I think we were made to shine. There are colors and nuances yet to be exposed in all of us. We hide ourselves to fit into the darkness that has wrapped around this world, but every now and then light reflects off our surfaces and the beauty we were created with is revealed.
My father thinks that life is one of the worst things that could happen to a person. It’s filled with pain and emptiness. He’s apologized for bringing me into such a broken planet. I think I was brought here to bring him hope he could never have imagined alone.
Fourth missional value: Hope is what the mission offers
The mission must always be conveyed as hope for the world because that is what the good news is. Followers of Jesus are to be voices of hope, encountering culture and relevantly communicating the purposes of God for all humanity. Today people are not looking for a hell to get out of or a heaven to get into, but a reason to live and to die. The world must know that this is what the God of the living offers.
Those who have come to know the Creator of the universe must see the hope of God in people. Just as God believes in us more than we believe in Him, we must believe in people more than they may believe in themselves. The hope is not something new to believe in, but a new life as it was intended to be lived. This hope is in a life before death, not just after. The mission offers the world hope of life, and life to the fullest.
“Today people are not looking for a hell to get out of or a heaven to get into, but a reason to live and to die.”
That might be the most profound thing I’ve heard in 2006.
Lon:
I appreciate your thoughts. I struggled with this a bit in the past few years. I would argue with God that the abundant life he offered was not really abundant but boring – church was boring – Bible was boring. I began to become cynical about my life in christ. Simply a means to an end. Understand that I struggled while serving in ministry at the staff level. I thought about exiting ministry altogether, while keeping silent about my struggles. But finally God got through to me. You see i was sold on the idea of “the golden ticket” – I was in, but what was it that I was missing? So began my quest for abundance and hope. God pointed out to me that I was sold on a life without purpose. I was a believer, but knew nothing of following Christ and His mission. He began to really open my eyes – even missional efforts to change the world were based on the ever important question “Do you know what would happen to you today if you died?” Which is the question I was asked when I gave my life to Christ. But I continued to hold out hope that there was something more – like the Bible says. But it was not evident in the lives of those around me. Nobody wants to think about death – people really want to live and they really want that life to count for something meaningful. This is the hope that Christ offers. Alex McManus, laid this bare for me in a phone conversation a couple of years ago – that I could choose to “be a catalyst for change”. I began to truly follow Christ in his purpose a couple of years ago and that following has led me to Miami, where I desire to share that hope and purpose with those who are searching like I was. Thanks again for your comments. Sorry about the long reply.
Nathan, I’m glad to be a part of your 2006!
Tommy, not a long reply at all, thanks for sharing where you’ve been with all of this. I’ve went through so many evangelism training classes, and even led some myself… focusing on that same morbid question. I think the similar but more profound question to that is… now what if you didn’t get hit by a car tonight, and lived… 10, 20, 50 more years? what course are we on for our lives? what could we say about how we lived should God grace us with more days on this earth?
Thanks, Lon -
“He’s apologized for bringing me into such a broken planet” – That is an incredible statement, and one that gives me much pause to ponder. All of creation groans, but we get to point to hope – That’s exciting and sombering at the same time.
“Just as God believes in us more than we believe in Him, we must believe in people more than they may believe in themselves.” – Love it . . . So true – we have to create atmosphere’s of total acceptance; safe places for people to explore themselves and their creator. If this is our mission, and we are intentional about it, we get to shine light and point toward hope.
Thanks for a really great post!
Thanks Mark, yeah, it’s a bit of a disturbing thing to hear from a parent. In a bit of a warped sense, him wishing i was never born, was his way of expressing his love and care for me. I guess i’d agree with him, if all i saw was hurt in the world. thank God there’s so much more.
We’ve been given the eyes to see beauty where no one else does… what an incredible gift. Now if we could only effectively help the rest of the world to see that…