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Our Viral Mission

The word “mission” has become a buzzword in many Christian circles these days. We speak of being “missional” and going into “missions.” One online definition of “mission” is “an important assignment given to a person or group of people, typically involving travel abroad.” But what exactly is our mission?

First and foremost, our God-appointed mission is to know God intimately and walk in His ways (Psalm 119:1-5). In doing so faithfully, we will be displaying Christ to those around us who have not yet done so. Secondly, God’s mission is our mission. It was the same mission He gave to Israel in the Old Testament, and the same one that Jesus gave us (Matthew 28:18-20) and Paul exhorted us to carry on. That is to unashamedly testify to the Truth as revealed in the gospel of Christ and to give an answer for the hope that we have to all those who are without hope and without Christ in the world, whether next door or far away.

During the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, those without the hope that a personal relationship with God brings can easily become anxious, fearful and depressed. It is easy to lose hope when you don’t know what the outcome will be. In a sense, we are all missionaries – ambassadors for Christ. We know who holds the outcome and are confident in Him.

Author Henri Nouwen writes about the Desert Fathers, among them St. Anthony, who lived a monastic life in the desert for many years before rejoining society. When he re-entered society, people recognized in him an authentically healthy soul and flocked to him for spiritual guidance and wisdom. 

The Desert Fathers are described by Thomas Merton as “people who swam for their life in order not to drown in the sinking ship of their society …They knew that they were helpless to do any good for others as long as they floundered about in the wreckage.” These ascetics did not retreat from society to escape, but to prepare for a greater mission. Once they were on solid ground, they could “pull the whole world to safety after them.”1

We all have a mission: to proclaim Christ through word and deed, regardless of where we are or what situation we are in. Our faith and testimony should become viral, spreading from us to others, contagious in its passion and hopefulness. God’s mission is not limited to the foreign field— it starts right where you are, your own “Jerusalem.” Like St. Anthony, our commission is to be on solid ground and extend our arms to those floundering about in the wreckage, bringing them to the safety of an eternal hope in Christ, who is the solid Rock (1 Peter 2:4). 

o Praise God that…

We have been called to His mission of bringing those lost without Him out of the shipwreck of society into the safety of the solid ground of God’s promise of eternal life.

o Pray that…

 God would help you to prepare for your mission by knowing Him more completely (Philippians 3:10), faithfully walking in His ways and bravely testify of his saving grace.

1 Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart, Harper One Press, pp. 21,39