What does it mean to live a missional life if I’m not a missionary, and how does that practically look in my everyday circumstances? I understand that “missional” generally refers to being sent or having a purpose connected to a larger mission, but how does that translate into my daily routine when I’m not working for a mission organization or living in a foreign country? Specifically, how can I integrate a missional mindset into my career, my relationships with family and friends, my involvement in my community, and even my personal hobbies? What are some tangible examples of missional activities that someone with a “regular” life could engage in? And how can I determine what specific areas of missional living I’m best suited for, given my skills, passions, and resources?
Answer
Living a missional life, even if you’re not a formally appointed missionary, means orienting your entire life around God’s mission in the world. It’s about recognizing that God is actively working to restore creation and reconcile humanity to Himself, and choosing to participate in that work wherever you are. It’s about viewing every aspect of your life – your work, relationships, hobbies, finances, and even your challenges – as opportunities to reflect God’s love and advance His kingdom.
Here’s a breakdown of what that practically entails:
1. Understanding God’s Mission:
- Gospel-Centered: Understanding that the core of God’s mission is the good news of Jesus Christ. This means knowing the gospel yourself and being able to articulate it in a relevant way.
- Comprehensive Redemption: Recognizing that God’s mission encompasses more than just saving souls. It includes social justice, economic development, environmental stewardship, and the restoration of all things to their intended purpose.
- Kingdom Focus: Living with the understanding that God’s kingdom is both present (in the lives of believers and acts of justice) and future (a fully realized reality to come).
2. Cultivating a Missional Mindset:
- Intentionality: Actively seeking opportunities to live out God’s mission in your daily life rather than passively waiting for them to arise.
- Discipleship: Continually growing in your understanding of God’s Word and allowing it to shape your worldview and actions. This also includes actively discipling others.
- Prayer: Regularly praying for God’s guidance and wisdom in discerning how to live out His mission in your specific context. Also, praying for those who are serving as missionaries.
- Awareness: Developing a heightened awareness of the needs and injustices around you, both locally and globally.
3. Living Missionally in Everyday Life:
- Work: Seeing your work as a platform for demonstrating integrity, excellence, and care for others. This could involve treating colleagues with respect, offering your skills to those in need, or using your business or profession to address social issues. It might also mean being a witness to your faith in a workplace that needs to know God.
- Relationships: Building authentic relationships with people who may not share your faith, showing them Christ’s love through your actions and words. This can involve hospitality, acts of service, and simply being a good neighbor. It includes investing in your family and being a godly example.
- Community Involvement: Participating in local initiatives that address community needs, such as volunteering at a food bank, mentoring youth, or supporting local schools.
- Financial Stewardship: Using your resources wisely and generously to support God’s work, both locally and globally. This could involve tithing, giving to missions organizations, or investing in social enterprises.
- Hospitality: Opening your home and your life to others, especially those who are different from you or who are in need.
- Cultural Engagement: Critically evaluating and engaging with the culture around you, seeking to promote what is good and true and to challenge what is harmful.
- Advocacy: Speaking up for the voiceless and advocating for justice on behalf of the marginalized.
- Environmental Responsibility: Caring for the environment as a steward of God’s creation.
4. Identifying Your Specific Role:
- Discover Your Gifts: Understanding your unique talents and abilities and seeking ways to use them to serve God and others.
- Embrace Your Context: Recognizing that God has placed you in a specific community and culture for a reason, and seeking to understand the unique needs and opportunities in that context.
- Find Your Passion: Identifying the causes and issues that you are passionate about and seeking ways to get involved.
- Partner with Others: Working alongside other believers and organizations that are committed to advancing God’s kingdom.
5. Overcoming Obstacles:
- Fear: Praying for courage and trusting that God will equip you for the tasks He calls you to.
- Busyness: Prioritizing your time and making room for missional activities in your schedule.
- Discouragement: Remembering that God is ultimately in control and that He will use your efforts, no matter how small they may seem, to accomplish His purposes.
- Cultural Differences: Making an effort to understand and respect other cultures.
- Persecution: Being prepared to face opposition for your faith.
In essence, living a missional life as a non-missionary is about seeing your entire life as an opportunity to reflect the love and grace of God, advance His kingdom, and make a positive impact on the world around you. It’s about living intentionally, faithfully, and wholeheartedly for God’s glory in every area of your life.
Pray This Prayer
Heavenly Father,
My heart wrestles with the concept of mission. I understand the call to missionaries, those who dedicate their lives to spreading your word in distant lands. But Lord, what does it truly mean to live a missional life right here, in my everyday existence?
If I am not called to cross oceans or learn new languages to share the Gospel, how can I be a vessel for your love and your grace? Show me, Lord, the mission field that surrounds me – the people I interact with daily, the opportunities I have to serve, the words I can offer in kindness and support.
Help me to see beyond my own comfort and routines. Open my eyes to the needs of those around me: the lonely, the hurting, the forgotten. Guide me to be a source of hope, a beacon of light in their darkness, a living testament to your unwavering love.
Grant me wisdom to discern how I can use my gifts and talents to further your kingdom here on earth. Help me to speak your truth with gentleness and compassion, to live a life that reflects your values, and to be an ambassador for Christ in all that I do.
May my life, however ordinary it may seem, be a continuous prayer, a living testament to your grace, and a powerful expression of your love to a world desperately in need of you.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.