The Power of a mission within the Mission: November 11, 2008

I was reading the other day in Acts 13.  Paul is on his first “missionary journey” and he is in Pisidian Antioch speaking to the people of that city.  He quotes Isaiah 49:6 “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth”.  As I read this and then turned back to Isaiah to read the whole text I could not help but be moved by the clarity Paul had on  the God’s call on his life and how that fit into the mission of the Church- “making disciples of all nations”.  The mission of Christ’s Church is to expand His Kingdom on earth by making disciples.  This is a very broad mission.  Within the Church and this broad mission God has called individuals and ministries, who are a part of the Church, to more specific missions.  Each is a part of the whole.  This was Paul’s case, he was called to reach the Gentiles, Peter and many of the apostles were called to the Jewish people.  It is apparent that Paul understood that he was a part of a bigger whole, that his narrower mission was not the grandest mission but a “mission within the Mission.”

 

Paul had this firm conviction of both the broader mission and his own mission- even in the midst of difficulty and hardship.  He never backed off from either.  Where did this conviction come from?  Paul says it came from Christ, that it was really Christ’s mission given to Paul.  This reality that “his mission” really wasn’t “his mission” but that he was a steward of a mission given to him created in Paul this conviction.  This conviction led to tenacity in his ministry which, for me, is inspiring.  So when he was threatened with death, arrested or even opposed by those within the Church Paul could always turn to this calling, a calling that was both within the broader mission of the Church and given to him by Christ. Paul even went so far as to see times of challenges as being used to advance both the broader mission of Christ and his part of it.  This should not be surprising because Paul believed, since it was Christ’s mission, that ultimately Christ would assure its fulfillment.  This provides great freedom from fear and energy to move forward.

 

When I played high school football I was a defensive end.  No doubt the smallest defense end in our league (145 lbs).  Our team had as its mission to win our conference and possibly go the state playoffs (only 16 teams total went in those days and was based on computer rankings so the playoffs was difficult to reach).  We all understood this and were very clear that this was our mission.  As a defensive end I had a primary mission, within this broad mission of the team, to assure that I “contained the end”.  In other words make sure no one with the ball got around me because most of the time if they did there was no one behind me to stop them from running for a touchdown.  Too many touchdowns by the other team got in the way of our team’s mission.  I could play this position undersized because I understood clearly my mission and the coach’s knew I would do anything I could to fulfill it.  I was challenged often, usually from pulling guards or fullbacks who out weighed me by many pounds, to hold my position and fulfill my mission.  Because I knew the broader team mission and I understood my personal mission given to me by coaches I stood my ground, sometimes at great cost to my body.  By giving me this mission the coaches communicated to me their belief that I could do this job successfully.  This gave me the courage and tenacity to do all I could to fulfill my mission, even when those pulling guards where barrowing down on me, and by doing so helping our team fulfill its mission- winning championships.

 

There is just something sustaining and inspiring when you know you have been personally invited to be a part of something bigger than yourself.  This is what Paul experienced.  This is what I experienced playing high school football. This is what we need to continue to experience at SpringHill.  We have to continue to understand and remember the broader mission of Christ’s Church (making disciples of all nations) and that God has given us a specific part of that mission “to create life-impacting experiences that enable young people to know and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.”  There is no doubt that we have been given this mission, that this is the reason for which God created and has sustain SpringHill for nearly 40 years.  As we work our way through these challenging times (taking on those big bad pulling guards) lets always remember this God given, God called mission that we have.  It’s His and for that reason alone He will sustain us.  And like Paul, I believe that He will not only sustain us but will use these challenges to make us better prepared to carry out the mission He has for SpringHill for decades to come.

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The Power of Relationships Acts 2:42-47

I’m convinced God designed the work of building His Kingdom on earth to require serious relationships among His people.  When we say in our core values that “we do our work in the context of personal, loving and caring relationships” we are not listing an optional value, we are stating the way God intended it to be.  Even more so, it is the only way in the end, that His Kingdom will be built.  We see this so clearly at the end of Acts 2 when Luke summarizes how things are going for the church in its earliest stages-

 

“42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

 

Notice the result of the relationships the “believers” had with each other in verse 47- “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”  The question is what defined their relationships together that God used for daily fruitfulness for His Kingdom? 

 

First is they devoted themselves to the “Apostles teaching”- to the Word of God.   They submitted together to the truth of Christ as taught by the Apostles.  We need to always, as a ministry, be devoted to His Word.  We can do this as individuals by daily reading His Word.  As a team we can share God’s Word with each other when we are together in meetings or talking on the sidewalk (you know those things we called “teachable moments”?). Reading and sharing God’s Word can and should be done by anyone of us not just selected people.  Nor does it need to be a formal program but instead can be a Spirit directed, spontaneous activity, something that comes natural to our daily work.

 

The second activity that defined their relationships was “fellowship”.  The believers continued to meet together for food and prayer in each others homes, sharing all that they had with each other.  The principle in these verses is that being together was of the highest importance, so much so that it included providing for each other.  There is a strong sense of commitment to one another.  When our work is the craziest (like summer) this is one activity we can easily put aside, yet if God uses our fellowship to “add to His number daily those who are being saved” can we afford to put it aside?  We can certainly have meals together in the dining halls and take time in team meetings to check in and pray for each other on a personal basis.  Taking time for “fellowship” is not optional for our work together.

 

Christ and His Word provide the mission, fellowship and the relationships provide the context for carrying out the mission.  We have continued to take steps forward in our growth as a ministry through our growth in our relationships with each other.  I’m convinced that Christ centered relationships as modeled by the early church is necessary for us to accomplish all the work God has laid before us.  Let us never stop our devotion to His Word and to meeting together for prayer and to sharing our lives with each other so that God can use it to “add to His number daily those who are being saved”.

 

Thanks for all the good work this summer.  We are seeing the fruit of “adding to their number daily those who are being saved”.  God continues to use us, as SpringHill, to reach young people in powerful ways.  My prayer is you will have an opportunity to see it first hand before the summer is out.  

 

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Growing Strong in the Midst of Floods, Wind and Rain. James 1:2-4

No doubt God lets us know that we will “face trials of many kinds” (1:2) in our lives and in our work.  Some trials are self inflicted (just read the Psalms for the trials that come from unfaithfulness) and some are literally an act of nature, or better said the result of living in a fallen, broken and bent world.  Either way we can’t escape them, but instead once they have happened we need to embrace them so that we can grow stronger in our faith.  This is what James is saying in the verses 3-4 “because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance (who didn’t need this quality over the last couple of weeks).  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything”.  This is should be our goal as individuals and is our goal for SpringHill- to each day be more “mature and complete”.

 

The temptation, one we faced in the last two weeks, is to not become more “mature and complete” but instead to be “blown down” or “washed away” by the trials themselves.  The temptation is to add to the trials and their natural consequences strife, division, lack of unity, tearing down of each other, blaming, accusing, becoming victims, giving up and quitting.  In other words letting these trials take us backwards instead of towards “maturity and completion”.

 

Instead when we find ourselves in a midst of an unwanted trial, say flood waters all around or 100’s of trees strewn everywhere, we know that there is an opportunity to become more “mature and complete” as individuals and as a ministry.  I believe this is what has happened over the past couple of weeks.  We as a team took steps forward, we focused on the trials before us and pulled together and address them.  The result was not just becoming more “mature and complete” but that maturity and further completion led to fruitfulness in our ministry.  God used it to create better ministry where nearly 2000 young people in the last 2 weeks had the opportunity to hear, see and experience Jesus Christ in a life transforming way.  That is the result of perseverance, further maturity and completeness, of growing strong instead of being torn down or drowned.

 

There has never been a time when I have been more proud to be a part of SpringHill than these last weeks.  When I say SpringHill I mean all of you, you are what makes SpringHill, SpringHill.  I consider it one of the great privileges in my life to serve with you in advancing this our mission.

 

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