Family Fights

There are so many books out there, numerous organizations and tons of information....outreach, missions, reaching the lost.  It seems everyone has an idea and so much of it is really good stuff. From the beginning of missions and the pioneers who began taking the gospel into the world to the most tech savvy ways of making Jesus known these days, it seems endless really...And so does the judgement.  The judgements of music being too mainstream, short term mission trips hurting rather than helping, long term grueling change of a paradigm in a Godless culture with not enough measurable results, and the list goes on.  I have personally been on the side of being judged by the specific passion God has placed on my heart for outreach and missions and sadly enough I have to be honest I have been the one judging on more than one occasion.  So what do we do with the family feuding and in cahoots with the right way to do missions?  Well the only thing that I know is to go to the source.

Philippians 3:15 says, "If on some point you think differently, that too God will make it clear to you."

Let's face it family. We think differently. A lot.  Most of the time.  But it doesn't have to become a division, judgement, or an excuse to allow pride in the form of guilt and shame to make us complacent or pride in the form of arrogance and control to perform mission and outreach on our own excluding others and for our own glory.  We can go to the Source. The Word of God and through prayer and the Holy Spirit have the revelation of clarity on this issue.

So I did that.

Here is what I found....

Romans 12:3-21
(The Message version..its a lot of verses but a direct hit on bringing clarity to this issue.)
³  Live in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.
^4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of His body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.
^6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

^9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

^11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
^14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.
^17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”
^20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

This pretty much sums it up and need I say much more? 
A) Focus on Jesus he is the message and the reason we go.   
B) The methods by which we do outreach, get the gospel to the ends of the earth, and provide for those in need could look a million different ways. 
C.) Do what you are called to do specifically-preach, teach, meet a need, invite, visit, encourage, empathize, give, go and don't compare yourself to any other brother or sister who is next to you doing the same thing differently or something completely different.

There is no utopia outcome that as Christians we are going to come to in missions and evangelism that will finally give a one easy universal process for missions and out reach that will fit every situation in every culture and generation. The methods are limitless yet the message of Jesus remains and fits every single time.

A missionary of the faith C.T. Studd, who not only fits his name well, but a personal hero of mine in the faith said it so well, " Remember the miller’s donkey. The miller, son, and donkey went to the market. The miller rode the donkey all the way and people exclaimed, “Cruel man, riding himself and making his son walk.” So he got down and his son rode; then people slanged, “What a lazy son for riding while poor old father walks.” Then both father and son rode, and people said, “Cruelty to animals, poor donkey.” So they got down and carried the donkey on a pole, but folks said, “Here are two asses carrying another ass.” Then all three walked and people said, “What fools to have a donkey and not ride it.” So let’s go ahead with our work for God and not care what folks say."

So brothers and sisters...church...body of Christ... take the famous slogan of the shoes you might be wearing right now and JUST DO IT! The dream, passion or calling you have in your life is there for a reason, to bring glory to your Maker and to hopefully win a few. So what if it doesn't look like so and so or measure up to anther's standards.  Live your life for an audience of one-The One- do not and I repeat do not stand still in fear and complacency or wallow in the feeling off worthlessness.  What do you fear more? The putting yourself out there in uncomfortable circumstances and sacrificing to bring Glory to Jesus and make him known? Or the fear of doing nothing and living frozen with a stalemate life that you will someday stand before God and regret not having rewards to lay at his feet? So do something and go anywhere as long as it's forward. 

And here is the thing.  We are all going to mess it up at times...we are going to hurt instead of help, we are going to miss opportunities, we are going to move to fast and we are going to move too slow.  The beautiful mess of  humans spreading the life giving message of Jesus Christ is that he really doesn't need us at all. He could do it infinitely better without our imperfect lives; yet out of his great love for us chooses to use us to be messengers of His truth by filling us with His Holy Spirit; the Same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and in that we not only reach the lost but get to know the heart of our Savior and spend intimate time with him.

The complexity of the lost, poverty, and brokenness is an endless sea to look at alone. But if we all drop our small pebbles of faith and watch the ripple effect of deeds and actions by joining together with our giftings, personalities, and abilities could we dare see the gospel get to the ends of the earth in our generation?