4 Ways God Shapes Us For Mission

“Dead orthodoxy cannot fuel a movement. We need a living theology.”

What powerful words on the opening pages of Chapter 5 – Missional Theology in JR Woodward and Dan White Jr.’s latest book, The Church as Movement: Starting and Sustaining Missional-Incarnational Communities. I was privileged to speak into the development of this book at a few different levels, first as an anonymous reader, and second over my kitchen table with JR. Here’s both a summary and my wholehearted endorsement as quoted from the first pages of this book:

Practitioner led, biblically based, and theologically sound. In this book, JR and Dan have been able to navigate the line between missiology and strategy by presenting a team guide for discipleship and church planting. So buy this book, gather your friends together, and learn how to start a movement that will change your city!

This article is Part 5 of a Blog Tour for this book. You can look up #churchasmovement for links to the other articles, as well as go to their website for additional resources and downloadables.

There are four ways that God shapes us for His mission.

That pronoun, His, is key because the mission that we are on is ultimately not ours or about us. Mission is not what we can do, it’s what God is doing in this world and how we can join Him! The South African Missiologist, David Bosch, in his epic primer on all things missional, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, says this about the mission of God, or missio Dei, as he refers to it.

Missio Dei has helped to articulate the conviction that neither the church nor any other human agent can ever be considered the author or bearer of mission. Mission is, primarily and ultimately, the work of the Triune God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, for the sake of the world, a ministry in which the church is privileged to participate. Mission has its origin in the heart of God. God is a fountain of sending love. This is the deepest source of mission.

So if this is ultimately God’s mission and not ours, how can we participate in it? How does God get us ready for it? And how does this concept shape the way we need to approach ministry and mission? Here are four ways that God shapes us for mission, as outlined in Chapter 5 of The Church as Movement. I’ve built upon their ideas here.

1. He Initiates

Instead of strategizing on how your church can make the biggest missional bang in your city, the better way to join God in His mission is to first grow in your listening and noticing skills.

You can do this by answering questions like,

• Where is God already working amongst the people that He has sent me to?
• Are there any other ministries doing the work that I feel God is calling me to join into?
• If so, how can I develop a kingdom partnership with them in that?

God has already initiated mission in your neighborhood, since He is missionary in His very nature. So join Him in that kingdom work.

2. He Invites

God has not merely called you to live where you live, work where you work, and play where you play for your own comfort and sake. He is inviting you to be His fragrance, His salt, and His light wherever you go. So what does it look like for you to proclaim and live out the love of Christ? How about His peace, justice, compassion, and forgiveness? How can you be a part of the work of reconciliation that God wants to do in your neighborhood?

God is at work and He is inviting you into it.

3. He Inhabits

Mission is equally about staying as it is about going out. So what are your next steps to better root yourself in your neighborhood? How can you move from posting pictures of your Bible and coffee on Facebook to actually sharing a cup of coffee over the Scriptures with your neighbors? “Incarnation is about inhabiting the place where God has called us to live, to engage in grounded missional practices in the concrete realities of life.” (124) God has and is inhabiting your neighborhood and He wants you to be a part of it.

4. He Inspires

Joining God in His mission is both exhilarating and taxing. Through the good and the bad, God is there and He is using those experiences not only to call others to Himself, but also to shape you into His image. So don’t be discouraged. Joining God in His mission is the most exciting and meaningful adventure in life, but here’s the thing. When God calls you into His mission, it doesn’t necessarily mean that He is going to uproot you. He might, but it’s not a given.

So with heart open wide, eyes on Christ, and feet ready to move, let’s together be shaped for God’s mission so that we can participate in His kingdom coming and His will being done here on earth as it is in heaven.

Next Steps:

1. Pick up a copy of The Church as Movement: Starting and Sustaining Missional-Incarnational Communities to learn more about Missional Theology, as well as practicies to engage on mission wherever you are
2. Read the collection of blogs on this blog tour, #churchasmovement
3. Download handouts and resources from this book here
4. Start the first three sessions for free on the NewChurches.com Missional Church Multiplication course that I co-developed with the authors and the V3 Movement.