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A Fully Devoted Follower Lives Missionally
Becoming A Fully Devoted Follower: #6 of 6 (taken from the Treepost Newletter) | View the Entire Devotional Series
This is our sixth and final installment in the “Becoming a Fully Devoted Follower” devotional series.
The word “missional” sounds made up, doesn’t it? That’s because it is! In the 1980s a seminary prof named Francis Dubose coined the word in his book, “God Who Sends”. He made the argument (and rightly so) that God is by nature a sending God. He calls us to faith in Jesus Christ, then sends us as missionaries into our context to spread the gospel. When you read the bible you can see this happening all over the place. Abraham, Isaiah, John the Baptizer, the Apostle Paul—every one of them was sent by God as his missionary to their culture. Even Jesus himself declares often in the Gospel of John that he was sent by God the Father.
So what exactly does the word “missional” mean? Well, let’s start with the term “missionary”. A missionary is someone, anyone, who is sent on a mission. The term emissary is a synonym of missionary. At the heart is the idea that the one sent is going to fulfill a mission they’ve been given to accomplish. Soldiers are sent to kill or destroy the enemy. Ambassadors are sent to negotiate or maintain peace. Husbands everywhere are sent by their wives to buy more milk! All of them are sent with a purpose, with a mission in view. In the context of the gospel, a missionary is sent to preach Jesus in word and deed. When Dubose coined the term missional, what he was doing was trying to capture the missionary essence of God. Missional means to live like a missionary whose primary mission in life is to preach Jesus.
The fifth and final trait of a Fully Devoted Follower of Jesus is that they Live Missionally. In other words, they live their lives with the full realization that they are sent by God to preach Jesus. Jesus himself says to the Father in John 17:18,
“As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”
Jesus is praying here for his disciples and for everyone who would ever come to saving faith after them—including you! Jesus himself has sent you into the world to be his missionary, his emissary, his ambassador. He has sent you to your spouse, your family, your school, your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers—to everyone in your sphere of influence—to preach Jesus in word and deed. To Live Missionally.
A missionary rearranges their entire life to serve God and make Jesus known, and the good ones are very strategic about the way they do it. They study their culture, learn the language and/or common vernacular, figure out the common values and interests of the people, learn how to best communicate with technology, the arts, and music. And they initiate and build intentional, gospel-focused relationships.
How are you doing at living missionally?