Being Shaped by the Mission of Christ

Excerpt from How Mission Shapes Us
by Greg Taylor, Managing EditorJuly - August, 2007
Current Issue of Wineskins

"We are shaped by the mission of Christ. Frost and Hirsh have an incredibly helpful typology in their book, The Shaping of Things to Come.

The Aussie Kiwi combo perhaps speak with a bit more objectivity about American culture as they observe that the mainline churches are dying and a shift must take place. They say that many American churches started with church as the driving force that shapes our mission. Then mission shapes Christ into the image of the church.

Frost and Hirsh call for a reversal of this model to one that starts with Jesus' mission. Christ's mission shapes our mission, and in turn this mission shapes the church. So the progression is Christ-Mission-Church rather than Church-Mission-Christ.

This is no small shift. This is huge. It turns our "Christian" worldview upside down. It changes the questions we ask. It changes our actions in the community. It completely forever changes the way we live out the call to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.

Instead of asking, "Will someone be offended and leave our church?" we preach and counsel the body of Christ in ways that Jesus preached, offending only with the gospel.

Instead of asking, "What ministry programs can we start in our church to help it grow?" we are asking, "How can we join in Christ's desire to see captives set free in this city?"

Instead of asking, "How can we get more members of our church?" we are asking, "How can we equip more people to be missionaries who are the presence of Jesus in their circles of influence?"

Rather than assuming a mission that is about a church organization and building a little kingdom on earth, the mission of Christ and his kingdom is our mission and kingdom we live and serve in."