Mission and Spiritual Formation in the Church, Family, and Individual

[James Nored]

Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you” (Jn. 20:21). As the “sent out” body of Christ, our life and mission is centered around Christ’s life and mission. In his own words, Jesus said that he came to seek and save the lost (Lk. 19:10), serve (Mk. 10:45), and share the good news (Mk. 1:38). Compelled by Christ’s love for us and our love for God and our neighbor, we have as our primary task the mission of Jesus.

 

If we are to fulfill this mission, we must do this at every level--with the church and its ministries, in families, and on the individual level. On the church level at High Pointe we have really grown in our mission-oriented ministries, whether it is sending out missionaries and church planters, adopting schools, feeding and clothing people, or helping people in their marriages, with their hurts, habits, and hang-ups, or in getting out of debt.

 

Now we need to encourage families and individuals to take up this call to mission. Families have a tremendous opportunity to be a light wherever they are. Just as we as a church have adopted a school, every family ought to "adopt" an unchurched family, their children's sports and recreational teams, or their neighborhood. Be Christ to these people. Seek them out. Serve them. Find ways to share the good news with them. Just imagine how many people could be reached for Christ if every family--parents and children--really began to serve as missionaries in this way!

 

On the personal level, we also need to take up the call to mission. Most people work and spend enormous amounts of time away from both the church and their families. If we fail to think as missionaries here, we have missed tremendous opportunities to reach people for Christ. And each person is specially and uniquely gifted by God with spiritual gifts. Spiritual bring grace into every believer’s life (Eph 4:7) for they are apportioned to “each of us” by Christ, chosen and allotted by the Spirit (1 Cor 12:11), and activated by God (1 Cor 12:6). We can use the gifts that God has given to us to serve others, opening doors to share Christ with them.

 

Not everyone can engage in the church's mission activities due to time and schedule as they might like, though these ministries can be supported through prayer and giving. However, all of us can find ways to seek, serve, and share the good news in our families and in our daily lives.

 

A final note here. In order to be sustained for this mission, we need to make sure that our hearts are being spiritually formed. Spiritual Formation is forming the heart, soul, and mind for love of God and neighbor (Mt. 22:38-40) so that the inner spirit (or will) of a person conforms to Christ’s will, resulting in living out the life and mission of Christ. This is accomplished through; 1) the work of the Spirit in a person, family, church, and community; 2) spiritual practices such as Bible study and discussion, memorization of Scripture, prayer, fasting, silence and alone time with God; and 3) active participation in Christ’s mission (that is, engaging in mission can itself often shape our hearts). As with mission, spiritual formation must happen at the church level, with families, and on an individual basis.

 

For families, yesterday's biblical text is a good one for spiritual formation. 

 

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.^[a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (Deut. 6:4-9).

 

Have a great week! And remember, wherever you are, you and your family are Christ's ambassadors!

 

Where do you need to grow in mission or spiritual formation?