Missional Living

Over the years I’ve had the amazing privilege to participate in several mission trips; some of them domestic, some international.  While in youth ministry many of those were trips into the border towns of Mexico to assist in building church buildings and homes.  For several years we worked with a missionary in Matamoros named Clinton Looney.  I always loved Clinton’s last name and equated it with his zeal for reaching people with the Good News… He is “crazy” about sharing the love of Jesus with people! 

Since those youth ministry days the blessings have increased in that I’ve been able to travel to many of the locations where our partners in ministry are laboring to make disciples of Jesus.  (Because of the generosity of our church we are able to support several works around the world.)  Those visits to our missionaries have been priceless.  Being able to encourage them, share in the passion of the culture in which they are serving and the greatest gift, the opportunity to meet some of their disciples.  I will never forget sitting on the beach on a small island off the coast of Madagascar, conversing with a young man who had recently given his life to Jesus.  The island on which he lived was 99.9% Islamic.  That was a Kingdom moment!

But when I read Acts 14 and I see the courage of Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, preaching the Gospel “boldly” as Luke describes in verse 3 or the pendulum swing they endured in the city of Lystra when they were called Greek gods one minute and the next being dragged out of the city and stoned and left for dead, I am more than humbled… almost ashamed to even call the trips I’ve taken “Mission Trips.”  Paul and Barnabas didn’t have in-flight movies, hot showers or a loving missionary to welcome them and show them around when they arrived in a new city.  They were not assured at all of having any kind of welcome wherever they went.  Conversely, they often met with resistance, hatred and the threat of death.  The only assurance they had was the Spirit of God… and really, that was more than enough.  Now to be fair, there were incredible moments of victory.  Verse 21 tells us they “won a large number of disciples.”  Those rewards were invaluable and kept them preaching.

But still, I have to wonder, if I’d have been tagging along with these two spiritual giants of the faith, how would I have coped? 

Living “Missionally” is a part of our strategy at Northside.  It should be our way of life.  Living “Missionally” basically means that I need to live every moment with the expectation that I can share Jesus or simply be Jesus with the people I encounter.  Sometimes that will be met with resistance, but I’ve found, most times, it is met with acceptance and incredible appreciation.  (The true love of Christ is a rare and precious commodity in our world.)  And I don’t have to go half way around the world to live missionally.  It needs to happen when I’m eating at Taco Bell, standing in line at Wal-Mart or talking with my neighbor.  It should be my modus operandi while I’m serving at church on the weekends or when I’m in conversation with my wife and family any day of the week.

It’s probably a good idea for us to remind ourselves often that we are on a perpetual mission trip and that God has an amazing adventure planned for every step of the way. 

- David