The Cross and Mission: Am I All in?

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt 16:24, emphasis added).

A Paradoxical Existence

The central characteristic of discipleship is to live as though you were already dead. Too often we read the call to self-denial as a call to an ascetic or disciplined life. We read this as an exhortation to life a more simplistic lifestyle or to take a vow of poverty. Cross-bearing can easily be spiritualized or sentimentalized. A careful reading of the context of Matthew’s Gospel however betrays a more radical agenda for Jesus.

Why do I say this?

First, the only other context is which the word translated “deny oneself” is used in Matthew is chapter 26. There Peter denies Jesus three times. In this context, Peter is clearly trying to save his own skin by denying any relationship with Jesus. This suggests then that to deny oneself in Matt 16:24 is to renounce one’s claim to life. This need not be interpreted as a call for suicidal martyrdom or to live recklessly. But it does mean that the ultimate call in life is to follow Jesus. It is a call to renounce self-preservation as one’s modus operandi for living.

Second, “take up one’s cross” is found in two other contexts - Matt 10:38 and 27:32. The first is parallel to 16:24. 27:32 is illuminating. In it, Simon of Cyrene is commissioned to “take up” Jesus’ cross and bear it to the place of Jesus’ execution. This is profoundly important as this context shows the literal meaning of the phrase. To “take up one’s cross” is to live as though you were on the final journey of your life. To use a modern phrase, it is to live as a “dead man walking.” Jesus is thus calling his followers to a radical life in which they die to themselves up front and by doing this paradoxically find life: Matt 16:25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me will find it.” 

Why does Jesus call for this radical sort of existence? I think that it is simple: God’s mission in the world requires that disciples be willing to enter the darkest places in the world - places where only dead women and men can go.

Remember the movie Braveheart‘s tagline: Ever man dies; not every man truly lives.

We truly find lives of meaning and significance when we die up front and then follow Jesus moment by moment in order to create an unbelievable future. It all starts with the Cross. Have I found my place on Jesus’ cross? Tim McGraw’s hit song from 2005 had the great line “Someday I hope you will live like you were dying.” This summarizes aptly Jesus’ call.

A Secure Future

Jesus is not calling persons merely to die for a lost cause. Discipleship is not an invitation to a pointless martyrdom. Jesus’ call is radical, but it is also rational in light of the future. Remember Jesus’ words in 16:21 “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life“ (emphasis added). Jesus was already pointing to a victorious future when he talked about the “mustness” of his journey to Jerusalem. Resurrection would follow suffering and death. Notice also how our passages ends:

NIV Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

These two verses also point to the victorious future. In other words, Jesus’ call to a radical, sold-out discipleship in which we live as though we were already dead needs to be read in light of God’s future. The future is secure. The way of Jesus Christ is not merely about this life - it is about life in the age of salvation (present and future). This sort of hope ought to unleash us in the now of our existence to live fully for God.

A Way Forward

How do we live into the radical standard that Jesus establishes for his disciples? The issue is that Jesus is looking for to lead us into places that only dead women and dead men can go. The mission is to “make disciples of all nations” (28:19). The Risen Jesus continues to go before us calling us to follow him moment by moment.

As I reflect on Jesus’ call for discipleship, I realize that Jesus is calling for me to die to myself so that I can truly live. I am to live as one who is carrying his or her own cross - as a person with nothing left to lose. There is great freedom in this. But first I need to recognize that all of my gifts and talents are not enough…That being smart is not enough…¦That the walls that we build based on past experience (good or bad) are not high enough…that we are not courageous enough. In other words, the focus can no longer be on self, but on Jesus Christ. And when we focus on Jesus Christ, we must inevitably face the Cross. At the cross, we find the essence of discipleship. There God invites us to live as a community of the Cross. There we are shaped into a Mosaic of broken pieces that are renewed and transformed by the Cross so that we can offer wholeness, hope, and salvation to a broken world.

If anyone would come after me, let him or her take up his or her cross, deny him or herself, and continually follow me.

Reflections:

1) Am I living "all in" as a follower of Jesus Christ?

2) What is holding me back from a full commitment?

3) Am I seeking to secure the future on my own terms or do I trust God with my future?

4) Have I found my place on the Cross of Jesus Christ?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell, Revised 2016

The Heart of Discipleship: Matt 16:24 the Way of the Cross and Mission

Jesus does not end his conversation with Peter with a rebuke. Rather Peter’s challenge to Jesus’ mission serves as the impetus for Jesus to make his clearest statement about the nature of discipleship in the Gospel of Matthew. In 16:24, Jesus articulates clearly and positively what it means to live as a follower of Jesus Christ.

NIV Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Verse 24 serves as the center of Jesus’ portrait of discipleship.

A Key Assumption

Before looking at the details of this verse, we need to put this passage into its proper context. The Gospel of Matthew needs to be read in a missional context. Discipleship at its heart is missional. Jesus calls disciples in order to multiply his own work of making disciples. This is clear in the climactic passage of Matthew (28:16-20). This text, better known as the Great Commission, centers on Jesus’ exhortation to “Make disciples.” Thus, we need to read 16:24 and its call to discipleship within this overarching framework of mission which undergirds Matthew’s portrait of discipleship.

Movement

Discipleship implies movement. Look at our text. “If anyone would come after me…follow me.” This verse begins and ends with words about movement. At its heart, being a disciple of Jesus involves movement. Why movement? If we desire to be missional, we have to embody a “go to” mentality rather than waiting for the world to come to us. As we read through the Gospel, Jesus was always on the move. He didn’t wait for persons to come to him. He moved around the countryside and served the people as he met them in their own contexts. Furthermore, when large crowds did surround him, Jesus slipped away and moved on to others who needed him.

Discipleship simply means following Jesus. Too often today we think of “following Jesus” as “following Jesus’ teachings.” This is correct as far as it goes. As Jesus’ disciples we are to be shaped by a Jesus ethos. Yet, Matthew goes out of his way to make it clear that the Risen Christ resides with His Church on Mission. Matthew’s Gospel is framed by two references to Jesus’ presence: 1:23 and 28:20.

NIV 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”

NIV Matthew 28:20b And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Thus, following Jesus involves literally following our Risen Savior into the world for mission. Jesus resides with his people.

To where does Jesus ask us to follow him? As we read the Gospel we find many clues:

1) To those desperate for the things that only God can provide. Jesus routinely interacted and served those on the margins of society: lepers, blind, tax collectors, demoniacs, children, etc (see especially Matthew 8-9).

2) To the crowds who were “harassed and hurting as sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus served those neglected by the religious and righteous of his day. Jesus motivated by compassion (9:35-38) called on his disciples to look upon the fields ripe for harvest and to pray that God would send additional workers. In 10:1ff, Jesus empowers and sends out the twelve to serve the world.

3) Perhaps most radically for his original Jewish audience, Jesus reached out to all nations. This is subtle in most of the Gospel. Jesus’ earthly mission was to the people of Israel. There are exceptions, such as the healing of the Centurion’s servant (8:5-13). The Genealogy also suggests that Jesus has a wider mission by tracing his lines back to Abraham. As Son of Abraham, Jesus lived to fulfill the promise to Abraham from Genesis 12:3 “all peoples will be blessed through you.” The scope of Jesus’ mission becomes clear in 28:16-20. There the Risen Jesus unleashes his disciples into the world to “make disciples of all nations.”

Thus, we may conclude that if we seek to follow Jesus, Jesus will lead us to serve and make disciples of all peoples. He will call on us to break down boundaries that separate people. He will push us to pay attention to the very people that polite society and self-absorbed religionists are happy to ignore.

Reflection:

1) To whom is Jesus leading me?

2) Have I embraced mission as the principle function of following Jesus

3) How would my life be different if I embraced movement as essential to discipleship?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell 

Remembering Good Friday: A Poem

I can see Jesus carrying his cross all alone,


He took on our flesh so far from his rightful throne.


Disregarded his name
, He embraced the cross


And its shame


To save the lost.

He’s the Son of God, carrying the sins of the world

I can see Jesus wearing a crown made of thorns,


In the anguish of death, feeling humanity’s scorn.


His Father’s will to obey


He died on the tree


To set us free


And show the way.

He’s the Son of God, healing all the pain of the world.

I can see Jesus crying to all “It is done,”


Creation’s redeemer, our Lord God’s victory won.


The offer is made


The price has been paid


To give us life


And end all strife.

He’s the Son of God, still reaching out to us everyday.


He’s the Son of God, still reaching out to us everyday.

So see through the pain


The means to true gain


For its true


He died for you.

He’s the Son of God, carrying the sins of the world.


Amen.

Thank you God!

By Brian D. Russell
Revised April 2017

Jesus Rebukes Peter: Matt 16:22-23

 Let’s continue with our reading of Matthew 16:21-28. As discussed in yesterday's blog, this passage marks the beginning of Jesus’ movement toward Jerusalem where he would suffer, be killed, and be raised on the third day.

Vv. 22-23 describe Peter’s attempted rebuke of Jesus, and Jesus’ response to Peter:

NIV Matthew 16:22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Peter’s response to Jesus’ mission is stunning. He rejects Jesus’ words about his suffering, death, and resurrection with some of the strongest wording possible in Greek - “may this never be!” This response is particularly stunning in light of Peter’s confession just a few verses earlier - “You are the Messiah, Son of the Living God!” (16:16). Peter goes from heroic (and correct) confessor of Jesus’ true identity to goat in the face of Jesus’ revelation about the true meaning of his Messiahship.

Why does Peter do this? How is it possible for Peter to be dead-on right in his identification of Jesus and so wrong about the meaning of Jesus’ identity?

Jesus’ response to Peter helps to answer these questions. Jesus responds to Peter in a manner reminiscent of his rebuke of Satan during Jesus’ wilderness temptation in 4:1-11. In 4:10, Jesus orders Satan away from him in a similar fashion (this is somewhat obscured in English translation of both verses but is very close in the original Greek). By calling Peter “Satan”, Jesus implies that by his words Peter is aligning himself with the forces of evil who desire to thwart Jesus’ mission. Furthermore, Peter functions as a stumbling block. In Matthew’s Gospel, this term describes those persons/things that have the potential to cause others to sin (see 13:41 and 18:7).

Why is Peter a stumbling block? Jesus focuses on Peter’s motivation or intentions. Peter’s motivation arises from his focus on the things of humanity rather than on the things of God. In other words, Peter is living his life from a human perspective rather than a divine perspective. Peter wants to follow Jesus, but he wants to do it on his own terms rather than on God’s. In God’s economy which Jesus courageously and steadfastly embodies, Jesus must go to Jerusalem. Peter cannot accept this.

What does It mean to live life from a human perspective? In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus teaches on a variety of topics that challenge our all too human inclination toward self:

Reputation versus Character

We have a tendency to go to great links to protect our reputation. Yet when we read Matthew, Jesus does not seem a bit worried about his reputation. In fact, Jesus is reviled. The Pharisees are scandalized by Jesus’ dining with “tax collectors and sinners” (9:11). He is accused of casting out devils by the power of the “prince of demons” (9:34). We could go on, but this serves to illustrate the point that if Jesus were to have worried about his public reputation, it is unlikely that he would have had the impact that he did.

Jesus fulfilled the mission that God gave to him without worrying about his reputation. What does this mean for us? We need to worry less about what others say about our actions and worry more about whether or not we are living faithfully and obediently for God. God will not be able to use us to our full potential if we are afraid to risk our reputations. We will not be able to interact with and reach those who desperately need the Gospel if we are afraid to lose our reputation by associating with those on the margins of society.

Instead, we need to focus on allowing God to shape our character after the image of Jesus Christ and then obediently following Jesus into the world to reach those who need God. Those who focus on the things of God understand the difference between godly character and public reputation.

Security

Peter was no fool. He understood that a trip to Jerusalem would end in Jesus’ death and perhaps his own in the process. In his three-fold denial of Jesus later in the Gospel, it is clear that Peter is committed most profoundly to saving his own skin. Those who live life by the “things of men” rather than the “things of God” privilege their own security over the completion of God’s will in the world. Ultimate security is found in God alone (see Matt 16:27-28). The future of the disciple is secure. This doesn’t mean that we are guaranteed security and safety in this present age - rather it suggests that claims of security in this age are an illusion and ultimately a hindrance to living the unbelievable life that God calls us to live on behalf of God’s kingdom.

Wealth/Possessions

Jesus teaches extensively on the dangers of wealth (Matt 6:20-34; 13:22; 19:16-30). I think that it is incorrect to read these texts as suggesting that we should not work and provide for our loved ones, but we do need to hear the warning: wealth and possessions can lure us away from living whole heartedly for God. Those who focus on the things of God place God’s mission above the personal accumulation of wealth and possessions. Furthermore, when resources are acquired, they are good stewards of these and use them primarily to fuel the advancement of the Kingdom rather than the satisfaction of their own comfort.

Reflection:

1) How are we like Peter?

2) In what areas of our lives do we need to turn away from a human focus to a focus on God’s mission?

3) If Jesus were on earth today, what would hinder us from following him to Jerusalem?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell

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Jesus and the "mustness" of His Suffering and Death: Reflection on Matt 16:21

I want to begin a series of essays on Jesus radical call to discipleship in Matthew 16:21-28 for Holy Week. Today we ponder Matt 16:21

NIV Matthew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

This text occurs at a major transitional point in Matthew’s Gospel. In Matthew 16:13-20, the disciples through Peter declare the true identity of Jesus - “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus commends Peter and gives a great deal of authority to the disciples for the ordering of the life of the community of faith for the future (Matt 16:17-20).

Matthew 16:21 serves as the transition to the remaining third of Matthew’s Gospel which will culminate in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and commissioning of the disciples for a ministry of “disciple making” (28:16-20). Note the force of 16:21. If Matthew 16:13-20 marks the climax of the initial chapters of Matthew’s Gospel in the disciple’s unambiguous declaration of Jesus’ identity, Matthew 16:21 focuses Jesus’ identity as the Son of God on a journey to Jerusalem where Jesus the Son of God will suffer, be killed, and on the third day raised to life.

In this one verse, Jesus explodes many of our popular conceptions about the person and identity of Jesus. Jesus essentially is saying that his identity cannot be fully comprehended apart from his death and resurrection. This is challenging for us because it forces us to come to the cross as well. My friend, Alex McManus likes to talk about the need for Christian leaders to be people “who must.” Notice that Jesus was the first. It was not optional for him to go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and be raised. He had to do this. It was a “must do” for him. In the verses that follow, we will discover that the cross is a “must do” for us as well.

As we reflect on Jesus’ passion during this holy week, let us begin to ponder deeply Jesus as one who had to embrace suffering and death on a cross.

Reflection:

1) What role does Jesus’ death and resurrection play in my own faith?

2) Would the Jesus that I believe in be crucified?

3) Have I been so touched by the power of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that I have been transformed into a person who must?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell

From Maintenance to Missional: Transitioning Established Churches into Kingdom Outposts

 Pastors often ask me, “I am not planting a new church. God has called me to serve in an established congregation. How can I lead my church to transition from a maintenance mindset to a missional culture?”

I believe that this is the key question for existing communities of faith in the Western world. Every day in the Western world there are 5000 less Christians. This means that the West needs to be re-won for Jesus Christ. But there is good news. Footholds and resources are already in place from which to begin. Transitioning established congregations is not an easy task—but it is an essential one as we seek to be faithful stewards of all that God has given. 

Here are some thoughts:

The key is to create a new culture. I have written elsewhere about viewing leadership in the 21^st century in terms of shaping ethos. The following are key transitional points that push this along:

1) Reintroduce the Apostolic story of Acts. At the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), a small group of persons whom God filled with the Holy Spirit began to turn the world upside down. The Church launched that day in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy was a movement of dreamers and visionaries empowered by the promised Holy Spirit from God.

Don’t pass over the phrase dreamers and visionaries too quickly. In many struggling churches, the people of God have lost the capacity to dream of what God might do in and through the community. One of the first steps in transitioning to a missional model is to help followers of Jesus Christ to begin to dream again dreams shaped by the Scriptures.

2) Move from Surviving to Living.

Struggling churches are merely seeking to survive. When followers of Jesus Christ under the guidance of the Spirit begin to dream again, they slowly begin to realize that survival isn’t a goal. Survival is a prison that keeps a group from living. The goal of the Church of Jesus Christ is life in relationship to God. Living may sometimes means dying. Following Jesus Christ involves living as though you have already died (Matt 16:24). A vital relationship with Jesus moves us beyond fear to follow Jesus into the world on mission. This is the source of life.  Apostolic dreams lead to apostolic action.

3) Move God’s people from consumers of religious services to becoming collaborative influences for the Kingdom of God.

Missional churches are not about providing programs/resources to meet “felt needs” as ends in themselves. Missional churches call people to convert to the Gospel. This involves a reorientation from a life focused on self to a life centered on following Jesus Christ. The people of God shift from consuming to becoming Kingdom-rooted entrepreneurs who seek to extend the influence and reign of God to the ends of the earth. Congregations shift from inviting people to have their needs met to unleashing people to change the world.

4) Shift from Attractional Methods to Interactive Engagement.

Too many churches wait for people to show up at the door.  Missional churches are not opposed to advertising or raising awareness of the community of faith, but they do not sit round waiting for the World to show up. Instead, missional churches collaborate and envision ways to engage new Social networks. This is a key shift. The World no longer serves as a threat from which followers of Christ flee. Instead, the World becomes the venue for life and service in God’s mission. By engaging the world, we recapture the biblical vision of reaching the ends of the earth with the good news.

What are your thoughts?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell

Need a curriculum that helps trains disciples for mission rather than maintenance. Check out Invitation. Invitation introduces the narrative framework of Scripture through the lens of mission, character and community. Participants in the study will discover the missional DNA of the Christ following movement and learn to find themselves in the story of God's mission for humanity and all creation.

Reflections on Spiritual Gifts from a Missional Perspective

How do Spiritual gifts function in a missional community? Let's take a look at how the apostles described gifts in the house churches of the 1st century Christ following movement.

NIV 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

NIV 1 Corinthians 12:31 – 13:13 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.


NIV Romans 12:3 - 9 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

NIV Romans 1:11-12 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong-- 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.

NIV 1 Peter 4:7-11 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Key Takeaways:
1) Avoiding the Disease of Conceit. 
A consistent theme running through several of these texts is the danger of individual members thinking too highly of themselves. Nothing kills community more than this.  The World values the wealthy, the beautiful, and the powerful. May this never be true in the Church of Jesus Christ. Each person has been created purposively with great potential by God. It is not the purpose of the body of Christ to downgrade or place on the sidelines any member. Rather we need to celebrate each person whom God sends into our communities as a gift from God. It is crucial that those with more visible roles publicly value those who do not and model humility and a proper sense of balance in the way that they interact with others. The leadership of a community can destroy any chance for the full participation of whole body if it explicitly or implicitly gives the impression that it is the most important component. 

2) Encourage Uniqueness over Cloning
When I read the Scriptures, I do not get the sense that every follower of Christ looks, talks, and acts in the same fashion.  For too long, communities of faith have operated by plugging people into programs. This amounts to making clones of people. The above texts speak of a plurality of gifts.  Yet in our drive for organization we often domesticate the unique gifts and talents of people to make them fit our programs and our perceptions.  What if instead of forcing members to fit our Church, we instead made it a core value to expand our vision for the community by reorganizing ourselves so that each person’s gifts, talents, and passions could be fully unleashed and utilized in a way that glorified the Giver of All Gifts.  How would our communities of faith be different?  Every person longs to be part of a community where they are loved authentically and invited to use their gifts, talents, and passions for something bigger than themselves.   

3) Deployed for the sake of the Body
God gives gifts to communities of faith.  What do all of these gifts have in common?  They are people. What if every community of faith valued each person who entered its doors? What if this valuing was not based on how much money a person could provide to fund a program or on how well a person would fit in to current ministry offerings? 
Gifts are for serving others and building up the faith of others.  The deployment of gifts is not for self-glorification, but for the praise of God and for the mutual benefit of all.  The offering of our gifts, talents, and passions for the good of the whole is part of our being shaped in the image of Jesus who “came not be served to serve and give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

4) Under the Umbrella of Love
The greatest of all gifts is love. This is not a sentimental, fleeting feeling, or a flippantly offered “I love you” but a love that embodies commitment, faithfulness, and a desire for authentic relationship with others. It is a love backed by action. Love is the distinctive mark of the Christian community. It is the tangible evidence of God’s presence. Apart from love the deployment of gifts often turns into opportunities for self-aggrandizement and fulfillment. As Peter says above, “Love covers over a multitude of sins.” No community is perfect. Our own brokenness often causes injury to others in our community, but in a community in which God’s love is authentically embodied, God can take all of the brokenness of each member and craft us into a masterpiece – a mosaic of transformed persons who have turned from self to God and others. Love creates an atmosphere of safety in which God through the Spirit can work powerfully to shape each of us into the people that he created us to be and to invite others to become part of the movement of followers of Jesus Christ.

5) Fuel for Mission
These texts may offer a false impression if not read missionally. On the surface, most of these passages offer the impression that gifts are purely for the "good" of the body. On one level this is true: When the body operates up to its potential, things happen.  Community grows. Prayers are offered.  Members are unleashed.  People discover their true humanity. 

But on the other hand, a healthy, vital, and vigorous body serves as a profound witness to the world. The biggest mistake that we make as followers of Christ is to believe incorrectly that visible acts of love in the world and evangelism are gifts that God gives only to certain parts of the body. This belief has hamstrung the movement of Jesus Christ as much as any heresy. The mandate for all believers is to MAKE DISCIPLES (Matt 28:18-20). Each follower of Jesus Christ needs to live a missional lifestyle. The power of the whole body working efficiently has its full impact when new persons enter our faith communities and encounter God working among us!

Reflection:
What would it look like for my community of faith to embody such a vision? How would we have to change?

What would it mean for me personally to live in such a community?

What kind of person do I need to become?

What if following Jesus Christ were the way to unleash all of the gifts, talents, and passions that God has implanted in us?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell (Revised 2017)