What's wrong with that? Well first of all it's not primarily our mission. It's God's mission through us. That is a profound shift. Instead of saying, "One of our missions is to volunteer at the soup kitchen once a month" we should be saying, "Because God's mission is to feed the hungry, we volunteer at the soup kitchen." See the difference? Our mission programs begin with God and God's mission in this world.
So what is God's mission? "For God so loved the world, that he sent his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but will have eternal life. For God sent his son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him." God's mission is love and salvation. That's why Jesus came. How did Jesus manifest that love and salvation while he lived? Jesus' mission was proclaimed by him in the temple through the prophet Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." That's God's mission: love and salvation. That's Jesus mission: good news, release, recovery, freedom, proclamation.
Thankfully God's mission has a church. Not God's church has a mission, but God's mission has a church. If the core of who the church is, who we are as Christ followers, is not God's mission, then we've missed the boat. Mission isn't a program, a component of the church's ministry. Mission is who we are, what we are about, how we live. It changes us and transforms us and equips us to do God's mission in this world.
Therefore, mission is a lifestyle to be learned before it is a program to be run. It is a lifestyle of sacrifice and service when we're driving, at the grocery store, at work, doing housework. It is a lifestyle of having "people eyes" as we notice and engage the lives of people around us. It is a lifestyle of being an "ambassador of blessing" finding ways in our everyday lives to bless those around us. It is a lifestyle of love and sharing God's salvation in word and deed with others.
So mission work can be done while we are at the bank and offer to pray for the bank teller who just got a divorce. Mission work can be done when we order food at a restaurant and listen to the waitress talk about how hard it is to make ends meet, then leaving a substantial tip for her. Mission work can be done in a thousand different ways everyday by caring about and being a blessing to those around us.
Let's stop thinking about mission as a component of "church life" and see it as the core of who we are every minute of every day. That's missional living. Seeking to be a blessing to everyone we meet. When mission starts to transform us and makes a profound difference in our lives, then God's mission to transform the world will be done through us. Don't DO mission. BE God's mission every minute of every day.
