us examine how central is this

theme of living with others.

Gatson Warner

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