Hello Mission Control!

I failed to post to my blog yesterday. Just didn't have time as I spent several hours last night helping my son, Alan, work out his fall schedule for school. We are ready to look at the fifth, and final purpose for which we were created by God . . . You were made for a mission!

Rick Warren, in his book The Purpose Driven Life, tells us the difference between your ministry and your mission. He says that your ministry is your service to believers, while your mission is your service to unbelievers. That makes sense. If you are a Christian, everything you do for someone who is not a Christian should be done "in the name of Christ." That is, your good deeds for lost people is a means by which to share the love of Christ, especially the love expressed in the Gospel.

Very simply, your mission is to introduce others to Christ! When you share the good news about Jesus with someone you are giving them an opportunity to begin discovering the purposes for which they were created:
- You were planned for God's pleasure
- You were formed for God's family
- You were created to become like Christ
- You were shaped for serving God
- You were made for a mission

Unfortunately, many Christians never really buy in to this last purpose. In fact, a vast majority of Christians never have shared the Gospel with anyone. Now, they may say that they witness by how they live, and it is important that our lifestyles are consistent with Christ's teaching, but that isn't what the Great Commission is about. It is about setting aside your own agenda and accepting the agenda God has for you, which includes sharing the Gospel verbally. That's the cost of discipleship. "Give yourselves completely to God -- part of you . . . to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes" (Romans 6:13b, LB).

Folks, this all goes several posts back when I shared with you the first sentence of Rick Warren's book . . . "It's not about you!" Too many of us look to God to be our spiritual vending machine, handing out blessings whenever we pull the right lever. That's not how it works. Christianity is all about giving up "I" and giving ourselves completely to "Him." The really neat thing is that the more we give ourselves away, the greater life becomes. Life is always sweeter when we fulfill the purposes for which God made us. He rewards obedience with a storehouse overflowing with blessings. This saying is true: you never truly learn lto ive until you decide to die to your own selfish desires.

Let me close with a list of things Rick Warren says we must do to begin thinking like "world-class" Christians:
1. Shift from self-centered thinking to other-centered thinking.
2. Shift from local thinking to global thinking.
3. Shift from "here and now" thinking to eternal thinking.
4. Shift from thinking of excuses to thinking of creative ways to fulfill your commission.

Remember, a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will make you a great Christian.