Chosen by God... to be Missional
Since my aunt Leena did not have transport to the Catholic Church that she attends whenever she is in Penang, I volunteered to bring her there. I decided to join her for Mass as well.
No [Christian] is responsible only for himself.
This is one phrase that I remember from this morning’s sermon. The priest spoke about how all of us Christians are chosen by God, not for our own benefits, but rather for the benefit of others. I guess this is what it means to be missional. Blessed to be a blessing.
I was just wondering midway through the sermon: Why did Jesus’ disciples choose to follow Him? No doubt it was Jesus who chose them as well, but did they follow Him so that they could go to Heaven? In our consumerist world, we tell people to believe in Jesus so that we can be saved from Hell to go to Heaven. To many people, this has become the main reason to follow Christ. And it is all about the benefits. It is no wonder that many Christians nowadays only think about what we can get out of everything we do, may it be church, good works etc. Were Jesus’ disciples into it for the benefits? Somehow, I would think otherwise. I believe these disciples were so excited about this person that they saw; a man so unique and unbelievable; a man whom they believed would be the Messiah (though in a way that was beyond their imaginations) – so much that they wanted to witness what this Jesus was up to and be a part of what He was doing in the world!
Shouldn’t we tell others about Jesus this way, so that others will be excited about Jesus and will want to become part of His mission to usher in the Kingdom of God; instead of luring people in with ‘benefits’? Will this produce Christians who will be ready to live for God and others instead of Christians who are only concerned about what God can give them? Do we become Christians to save our own skins, or do we become Christians so that we can join in God’s mission for the world? I believe that we have been chosen by God, even as we chose to follow Christ; and we have been chosen to be Missional Christians. The Church does not exist for itself, but for the world. Christians do not live for themselves, but for others.
No [Christian] is responsible only for himself.
This is one phrase that I remember from this morning’s sermon. The priest spoke about how all of us Christians are chosen by God, not for our own benefits, but rather for the benefit of others. I guess this is what it means to be missional. Blessed to be a blessing.
I was just wondering midway through the sermon: Why did Jesus’ disciples choose to follow Him? No doubt it was Jesus who chose them as well, but did they follow Him so that they could go to Heaven? In our consumerist world, we tell people to believe in Jesus so that we can be saved from Hell to go to Heaven. To many people, this has become the main reason to follow Christ. And it is all about the benefits. It is no wonder that many Christians nowadays only think about what we can get out of everything we do, may it be church, good works etc. Were Jesus’ disciples into it for the benefits? Somehow, I would think otherwise. I believe these disciples were so excited about this person that they saw; a man so unique and unbelievable; a man whom they believed would be the Messiah (though in a way that was beyond their imaginations) – so much that they wanted to witness what this Jesus was up to and be a part of what He was doing in the world!
Shouldn’t we tell others about Jesus this way, so that others will be excited about Jesus and will want to become part of His mission to usher in the Kingdom of God; instead of luring people in with ‘benefits’? Will this produce Christians who will be ready to live for God and others instead of Christians who are only concerned about what God can give them? Do we become Christians to save our own skins, or do we become Christians so that we can join in God’s mission for the world? I believe that we have been chosen by God, even as we chose to follow Christ; and we have been chosen to be Missional Christians. The Church does not exist for itself, but for the world. Christians do not live for themselves, but for others.
posted by sojourner @ Sunday, August 21, 2005
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home