Into the Mission Field

Dorothy Sayers, when looking at culture and observing the malaise that afflicts people, observed that the sin that was wrecking individuals and society was not consumerism or excess, but rather, “It is the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive only because there is nothing it would die for.” (Dorothy Sayers, Letters to a Diminished Church) With the loss of the divine, it is hard to find a bigger purpose to live for than self-interest. Dorothy Sayers wrote that over fifty years ago as secularism was just taking root.More to the point of our own moment in suburbia, our issues just focus on the self. Sharon Hodde Miller talks about what happens when all of life revolves around self and self-interest in her book, Free of Me: Why life is better when it’s not about you. The title kind of says it all. I don’t know anything about this author—James Daniels sent it to me after a coaching call and it was something he got from his wife! But I think she speaks truth as she writes, “The problem with self-focus is not what it does to our souls, but what it does to the world. When we are so distracted with ourselves and our own lives, we never get to the work of actually living out our faith. There is a whole world out there of brokenness and poverty and hunger and pain, begging to hear the good news of Christ, but we will never reach them if we are too focused on building our best lives now.”I think that accurately describes what we are up against when we come to our text this week, which is about mission. Here is the bottom line: We serve a God who is on mission and he created a people for himself to be on mission as well, and yet somehow the comforts of suburbia seem to shield us from this. We tend to avoid anything that takes us out of our comfort zone or asks anything of us that is the least bit uncomfortable or costly. How did we get here with a theology of the cross? Well, Jonah's story reminds us that God’s people have always insisted on their own way, until God brings a storm—and then watch out! It might get real, and you might get a big life!Join us Sunday and we will talk about it.Blessings,Jim