There is a lot of preaching, teaching,
writing...talk, going on in the church today about being missional, of
being witnesses to a lost and dying world for Christ. This is
scriptural and needs to be obeyed, but I wonder, how much of our activity is
really nothing more than that, activity? Activity that goes on without the
power and life of Christ filling it through and through? How many of us see
that familiar term "outreach" as something we do rather than something we live?
Jesus said that wherever He was lifted up (on His cross) He would draw all men
to Himself. Far more than our words, it is this reality of a crucified Christ
living through the lives of His crucified followers that lays hold of the
attentions and hearts of men. When the witness of the people of God truly
becomes that of lives that are broken bread and poured out wine, a power is
released through those lives that will permeate a culture, and transform it.
Can we really argue that the culture that surrounds the church has had far more
influence upon, permeated, the church than the church upon it? Active lives are
not the answer. Lives that are truly broken bread and poured out wine
are.
In Titus 1, Paul's greeting to his readers speaks something powerful to me. He writes, " I, Paul, a slave of God......have been sent to bring faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives." Two words stand out to me. Slave, and sent. Paul didn't consider himself to belong to anyone, including himself, but the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He was not his own, but was immersed in the life of Christ, which is why he could say that for him, "to live is Christ." He had no separation between his life and the Lord's. Paul's life wasn't one of activity for the Lord. it was one actively lived out in the Lord. Elsewhere in the word, Paul said that he was now "free to be His slave." Only the life that knows the reality of what he's saying is able to truly be broken bread and poured out wine. Only those who are His slaves will truly come to know what it is to be free.
Since Paul belonged only to Him, he was then free to be sent anywhere the father chose. I think we tend to view the concept of being "sent" as being given a specific task and destinaton by the Lord. I don't think we view our day to day life situations as places into which we've been sent. What would happen in those places if we did? What would happen if we started to view the places where we live, work, and interact on a day to day basis, all as places into which He has sent us? Places that may be trying, harsh, dark? Places that are uncomfortable, challenging, and yes, drearily routine. Places that instead of finding a way out of, we instead discover ways to be His life and presence in? Places where hearts and souls held in dark captivity have their dungeons, as Wesley wrote, "flame with light," light that in some small way, He has been able to shine through us, because we, as broken bread, and poured out wine, were willing to be sent there. Brethren, this is not outreach, and its not being missional. This is living in the power of a resurrected life.
What will the yield be? That's in the hands of the King. Our part is to be broken bread and poured out wine. Bread and wine sent to a starving thirsty world. It may be in the most humble and anonymous place, but its a place to which we've been sent, as His slaves, to be His bread, and His wine, day by day, moment by moment. This is what it is to be a witness for Him. Will we live the witness of the broken bread and poured out wine?
Blessings,
In Titus 1, Paul's greeting to his readers speaks something powerful to me. He writes, " I, Paul, a slave of God......have been sent to bring faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives." Two words stand out to me. Slave, and sent. Paul didn't consider himself to belong to anyone, including himself, but the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He was not his own, but was immersed in the life of Christ, which is why he could say that for him, "to live is Christ." He had no separation between his life and the Lord's. Paul's life wasn't one of activity for the Lord. it was one actively lived out in the Lord. Elsewhere in the word, Paul said that he was now "free to be His slave." Only the life that knows the reality of what he's saying is able to truly be broken bread and poured out wine. Only those who are His slaves will truly come to know what it is to be free.
Since Paul belonged only to Him, he was then free to be sent anywhere the father chose. I think we tend to view the concept of being "sent" as being given a specific task and destinaton by the Lord. I don't think we view our day to day life situations as places into which we've been sent. What would happen in those places if we did? What would happen if we started to view the places where we live, work, and interact on a day to day basis, all as places into which He has sent us? Places that may be trying, harsh, dark? Places that are uncomfortable, challenging, and yes, drearily routine. Places that instead of finding a way out of, we instead discover ways to be His life and presence in? Places where hearts and souls held in dark captivity have their dungeons, as Wesley wrote, "flame with light," light that in some small way, He has been able to shine through us, because we, as broken bread, and poured out wine, were willing to be sent there. Brethren, this is not outreach, and its not being missional. This is living in the power of a resurrected life.
What will the yield be? That's in the hands of the King. Our part is to be broken bread and poured out wine. Bread and wine sent to a starving thirsty world. It may be in the most humble and anonymous place, but its a place to which we've been sent, as His slaves, to be His bread, and His wine, day by day, moment by moment. This is what it is to be a witness for Him. Will we live the witness of the broken bread and poured out wine?
Blessings,
Pastor O
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