Loving Pursuit and the Other Direction

God is the ultimate missionary. Existing in community, He has worked throughout time to share that community with all creation. After reflecting on the quickly spreading problems of Genesis 1-11, Christopher J.H. Wright in The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative, paints the following picture of our missionary God:

"What can God do next? Something that only God could
have thought of. He sees an elderly, childless couple in the land
of Babel and decides to make them the fountainhead, the launch
pad of his whole mission of cosmic redemption. We can almost
hear the sharp intake of breath among the heavenly hosts when
the astonishing plan was revealed. They knew...the sheer scale
of devastation the serpentine evil and human recalcitrance have
wrought in God’s creation...The call of Abram is the beginning
of God’s answer to the evil of human hearts, the strife of nations,
and the groaning brokenness of his whole creation." (p. 199)

In addition, as we see from the story of Abram, God calls and sends his people to participate in his mission. Again from Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell and Don Golden, “God always hears the cries of the oppressed. God cares about human suffering and the conditions that cause it. God is searching for a body, a community of people to care for the things God cares about. God gives power and blessing so that justice and righteousness will be upheld for those who are denied them. This is what God is like. This is what God is about. This is who God is.” (p. 44)

This is church. We are not a building. We are not a social club. We are not a list of programs. We are not a safe alternative to the perils of the world. We are “...a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that [we] may declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV) And just like our Father Abraham, we have been sent out by God to shine that light into all the darkness we discover.

We are living in communal covenant relationship with God and each other: a communal covenant relationship where the cries of the oppressed are heard, where the torn are knitted back together, where the rejected are invited into family, where the broken receive healing, where the fallen are helped up, where those on the bottom of the corporate totem pole sit down at the head of the table, and where prodigals are rushed to and receivers of a grand “welcome home” parade. Whether we share in the story of Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David, Esther, Zerubbabel, Micah, Jesus, John, Peter, or Paul, we are experiencing God’s mission for God’s glory, and sharing his love with the world. God is the original missionary, and his loving pursuit of creation never fails.

That’s why, for us, our process for growing in Christ-likeness begins with seeking God communally (and individually, but the individual is always brought before some form of the community) through prayer, Scripture reading, spiritual disciplines, etc. As growing followers of Jesus, we are called into the Spirit-empowered life of our missionary God. Therefore, we seek to enter into his mission, because God initiates and reveals connections with others and we respond to his ongoing work

However, the point of this post is not so much to layout a missionary view of God nor to describe our spiritual formation process. It’s to reflect on my own participation (or lack thereof) in said process. Lately, I have been drawn to Ephesians 6, and Paul’s summarizing crescendo in verses 10-20. In Ephesians 6:11-13, the text reads, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” As I have reflected and talked with others about these verses in the context of our desire to be Christ-formed people of God’s mission, two conclusions have surfaced.

First, I recognize God’s initiation of mission all around me, but am not consistently praying for opportunities to enter his mission. Prayer isn’t just asking God to do things for me. Prayer is asking God to awaken me to his recreative work here in Burleson and the surrounding cities; here on Nathan Street and the people with whom we share a street. Prayer forms us into saying, “God, I recognize you to be at work in and around me. Please show me how and where to join you.” Therefore, I long to be transformed into a person regularly seeking the Lord in prayer for opportunities to join him in mission.

Second, in the midst of the Ephesians 6 text, verse 12 continues this calling to prayer. Ephesans 6:12 states, “ For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” If I had the space and time, we look at this verse (and section) in light of all Paul has written thusfar in Ephesians. However, no one is grading this post (that I know of), so I’ll take the “minimalist” approach. lol. The original word that the NIV translates as “struggle” speaks to hand-to-hand combat (perhaps wrestling) where both participants are grappling and clawing at each other in an “up close and personal” fight. How many opportunities to participate in the mission of God have passed me by, because I was so focused on the receptivity or lack of receptivity of others that I forgot that we are involved in hand-to-hand combat and therefore must seek the Lord against the “authorities,” “powers,” and “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” I’m not saying there is a “devil around every corner,” or that personality flaws, poor decisions, and behavioral struggles are always caused the the “spirit” of something. However, I recognize (at least some of) the systemic injustices of our world, the advancing forces of evil at work around us, and even my own tendency toward the “devilish.” Could it be that part of the missional prayer of asking God to reveal the locations, people, and situations in which he is at work (so that we may join him) involves an appeal for the shining of light into darkness, and the eradication of the clutches of the “authorities,” “powers,” and “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms?” I am not writing to postulate about or describe these “spiritual forces.” I’m just trying to say that there is a dominion (seen and unseen) that stands opposed to the Kingdom of God; that stands opposed to love, mercy, forgiveness, justice, hope, community, and peace. The way we rise up against this dominion is not by attacking another brother or sister in Christ, but instead, through going after the “authorities,” “powers,” and “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” through prayer appealing to the power of God at work through the Holy Spirit. Then, in prayer, as God reveals opportunities for mission in locations, people, and situations which are under assault from the “spiritual forces of evil,” we go after division, hopelessness, abuse, hatred, greed, legalism, and dehumanization.


I guess my point here is that I’m not engaging in either prayer; and Ephesians 6 calls me to conviction, confession, repentance, and newness of life.