This understanding shapes us into a missionary people who follow a missionary God. We are made for a mission as Rick Warren would say.
That our God is a missionary God cannot be ignored. The church was born in mission and grows only through mission. Mission is an expression of God’s own heart for those he misses most, those who are far from him but never out of his reach. It was the Holy Spirit who called for Paul and Barnabas to be set apart for a special missionary task, but it also the Holy Spirit who empowers the church to continue in its mission.
A Missionary People
If we trace the life of the early church we see:
Spirit Inspired Movement
We need boundaries, we need frameworks, but we ought never to forget that we are a movement. Hinted at in the “go” language used by Jesus and expressed as the early church fulfils the words of Acts 1:8
Intentional Engagement
Paul engaged the culture in a dialogue.
Incarnational Influence
A third aspect of the missionary movement is that it is lived out among the people we are trying to reach.
How do we live as a missionary people?
Proximity
First of all we have to be near enough to touch lives and understand them.
Presence
Somehow we have to find ways to be both near the people we are reaching and among the people we are reaching.
Partnership
Partnership with God.
To become fully involved partners with God we need to:
Pray
The three-open prayer: open doors, open my mouth, open hearts
Prepare
Peter writes: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have
Play your part
Share the story, live the story.
Find out what you do best and do it in a way that makes a difference.
