You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.
John 15:16 NLT
Each one of us is called to mission by Jesus, who chose us to follow him. We are only able to choose because we have first been enlightened by God. It feels as if it is our own choice, yet in truth it’s our response to his invitation. Herein lies the struggle for each of us. I so often sense what God invites me to embrace, yet I exercise my choice to do the opposite. For God’s invitation consistently requires that I stretch in my faith and reach beyond my comfort zone.
Mission is always beyond my comfort zone. For I am being sent (the meaning of the word “mission”) with a purpose. Mission embraces so much more than my words. It demands that I daily exercise choices so that there is a consistency in my life and time style that reflects the character and purpose of God. It was Dietrich Bonhoeffer who stated that words are cheap, while action is costly. He also pointed out, “Jesus himself did not try to convert the two thieves on the cross; he waited until one of them turned to him.” It is the quality of who I am that presents the clearest evidence as to the reality of God. When people approach me with their questions, I truly am able to engage in mission. If the fruit I desire in my life can never be harvested because its blossoms perish through the frost of disobedience, I offer no sustenance for those who seek the bread of life.
It’s easy to look at the mission field, those in need of Christ, without paying close attention to yourself. It is within you that the kingdom is manifest, but only to the degree you address those appetites that draw you away from God’s action in your own life.
QUESTION
Does fruitfulness in mission inoculate you from difficulty, pain and disappointment?
PRAYER
May the challenges I face become a testimony to God’s grace.
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