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Viewpoint

All my li e I have listened to Christians talk about the great Commission. I grew up on

the words o the Great Commission, evenmemorizing the words o our Lord in Mat-thew 28:1920 at the age o eight. I lovethe Great Commission. In act, when I wasa boy o ten I went out on Saturdays withmy Sunday school teacher to talk to peersabout Christ and our class. In high school Isought to share my aith, sometimes withgreat rustration. As a college reshman Ifnally became deeply involved in personal

evangelism through Campus Crusade orChrist. Nothing so thrilled me as to person-ally introduce people to Christ. I have prac-

ticed evangelism, studied evangelism andnow ormally teach evangelism. I the word

evangelist is correctly understood then I aman evangelist, a person who equips othersto do this work o missional ministry (c .Ephesians 4:1112). But I believe somethingis pro oundly wrong with the way we gen-erally understand the Great Commission.Let me explain.

In John 20:21 we read that Jesus sent hisown disciples into their mission with thewords: As the Father sent me, so I send you.

Lesslie Newbigin was right when he said,This must determine the way we think about and carry out the mission: it must

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Equipping Leaders for Unity in Christs Mission

N v /D 2V lu 10, N

Mission In ChristJohn H. Armstrong

Continued on pag

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be ounded and modeled upon his. Weare not authorized to do it any other way(Mission In Christs Way, 1). The question thistext must press upon the modern churchis clear: How did the Father send the Son?

What was, and is, his way o doing mission/ evangelism?

To answer this question we must go back to the beginning, to the beginning o thegospel in Marks account.

Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gos- pel o God, and saying, The time is ulflled and the kingdom o God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. And passing

along by the Sea o Galilee, he saw Simonand Andrew . . . And Jesus said to them: Fol-low me, and I will make you become fsherso men. And immediately they le t their netsand ollowed him (Mark 1:1418).

There are six points to be made hereregarding Christs way in mission. I believewe miss these to our great peril. In act, Ibelieve the modern church has missedthese in a way that greatly distorts what wedo and how we do it.1. Christs way in mission is the an-nouncement of a fact. It is not the begin-ning o a program. It is not even a newdoctrine or a call to moral change. As New-bigin astutely noted: It is, strictly speaking,a news- ash. (Mission in Christs Way, 1).Something has happened. A new act mustbe heard and receivedthe kingdom o God, the reign o Christ, has come near.2. Christs way in mission is not aboutreligion, at least as we use this term. This announcement is not a category

or one part o our lives. It is about Godsreign and thus it is about our whole li e.One might call it cosmic a airs(Mission inChrists Way, 2).3. Christs way in mission is to reveal thatthe reign of God is not about something

MIssion In Christ continued rom page 1

Viewpoint Nobember/December

in the world to come.It is about rightnow, right here. It is a present reality. This iswhat is truly new here. It con ronts you andsays, Do something and do it now!4. Christs way in mission tells us that

you cannot see his kingdom unless yourepent. You are acing the wrong way. Youmust do a U-turn. This is the meaning o theword repent. The frst word o the gospelo the kingdom is not peace but repent.I you read this text care ully there is nomention here o turning rom your sins. Ido not doubt that we must turn rom sinbut this is not the real point and to miss thereal point here is quite tragic in its conse-

quences. The point here is rather straight-orward:The reign o God has drawn near.To

see it and enter into it you must undergo acomplete (ongoing) trans ormation processthat Newbigin rightly calls a total mentalrevolution(Mission in Christs Way, 3). I youdo not change your mind, thoroughly andcompletely, the kingdom o God will behidden rom you.5. Christs way in mission says, in clearterms, turn around and believe thegospel, the good news Jesus is tellingus. Gods reign is near but you cannot seeit unless you believe the good news. Thegood news is not primarily about yourpersonal sins but about the reign o Christ.When it is reduced to a message about get-ting your sins orgiven then the messageis reduced to a private message or innerstruggles with sin and peace. This missesChrists way o mission and the conse-quences, I am convinced, are huge.6. Christs way of mission is not a simplepossibility for everybody. It is not some-thing I can do on my own. It is the work o Christ and he accomplishes it in meand you by his Spirit. He called men o hischoiceAndrew, Peter, James and John.John 15:14 says, You did not choose me;I chose you and appointed you to go and

bear ruit. They are chosen and called tocall others to aith in the present reign o Christ, a reign that is hidden to the eyeso the world but present to all who arecalled by God in his grace.

This is the beginning o the gospel. Thisis HOW the Father sent the Son. When thisexciting news was frst announced manywere pro oundly drawn to Jesus andbecame his disciples. But in time, as thecross loomed on the near horizon, thingsbegan to change. The reign o God didnot make sense to many o these people.It seemed hidden, not revealed. Their zeal

or Jesus began to ade, much as the zeal

o many religious people ades over timein our world. It is precisely here that wemust truly learn what is mission in Christsway(Mission in Christs Way, 5). I we donot we will never learn how to make realdisciples.

In the Gospels the message and themessenger were moving toward thecross. It was at Calvary, and on the frstday o the new week, that the kingdomwon its decisive victory. But the worldonly saw de eat. The world always seesde eat when the gospel o the kingdom isproperly preached and lived. It seems tome that this takes us right to the heart o our modern problem. We have preacheda gospel that is not this gospel. Our goodnews is about private sins, private opin-ions, private joys and private reedom. Thepublic scandal o the cross has been lost.We want to be victors but true victory isalways ound in a message that the worldwill always see as de eat.

I you want to understand the missiono ACT 3 it is imperative that you beginwith this question: How should we un-derstand mission in Christs way? I live tohelp Christians understand this questionso that we might preach the gospel o thekingdom with power.

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My mom is 93 years old. For more thaneight decades she was sharp as a tack.

She was a well-groomed, well-dressedLeave It to Beaver Mom, who taughtladies Bible studies, Sunday schoolclasses, and wrote magazine articlesand poetry. Mom was a aith ul wi e tomy dad or 67 years, and took sel esscare o him during his 15-year strugglewith Parkinsons disease. She was anaccomplished woman, and it was easy toshow her honor and dignity. It was nota burden to ollow the Lords commands

rom Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16,and Ephesians 6:2: Honor your ather andyour mother.

But, now, Lord, its so hard!Degenerationo the mind happens so slowly that itseems to just creep up on you. Whenit rst started happening, Mom wouldread me a new poem she wrote andit just wasnt quite right anymore. Shegot rustrated because she couldnt

make her TV work, and she expressedanger because the pals were stealingher things at the assisted living acilitywhere she lives. Mom, I reassured her,the pals arent stealing your toothpasteand comb! In the past year, according tomy mom, the pals have stolen lipstick,powder, six pairs o reading glasses, herhearing aid, her purse, a pair o shoes andsome clothes! Other than the glassesand the shoes, the other items were

eventually ound sa ely hidden here andthere.

My mom and I used to talk on thephone every day at 8 a.m. Now she cantremember her childrens phone numbers.I have written them in large numberswith a magic marker on colored papertaped to her closet door. Now, when shedoes call, she calls repeatedly orgettingthat she just called us. My siblings andI used to tell her what shes doing, but

But Its So Hard, Lord!Anita Armstrong

now we just start eachconversation over as i it

were the rst time.Its so

hard, Lord!

When I took my momto her cardiologist, heasked her, Hows yourheart? She replied,Oh, hes been dead or a long time! (Mydads name was Art.) I told the doctorthat Mom lost her hearing aid and shespouted, I dont need a hearing aid! Ihear just ne!

At lunch one day recently, I greeted mymom with a cheer ul, Hi! How are you?She soberly answered, I was ne untilabout noon yesterday. Really? I replied.What happened then? Thats when Irealized that you dont love me anymore!Its so hard, Lord!

Many times I look at my mom andthink, Who isthis person? She isde nitely not the person I grew upwith, but she still deserves my honorand respect. My brother and my sistersand I are trying to be aith ul to Godscommand to honor her as long as shelives. Its a struggle, but we are blessedto have each other or support. I knowmany o you are going through this, orhave gone through this stage, too. Youunderstand how difcult it is. We mustnever orget that people with dementiaare still Gods creation, and no matter

how distant they seem to you, they stillneed warm hugs, kisses, and attention.So, or now, I give my mom a manicureonce a week and read to her rom a book she wrote many years ago about hermothers amily and their journey to theUnited States rom Europe. She genuinelyenjoys that. Id like to share with you atouching poem my mom wrote manyyears ago when her mind was clear andvibrant.

AnitAs PersPective

When I Grow OldBy Helen E. Siml

Wh i g ow old, ju w h m a pl a .

My o a o w ll b pdull o o - x .Fa l g y w ll blu my o ,

o ha w, mula g mpw ll b om mpo bl o f u aFa l g a w ll hwa o aa d au m u d a d g .t m w ll w a w b a ou d my

mp o g my omp h o ,b d g m o h b w ld g pwh l glo fy g a bu g o g pa

O ly lo , w h wa m a d pa p h u l w b m bu

if h Lo d do o ak m hom bh happ ,

i a k you o o look ha g adh o of ag

a d o b pa o w h m awh l

wh i am old. A d lo m , pl a .