Missional Living

Missional living has been a topic of deep conversation in our home recently. We have tossed around so many ideas of things we could do as a family to make an impact on our community while also teaching our children about what God calls us to do daily.

I am reminded of the parable of Talents in Matthew where each person was given an amount of money according to his ability. He who had been given the most earned double, and he who had been given the least buried it. The later was reprimanded for not doing something with what he was given.

To us this challenge has also been forged. We each have many different talents to which we are charged to use in ways meant to bless others. If it is money we are given great, but that is not the sole focus. God needs many who are willing to do the motions not just the finances.

I often think of this when we are short on cash. And, I will be the first to say that I am one to look at someone else and see that their means could go further. But, I also realize that money and status are not the things that make us capable of missional living. I also understand that those thoughts are the very things that Satan tries to conjure up in order to convince me to bury my talents and not do anything with them.

The execution of missional living is a testimony of the condition of our hearts. It doesn’t take a penny to pick up leaves in someone’s yard…or to share a kind word…or to just be an ear and offer understanding when needed. Missional living doesn’t just take place in areas of poverty, or third world countries. Missional living takes place in “This Place” being whatever place you are in when the condition of your heart is focused on missional living. We recently did a study with our kids, provided by our church, which focused on this very topic. It was nice to be reminded that we shouldn’t base what we do on who we can see deserves it or who earns it. God doesn’t give us grace because we deserve it or we have earned it, God gives us grace out of the condition of His heart toward us. And so…in mimicking His example, we too should follow.

I don’t know if any of you watched the Oprah show”The Big Give” a while back. I often think about one of the most impactful segments on that show, when the guy who eventually earned the title of the “Biggest Giver” was in a kitchen washing dishes with another guy who was on probation for some crime he had committed. The “giver” guy just stopped what he was doing and listened to the other guy, making eye contact and really engaging him. Out of all the money these people were given to do good with, the one specific thing I remember is this scene in the kitchen where these two guys just talked. Later when the segment was reviewed, it was discovered that this deeply moved the hearts of so many because of how effective and emotional this action was. Missional living is not just opening your pocketbook and sharing your funds (although it is needed and necessary at times); it could be just as simple as a smile and a kind word.

Missional living is also a gentle and quiet way to nudge others to live in the fullness God has for them by following the physical example that you provide of what God calls us to do daily.