Title Our Missionary Mission (Ephesians 04:1-7)
Contents One of the requests of God that I learned last week was the mission of mission.
Today I would like to think more about this issue. Mission is to preach the gospel of God's love, that is, reconciliation. If the love we have received is great, we have a mission to serve those who do not yet know this gospel.
Combining the experience of evangelism, you will find that despite the various difficulties, there is a sense of reward and joy in your heart. Spreading God's love is the most blessed thing in the world.
1. Mission and evangelism We often use the words missionary and evangelism interchangeably. In the past, we called evangelism to foreign countries or foreigners working in Korea called missions, and preaching the gospel in Korea was called evangelism. There was no particular reason for this, it was just a custom. It was missionary work and evangelism work to spread the gospel and to believe and build a church and expand the church. Therefore, no significant difference was found.
Recently, however, I have come to understand mission as meaning the whole work of reconciliation toward God's world. God's work includes the whole of evangelism, education, and service. Therefore, when we say missionary today, it also includes serving (service), such as finding and helping people who have been neglected and violated human rights for the purpose of evangelism that directly preaches the gospel. When Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, he set up various positions and explained the meaning of having him participate in God's work through various services.
“He appointed some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers. It is to prepare the saints for service and to build up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12)."
Therefore, we need to know that in our position as students, anything that expresses God's love to the world can be a mission.
2. We were sent to the world One day, Jesus selected 72 of his followers and sent them out on a missionary trip to various villages and provinces in pairs. Jesus said “Go, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves” (Luke 10:3).
The disciples were lacking and weak in various ways, so even Jesus felt sorry for them, but he sent them. We too are weak in faith, incapable, and young, so we have no confidence in anything. But today he sent us into the world.
And He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).
The Holy Spirit is with us. It is God who sent us into the world, it is God who made us realize our mission, and it is God who is with us. This is the basis for us to step out in the ranks of missions. Because the Lord is with us by the Holy Spirit, we can work to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
I have to use my talents and hobbies to do missionary work in various ways. It can play a missionary role in education, politics, and culture anywhere. It is also good to major in theology in order to directly preach the Word. It is our study to prepare for a full-scale mission in the future. If you study to get a score or get into a higher school, then you lose your goal.
At the same time, we must realize the missionary work that is possible in the present reality. Let's not forget that we are sent to our schools and in our communities.
3. The beginning of peace When Jesus sends out the 72 men, the first thing to say when entering any house is 'Peace be in this house!' He said Greetings from the Jews and their neighbors: 'Peace to you (shalom)!' There is a simple and polite expression to say. Jesus gives these greetings a more fundamental meaning, revealing the mission and nature of the disciples' mission, but also trivializes the method.
We cannot deliver God's message of reconciliation with the heart of discord and strife within us. A missionary must be a 'person who works for peace' (Matthew 5:9). Communists justify killing, arson, war, and lying for their ends. But the sons of God reject that method. Rather, the reason why we choose the positive non-resistance method of returning the left cheek to the one who strikes the right cheek is because what we are preaching is peace (Matthew 5:39).
Let's build peace among the bad friends who use violence even in school life.
The mission of mission is for all Christians, Christian students are also called to this mission. Not only that, as people sent out into the world, let's rely on the help of the Holy Spirit and participate in God's Mission Dei now and in the future. The missionary method should be peaceful with non-violent non-resistance.