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Mission in the midst of suffering…
“The church lives in continuity with the life and work of Jesus.”
David Bosch
This is nothing really revolutionary. But, I wonder how many of us really grasp that we carry on the work of Jesus. We are in the long line of Christ followers who, since he sent the first disciples, exist to carry on His work at redeeming creation, caring for the hurting, reaching out the disenfranchised. Basically, loving God and Loving people.
In the midst of this however, a question comes to mind. How do we do this in the midst of great suffering and trials? What does this look like? When the crap hits the fan, do we take a break for this outward mission and focus on ourselves and just try to get our lives in order? What does Jesus call us to as we lose our jobs, lose loved ones, find ourselves unable to pay bills, feed our families and clothe our children? In the midst of desperate struggle, what does it mean to “live in continuity with the live and work of Jesus?”
Last night a group of us got together for a temporary small group on marriage and dating relationships. We are pretty much getting together to talk about the struggles, hopes and joys of relationships. As we do this, we are trying to learn from each other, grow with each other and continue to grow and develop marriages that reflect kingdom values. During our discussion we listed to the story of a married couple that has simply been through the valley lately and this thought came to my mind. How in the midst of all of this are they to live missionally? Now, what is cool is that they are really trying to do this and I believe they are doing it well…
But, I think the question is fair, what does it mean to live missionally in the midst of the suffering of life? I believe that we are not exempt from mission and living the heart of Jesus because things are rough. At the same time, it probably looks much different than when things are smooth…
Dan Benson said...
107/25/05 10:59 AM | Comment Link |
Hi Todd,
No answers, but a couple thoughts to offer.
I was struck by the parable of the sower the other day and how the good soil represents those with “noble and good hearts who hear the Word, retain and through perseverance produce a crop.” A number of things struck me about these “good soil” people, one of which is that they persevere. It’s a theme repeated throughout the NT, that Christ followers must persevere, which implies through bad times as well as good times.
I’ve been toying with a 4-part series entitled, “Learning How Life’s Low Points Are Launching Pads of the Lord’s Love, or Why Does Bad Stuff Happen to Me and What Am I Supposed to Do About It Anyway?” (I’m hoping to win an award for longest teaching series title.)
One of the parts is about how in the midst of trouble and anxiety don’t retreat or isolate yourself, reach out FOR help and TO help. The illustration from Scripture I am thinking of is Hannah and Eli. I won’t share the whole thing, but just that God uses people in trouble to help troubled people. God uses messed up people to help messed up people.
Dan Benson said...
207/25/05 11:23 AM | Comment Link |
Let me edit that last comment — God uses people who have known trouble to help troubled people.
Todd said...
307/26/05 7:05 AM | Comment Link |
Dan, good thoughts. But, do you think we often get so focused on “persevering” we forget to be witnesses to the life of Jesus?
Dan Benson said...
407/29/05 1:12 PM | Comment Link |
Well, I think that’s the point of persevering. We don’t persevere just to get through our day but to be witnesses, to reveal God’s presence in our life, aka as “gloryifying God.” Persevering is to be a witness to Christ’s life. That’s the point of Hebrews 12:2-3, at least what I get out of it, that we are following him on the Path of Sorrows and so he urges us to fix our eyes on him, to consider him and to keep going, or pesevere, and to not lose heart.