Tuesday, June 29, 2010

On Mission

As I was reading this morning in Romans, I came across Paul’s statement in chapter 15, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done-” Two main points jump out at me in his statement.

First is his single-mindedness. Paul was determined to stay on point, on task if you will, and was unwilling to get caught up in the trivial pursuits of the day. What was permissible to eat and what wasn’t, to drink wine or not to drink wine, which day of the week was holy, etc… these where simply things to wade through to get to the real prize. His prize was leading the Gentiles(insert your group, your friends here) to obey God. Sharing the good news with everyone he came in contact with and to have it received by them. To have it change them. And he also realized that it was “what Christ has accomplished through me…”

The second point is to what he accredited this success that Christ has orchestrated through him; “by what I have said and done.” And I would like to think that what he had DONE is far more weighty than anything he ever SAID. As my friend loves to say, “I’d rather see a sermon than to hear a sermon any day.” Although I do love to hear a good message and good teachings(and do most every Sunday) seeing the body of Christ in action I believe to be much more powerful. Don’t just tell’em you love’em, show’em.

Both are important as we can see from the life Jesus lead while on this earth. He spent much of his time teaching. At times to only a few and at times to thousands. But we also see so many instances of Jesus simply loving on people; feeding them, healing them, weeping with them, celebrating with them, fellowshiping with them. I believe if Jesus had never spoken a single word, that his actions and interactions with others would have still changed the world.

We all have a task, a mission, a great commissioning if you will, may we always be about our Fathers business, and use words when necessary.

No comments:

Post a Comment