I’m Emily Werness and Missions is not just a trip. It is not something you go off to do/find and then come home and “well that was nice, back to real life now.”
My church has been going through the book of Acts and what has been made abundantly clear to me is what missions is about.
To be missional is to have an outward focus – to have the focus off myself and on the Gospel…on a daily basis. Missions IS real life. The foundation must be the Gospel. It is not about us, but about the ultimate sacrifice Christ made out of love for us. Our lives are a testimony to his grace and for His glory.
Titus 3:3-7 describes this, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.“
To me, missions stems from the Great Commission in Matthew 28 and Acts 1:8. We are ALL called to be witnesses where we are at and spread the living Gospel of Jesus Christ by being his hands and feet. It is all about attitude:
We must be personal – the Gospel is meant for everybody
We must be passionate – not easily sidelined, not ignored, unwavering
We must be persistent – ongoing, all the time even when we do not see fruit – in faith trusting God for the rest, as our lives are but a vapor, mere moments in light of eternity (James 4:14)
That being said, I have experienced missions at school, at work, with friends, with strangers, but I have also gone out of my immediate surroundings and have spent a lot of time out on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota – going each summer for almost ten years leading Kids Clubs and then living out there for two summers as part of an internship with the non-profit organization I volunteered for, Lakota Journey. Through those particular experiences on the Rez, as well as in my own circles, I have learned that missions has to be about relationships. There has to be a longer term relationship in mind. The ‘love them and leave them’ phenomenon is more hurtful than helpful. It wasn’t until after about three or four summers of consistently going back to the same communities on the Rez that people started to look at us differently and open up more. I remember one adult asking us, “Why is it that you keep coming back? You must actually care.” That hit me in such a profound way. Jesus reached people by loving them, listening to them, and meeting them where they were at. He developed close relationships with his disciples and they in turn, were sent out to the ends of the earth to share Christ’s love. The goal of missions is to make disciples by sharing the Gospel through living out Christ’s example of love.
Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
We all have our own Jerusalem, our own Judea/Samaria and our own ends of the earth where God has placed us. We need to be relational and intentional with those around us in these places and be responsive to the Holy Spirit’s direction. Missions is not necessarily a trip to some other city or far off place – it is a response to the redemptive power of Christ’s love – a desire to share this good news with everyone around us so they too may become heirs with Christ.
I’m Emily Werness and what is your Jerusalem? What is your Judea/Samaria? What is your ends of the earth?
My Jerusalem – Rosemount/Dakota County
My Judea/Samaria – Twin Cities and Rosebud Reservation
My Ends of the Earth – The World Race
1:11 Live from Johnfrank Isaac Dieguez on Vimeo.
