Vol 2:14 Embracing Mission: Living Missionally with One Another

This past weekend I was involved in my Mennonite community’s regional annual assembly. The theme for the weekend was ¡Abraza! – Embrace! Embrace each other for the glory of God focusing on Romans 15:5-7. Paul in Romans 14 addresses how easily it is for us to become divisive with one another over things which matter to some and do not matter to others. But no matter what our differences we are to embrace one another for the glory of God. This is a word we need to hear as well in desiring to be missional.

In people or churches seeking to live missionally, I have begun to see signs of becoming competitive. One says this is the way to do mission, another expresses another way, one’s missional practice is edgier than the others and we come close to losing sight of the reason we are in mission. We need to be reminded that the mission we are involved in is not our mission – it is God’s. God initiates God’s mission; God carries out God’s mission; God will complete the redemptive mission of God. We, as the body of Christ are called, sent, and equipped to participate, not in our own mission, but rather, to participate with God in God’s mission.

This we cannot lose sight of – for if we do, we begin being about ourselves rather than being about God and God’s purposes. That is hard for us to realize because in our culture it is about us – but in being the people of God, no matter what our nationalities, our allegiance is to God – it is about God and God’s purposes! So, instead of competing with one another, we need to ask how can we be of support to one another, encouraging one another to discern clearly and participate with God for what God has for each of us to do in advancing God’s reign on earth? God has placed each one of our communities in different settings to be sign, foretaste, and instrument of God’s present and coming reign.

Mission calls for us to embrace one another for the glory of God. There is enough mission to go around for all of us – God has gifted each of our communities to be involved in mission in unique ways which only we can do because of whom God has gathered together in our communities. Therefore, we need to ask how we can embrace one another, helping one another for we are involved together in the same mission. Do we not know that when we start pulling on God’s mission saying it is “ours” over against “yours” we diminish our witness in the world to what God is doing – we hide the fact that we are sign, foretaste, and instrument of God’s present and coming reign. We reveal something, but not what God calls us to reveal.

So, even though we have our differences, even understand and implement God’s mission in different ways, let’s embrace one another, be there for one another – for together we are participating with God in God’s mission – for the glory of God.