What Does It Mean to Be on a Mission?
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When my daughters were young, I taught them to make eye contact to show they were listening. When we look into another’s eyes, we can naturally discern a lot. When the Lord leads us in love to share His love, He makes Himself known through us. The NIV translation of 2 Corinthians 2:17 reads: “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.”
Mission work takes genuine faith, anchored in the truth. We cannot go out into the world each day weaponless against the war waging against good in this world, let alone the far corners of the world. A mission is specific, and the means by which we accomplish it in the name of the Lord is provided by Him. If the lines of communication are blocked, we are forced to fly blind. The ESV translation says, “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commission by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:17).
Sincerity is birthed from the everyday pursuit of Christ. Each day, waking to place God on the throne of our lives. Putting Him first is literal, and mission critical. “For we are nothing like the others who sell the word of God like a commodity,” The VOICE paraphrase reads, “Do not be mistaken; our words come from God with the utmost sincerity, always spoken though the Anointed in the presence of God.” How do others know we are genuine and sincere about the Gospel we share? It’s rooted in an everyday pursuit of Love, and willing submission to be led by His Spirit.
Being on mission for the Lord is part of our everyday lives, no matter if we are called to our local community to work, or across the globe to unreached people groups where the Bible does not even exist in their native language yet. Each mission is critical and takes a genuine faith. People are attracted to Jesus because of His compassion, empathy, genuine kindness and care, and sincerity for each individual person and their journey. Jesus meets every one of us right where we are at in our everyday lives. And He commissions us to develop the same heart for people He has for us. He gives us all we need to accomplish the mission – not because He needs us to complete it – but for our own development in the pursuit of holiness.
Each day, we make a choice. Will we accept the mission, no matter how hard or uncomfortable it will be? (Remember, Paul knew he would go to jail and still accepted his mission with abandon.) Or, will we settle for less than the life we are supposed to live? Let’s go, for the glory of God.
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Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Bayram Gürzoğlu
