I'm Too Busy to be Missional

The word missional may be new to some of you, and for others, it may be a term associated only with a particular movement. At its core, the word missional is a simple adjective that describes someone (or a church body) who is an intentional participant in God's mission to mankind. It's not a particular activity, not a particular movement, not a particular checklist of things, but an attitude and a lifestyle. Someone who is missional cares enough about God's mission that he or she lives life with that mission in mind.

It is not a word reserved for the extremists or those who are "radical." It is not reserved for clergy, elders, and deacons. It is not reserved for missionaries. Any believer of any age in any occupation can be missional. And Scripture is clear that God is missional, the Gospel is missional, the incarnation of Christ was missional, and the giving of the Holy Spirit is missional. In fact, the entire Bible is missional.

But we're a busy people, and we might think that being missional is something we don't have enough room in our schedules for. I don't have time to add another thing, so I'm not going to even think about becoming missional.

The great thing about being missional is that it's not a program to add to life, but a way of life. It's a way to do everything else.

In his article "10 Simple Ways To Be Missional …without adding anything to your schedule" (http://www.vergenetwork.org/2011/10/04/tim-chester-10-simple-ways-to-be-missional/), Tim Chester has great suggestions on how even busy people can be quite missional. The short version of his list is:

1. Eat with other people 
2. Work in public places 
3. Be a regular (at a restaurant or coffee shop)
4. Join in with what’s going on (rather than starting up your own new thing)
5. Leave the house in the evenings 
6. Serve your neighbors 
7. Share your passion 
8. Hang out with your work colleagues 
9. Walk 
10. Prayer walk

Certainly, we could come up with 20 more ideas just like these. The point is not this list, but the idea of this list. There are things we do every day anyway, and almost every one of those things can be done with a missional mindset and purpose. The key is to build relationships, to make your faith obvious but not obnoxious, and to share truth when people are willing and interested, to do as we learned in the last sermon - to share what you have personally seen and heard. All it takes is willingness and intentionality to take God's mission seriously.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and cultivate complete followers from all people groups." (Matthew 28:18-19, author's translation).

I'm Too Busy for Easter

Christmas is always a crazy time, crammed full with parties, shopping, travel, cooking, and extra events with the church family. Some people jokingly dread Christmas - some have very real, debilitating anxiety over Christmas. The best part about New Year's Day is that it's a real day off without Christmas stuff to do. (Am I alone in finding an unsettling irony that a calendar holiday is more relaxing than a Christian holiday?)

Easter is not much better - gotta buy the eggs, gotta prepare the eggs, gotta hide the eggs, gotta help the kids find the eggs, gotta remember where the last three eggs are hidden so that they don't stink in a couple of weeks. This Easter has been particularly busy, with the odd weather and an illness in the family and taxes due right around the corner. Don't get me wrong - I love Easter and I'm a decent fan of Christmas. But my calendar and task list are wearing out.

I'm too busy for Easter! (And I'm a pastor!) I don't have time this week for it. I'd like to reschedule it, please.

That's exactly the problem: I'm too busy for Easter. Not that my stuff is more important than Easter, but that I haven't left room for that which is truly important. I have made choices that make my life too occupied, too crammed full, and too full of myself.  I have not created adequate space in my week for the most important holiday on the calendar. Worse than that, too often I have not created adequate space in my life for what this most important holiday means. I'm too busy for Easter and all that it embodies.

The beauty of Easter is how everything is centered on one, single truth. The one sacrifice by the one and only Son of God, once for all, calling on us to do but one thing in response. By grace through faith in just this one reality, I can be forgiven and have all the time that there will ever be in order to be with Him and to do His will. Compare this one thing to the hundreds of laws of religion, the millions of animals that have been sacrificed on altars, the myriads of demands that religiosity has placed on its captives. Just that one act by the One. Simple. Focused. Not too busy for anyone or anything.

My life should be about just this. I should never be too busy for Easter or for all that it means, because my entire life should always be all about it. Sure, I can do other things that are not directly tied to the substance of Easter, but my life should never be about those things. And especially, my life should not be so crammed full with them that I don't have time for Easter - the Easter holiday this week, the Easter event two millennia ago, or the Easter life to be lived in its 2000-year-long shadow.

I'm too busy for Easter. I should be too busy with Easter.