The "M" Word

Making the Call

It is amazing the anxiety I go through just to make a call to someone about our ministry.  It is an internal battle of conflicting emotions and thoughts.  There is the thought that says, "They are going to love it!  This person is going to go on and on with accolades about Short-Cycle and then write us a blank check."  Then there is the thought closely behind the first that says, "They'll be over committed.  They don't know you.  Everyone is hitting them up."

The truth is not found in either thought.  The truth is the Body of Christ is gracious and cautious.  The Church has been investing for years in great ministries and not so great ministries causing her to become a more selective steward of God's resources.  At this point I am encouraged!

Here at Avant, we pride ourselves in being results driven.  We pray first, then we examine, we strategize, we measure, and we evaluate.  All of which help to be more effective for the Lord each and every day. 

The voices bounce in my head.  My heart begins to beat harder.  My nerves begin to give way.  Then like a flood the calmness of the Holy Spirit comes and says, "Dial the number, I will give you the words."  It is so nice to be part of cause that is both biblical and worthy, the evangelization of the world.

Mission gives Permission

Those who sieze their divine opportunity move with the God-given yes unless God says no.  They work from the go and wait for the stop.  They understand that the mission gives them permission.  They know that the crisis encompasses their calling.  They know that the danger is their invitation to step up to the challenge.

                                                                                                   Erwin McManus Chasing Daylight

Evangelicalism today is governed by a philosophy that says, "Don't do anything until God tells you specifically to do it."  This philosophy leaves the average Christian paralyzed by the fear of violating the "Perfect Will of God."  Churches around the country are frustrated by the spectator mentally of their congregations, yet it is a beast of their own creating.

People cannot serve if they live in fear that they will some how miss the will of God.  In fact, most people refuse to serve when they fear failure.  Why?  because we have now defined failure as missing the will of God instead of realizing that God has given us the freedom to fail. 

Another down fall of the "Perfect Will of God" philosophy is the creation of lost causes.  Ministers and saints get it so into their head and heart that what they are doing is from God, they refuse to change or adjust regardless of the results.  Bitterness and negativity toward those who should have responed more positively to their ministy is the norm instead of the exception.  "If those people would just get themselves right with God they would see the value in what I am doing!"

What I enjoy most about the book Chasing Daylight is that McManus gives us permission to take risks in ministry and not fear that we have missed the boat with God when we fail.  What if God's default answer to us is actually YES?  How would that change what you do in church or with your family?  How would that change your response to a challenge to be in mission doing the things the Bible says to do?

I firmly believe that God wants us to experiment and try new ways of doing ministry.  I believe that God wants us to push the envelope on tradition and look for innovations in Missions.  It is this philosophy that we will adopt and use in our new mission field.  We will try and we will fail.  It is God's will that we are there and that we are sharing the Gospel.  Through trial and error bathed in prayer we look for those God results that we all desire in the ministries we persue.

Proverbs 24:16 says it best, "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity."  In other, you ain't righteous unless you fail and then get up again.  Failures in ministry are part of the will of God.  True success in ministry can only be built on the foundations of some profound failures.

Is there room for a "safe faith" in the 21st Century

As a missionary team leader, I am responsible for the spiritual, emotional, and physical well being of my team in a cross-cultural situation.  This is challenging.  However, it is not near as urging our team forward while constantly pushing the envelope in ministry and risking failure in order to have great success in Church Planting. 

As Christians we are taught that we must "seek God's will" in all things.  The cliche is, "there is no where safer than the center of God's will."  I think this is a dubious teaching.  The reality is there is no where more dangerous than the center of God's will.  Erwin McManus writes in his book Chasing Daylight...

So much of our contemporary understanding of how God works emerges from a fail-safe paradigm.  We have been taught that whenever God is in something, there is no chance of failure.  At the same time we are reassured that when God is with us, we are guaranteed safety.  In the process we create the most ironic oxymoron ---- "safe faith." (p. 142-143)

Today, in the 21st century we can not afford a "safe faith."  We must risk our tradition just to stay relevant.  We must risk reputation to reach the most unreached.  We must risk our safety to enter into countries that have made the "M" word dangerous.  We must risk our very lives to proclaim the Cross where Christ gave his up for you and me.

What are you willing to risk today for Jesus?