Doing Nothing

Former Hootie and the Blowfish lead singer, now country artist, Darius Rucker has a new song out called "Got Nothin'." In the song he details how he has nothing left to offer as a relationship falls apart. It's a sad song, but it reflects an important reality in our relationship with God. We've got nothin'; He's got everything. We're dead in our sins; He makes us alive with Christ (Ephesians 2). We sit around and do nothing; He gives growth to the church.

Wait a minute! That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says that we plant and water (1 Cor. 3:6). The Bible says that we are God's fellow workers (1 Cor. 3:9). The Bible says that we're sent (Luke 10:2-3, Mark 16:15, etc.). The Bible says that we are to let our light shine (Matthew 5:16). The Bible says that we don't sit around and do nothing.

Recently I was told that challenging believers to action was doctrinally unacceptable. If that's the case, then the Bible is doctrinally unacceptable.

There's a message in the church that is confusing and immobilizing God's people. Instead of allowing grace and faith to flow into the works God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10; the book of James!), the message of grace is being used as an excuse for immobilizing the church. Justification is being used in place of sanctification. The message is: "You, dear people of God, are justified by grace alone! Therefore, you are justified by grace alone." The refrain goes on with the announcement of the free atoning work of Christ. But sanctification is neglected, omitted, and removed from the message. Walking in the newness of life, being a new creation in Christ--His ambassador, living in the power of the resurrection with the knowledge that our labor in the Lord is not in vain is excised from the proclamation of the Good News. Only half the news is given and the church sits on its hands, doing nothin'.

But as the redeemed people of God, we've got somethin'! We are called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified so that we can declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). By His grace, God shares His mission with us. He makes us fellow workers. He entrusts us with His Word and sacraments, not so we can sit in fear that Kingdom action might get messy, but so we can go out into the world with these tools and see the darkness shrink back and the gates of hell buckle in the wild and messy adventure of God's Kingdom action.

If we really stand for truth and purity of doctrine, let's take the gift of a sanctified life seriously. Let's give a voice to faith that works. Let's stop doing nothing.

Missional Worker Inspiration

Are you a missional worker? In Luke 10, Jesus appointed seventy-two people and sent them. He said, "I am sending you." Into the harvest fields they went. Jesus didn't say, "Some of you are only spectators." He didn't tell a group, "You stay inside the building while other go out into the world." No. Believers were sent.

I was sitting next to a firefighter recently. We were at a meeting of a Mission Society. This full-time firefighter coordinates and leads mission trips to Brazil. He told stories of medical journeys that changed people's lives as the love of Jesus was lived out and proclaimed. He described the way he helps local church members make a global difference. The firefighter is a missional worker. In the midst of his busy life, he has a mission focus and is being used by God to make Kingdom gains.

What about you? What's your mission? It doesn't have to be in South America. It can start at home!

Reggie McNeal, the articulate mission strategist, gave a talk recently that contained nugget after nugget of missional wisdom. For every missional worker, I'd like to share those quotes so your soul can be stirred to action as we ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers:

"We need to be apostolic, to share the faith with people who have no spiritual scripting."

"The culture is having a God conversation while we get distracted with church conversations."

"The Church is a who, not a what. If I am a believer, then everywhere I am is the Church, the sent ones. This expands the bandwidth of the Christian movement in the world."

"You run into Jesus where there are people in need."

"Apostolic preaching happens in the streets, marketplace, all the world. We made preaching an inside church thing."

"If we're the bride of Christ, what's on His heart needs to get on our hearts pretty quickly."

"The church's scorecard should be the measure of missional agents, not church attenders."

"The apostolic model is to deploy then debrief."

"Apostolic leaders make heroes of the right people."

"The best leadership releases you to bless people."

"You are a viral agent of the Kingdom."

Dear friends, you are sent! You are a missional worker! There is no failure for one who brings the blessing of Jesus to others.

If you're interested in Missional Worker Training, click here for information and registration.