PSALM 67: 1-3
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
Selah (forever)
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
Mission exists because true worship doesn't.
Throughout the world, every breathing human (without exception) is wired to worship. Devastatingly however, many billions unreservedly invest their entire lives, hopes and dreams into counterfeit gods, with catastrophic results and fallout. In this era of global communication and advertising saturation, there are no shortages of voices vying for our attention, lifelong investment and uninhibited commitment. A created object, new technology, a human dream, an invented religion or ideology, a sport, a partner/spouse, a child, a career, a political movement, a business venture, an ambition of wealth, our bodies, our food, our health culture, our comfort culture... all cry out to us for undivided attention, yet all fail to mention their three guarantees of failure.
1) What is on offer (however clever) cannot help us with the big issues of life and death. It will not solve the problem of a broken, hurting, warring, sinful, dysfunctional world. It will not deal with the issue of death which hangs over all of our lives. We cannot take any "treasure" however shiny with us, into eternity. People are keen to talk about "post-covid", less so about "post-death".
2) We can expect what is on offer to let us down/ disappoint at some point, and ultimately fail us.
3) There is a reason our world is cynical. We have come to expect that what is on offer in this world will ask much and deliver little. Demanding unending investment, as we earnestly try to achieve a joy in something (it was never designed to give us), does not guarantee success or make an object of worship "fit for purpose."
It is worth remembering that behind every "be kind to yourself" advertisement, snarls an ambitious, self serving, money making, self-gratifying monster. The biggest monsters, are now being hunted by angry natives (dissatisfied customers) ... but roam remarkably free without restriction across the world.
The increased proliferation of global news about unions and the wellbeing of those who work for a worldwide monster, (Amazon
(note also Uber)) transparently display the reality. These global mega companies are driven by individuals who really love and worship themselves. Whatever the advertising says about "serving" other people / the worldwide utopia they say they are achieving, only the mega rich are truly being well served.
Somewhere to be, or driven to the wrong destination?
As electric vehicles are hailed as the next object of salvation across the planet, it is worth noting the level of emotional dissatisfaction and spiritual / relational bankruptcy their pioneer and champion has been left with.
Elon Musk, is a "driven" man. Yet the epitaph currently being written over his life reads "Elon musk is sounding very unhappy and assumes his life will get worse". In this interview we are told that he is repeatedly on the verge of tears as he describes a self-enslavement, which although blatantly unhealthy he has no intention of altering. It seems that 120 hour of work each week, (and not taking a week off since 2001), has not paid out or rewarded as well as was hoped. Only able to sleep with medication (Ambien - which is taken daily), the side effects of insomnia, depression, anxiety, and emotional blunting, do not give us a picture of contentment in the life of the great high priest of consumerism. It seems Elon disagrees with those who say "money will make you happy", (despite his $149.2 billion).
In a time when everyone wants to get going again, Elon (like Branson and Geoff) wants the "out of this world experience" of going into space. He wants to take you and me with him, but I can't help but ask myself... is he or are they really the kind of men I want to follow ? Isn't there a better place to go in life?
Should it bother us?
"And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
Jonah 4:11
The unprecedented joy of life, is the discovery of one who loves people unconditionally, eternally, unchangeably, indestructibly. Even if the tumultuous state of our world and dysfunctional nature of humanity cannot move our desensitised hearts from self service to compassion, there is a God who is already in that place long before us. The issue in Jonah's day was one of worship, and this is still the prevailing issue today.
Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
Jonah 2:8
In Jonah we read the story of our lives, the great irony that we who have been shown grace beyond measure, the surpassing beauty of Christ, and included in His love-driven, global mission, fail to see past the front of our own noses. We settle for comfort in isolation, mediocrity in life ambition, sinful and self serving habits in a culture of tribal / national favouritism. Sometimes we will serve, love/ give our affection to anything (however small and insignificant) as long we avoid challenge and involvement prompted by the reality of a global fallen mess. Jonah treasured the plant, whilst humanity reamained in eternal need. We have so many objections, we look for rediculous alternatives to serve, but God's grace and global mission encompasses them all.
What can we say to a world searching for something greater to live for ?
Like Jonah and all who have gone before us, we are expert in listing why we shouldn't get "on board" with God's mission. Moses tried one of our favourites "I wouldn't know what to say", yet he couched it up in super spiritual veneer (like us often when we don't want to do what God says)
Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent,
either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant,
but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
(Exodus 4:10)
As he went into the heart of idolatry and his knees knocked, what he really meant to say was "I am afraid". Yet God's mission of grace covers all of this, all our fears and the entire content of our message. The truth is God has spoken, and we are only there to pass on a simple message from the GOD of GRACE. The great distinction of the LIVING GOD is that HE SPEAKS. He speaks love, relationally, timelessly, forgiveness, truth, life, with complete understanding and compassion on who we are.
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs."
Hebrews 1:1-4
Like Jonah, all our objections are null and void, for God has done the speaking. THE WORD became skin and bone and lived among us, amongst the idolatorous, selfish, mess. It is His voice , and his voice alone our world needs to hear. It is His glory alone that is worth living for (wherever you live and whatever people around you live for). The question that you and I face is whether we will be ready and willing for him to speak through us? We have a servant king who came to serve ...not be served, he is the revolution of love our world cries out for.
If we want to live a life which speaks Christ to this world, we need to be alert to what is needed in order for us to be fruitful.
1) HE ALONE MUST BE OUR TREASURE and FIRST LOVE:
If we know or even glimpse the outrageous grace that God has shown to us in Christ, we know that nothing is worthy of our affections in comparison to Him. Our true treasure is Christ... he is our message, our motive, our modus operandi, and He alone is our hope.
We will not gain any fruit through cheap mission, he must be our everything if he alone is the gospel we declare. He demands everything and deserves it all. Until we love him unconditionally and unequivocally we are not ready or equipped to authenticly speak and transparently show his love to others.
2) WE WILL NEED TO TRUST HIS SOVEREIGNTY TO GO BEFORE US:
He is in control, and therefore to resist what he is prompting us to do for him is an affront to who he is. Jonah objected to the God of grace, yet in every detail God "THE LORD" was the one who appointed all things...
Consider God's sovereignty in Jonah's life.
- 1:2 God commissions.
- 1:4 God changed the weather.
- 1:7 God decided Jonah should go overboard on mission.
- 1:17 God appointed feeding time for the Fish.
- 2:6-7 God appointed repentance.
- 3:1 God appointed his word of grace, forgiveness and commissioning to come a second time.
- 3:4 God appointed the message.
- 3:5 God opened hearts and gave fruitfulness.
- 3:10 God gave a turning from evil, restoration and a future for a pagan nation.
- 4:6 God appointed a plant.
- 4:7 God appointed a worm.
- 4:8 God appointed a scorching East Wind.
The ultimate message of this book (4:11) is that God appointed a directive for you and me which we dare not ignore. He has a good direction for our lives. In his grace and provision He wants to take us towards the great need (not away from it). It is an incomprehensible privilege for us to be included in this way, as we consider all of our failures, selfishness and narrow mindedness. He calls us knowing our limitations, he calls all of our being, his mission is relational.
We are now planning several opportunities in several contexts to travel short, medium and long term. We are also looking to invest in "business as mission", church planting, train workers, and support humanitarian opportunities which will display and procalaim the love of Jesus Christ to precious individuals. This is the counter culture of Christ's revolution of love. We view people as creatures made equally in the image of God - not customers to bleed dry. We remain committed to long-term "life on life" partnership, to seeing lives being redirected and energised in Christ. This is not "cheap mission" to say we have ticked a box, it is in the context of us giving our lives (our everything) back to God, for the sake of priceless objects of God's love to be found in him, and fruitful for eternity. If you would like to join us we would be keen to help, support and include you as you discover your future in his purposes.
By God's grace we have something to say, a story of God's grace in our lives. We have somewhere to go under his direction...there is no shortage of opportunity. Thankfully there are still many places around the world today do not have the clamour and clanger of commercialism, activism, and individualism which deafen the UK. The invitations are somewhat overwhelming, the field is bright yellow, but the workforce is few. A hurting world waits... hungry, listening, prepared (by God's sovereignty) to hear about Christ... would you like to come with us and tell them ?
Big love, BLOGSKI.
