Tena tātou katoa e te iwi mīhana… (Greetings to all the people in mission)

This month’s whakatauki (proverb) is: “Ma te tini, ma mano, ka rapa te whai.” (With the help of many, thousands, the work will get done), which evokes a sense of strength in unity. A close English alternative is the proverb, “many hands make light work”.

Have we lost the passion for the core objective of mission?

Since 1974’s Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, a large part of the evangelical church’s global missions thrust fell under the rubric of “Let’s finish the task!” Now, over 40 years on from Lausanne, we hear little more than a faint echo of this rallying call in our churches and Bible schools. Have we lost the passion for the core objective of mission, or was the focus actually misplaced?

Seeing mission as a task needing to be accomplished is an inadequate motivator. It may seem somewhat politically correct to some members of our community, but mission has never been a task. Mission is a relationship journey, and the minute we reduce it to a quantifiable goal we objectify the very ones God wants to embrace.

When Māori are asked, what the most important thing is, the response is automatic, “he tangata, he tangata, he tangata”—repeated three times for emphasis, our response is, “it is people”. In the proverb quoted above, the emphasis is not on the task, it is on the working together, because relationships always take priority.

Jesus went to the cross, not because it was a task set by the Father, but because their relationship took priority. Love only exists in relationship, and Jesus told His disciples He did what the Father required of Him, “so that the world will know that I love the Father” (John 14:31). As followers of Jesus, we undertake whatever the Father requires so that the WORLD will know we too love the Father.

In my Missions Interlink Annual General Meeting* address this year I emphasised the need for us to reorient our understanding of anything mission (local or global) to that of blessing (what we Maori call manaakitanga). You can download and read the transcript here. As we go about the mission of God we witness to the Triune source of our ability to tangibly bless the communities we are called to. The objective then becomes obedience out of loving relationship—with God, with each other, with our communities.

Jesus’ great strategy of witness to the world was not an army of compelling apostolic leaders; it is a close knit, intimately related family whose “love for one another will prove to the world that (we are His) disciples” (John 13:35). What part of “one another” suggests that we are able to do that solo?

We are all in this together, each playing a part, not only many, but multitudes of thousands all around the world. Furthermore, with loving relationship as the primary objective, that will never be completed, because His love endures forever… and goes with us as we #stayonmission. 👊🏼

Ma te Atua e manaaki koutou (may you all experience the very best things from God),

Jay

*At our AGMs each year we farewell mission leaders leaving their roles and welcome new leaders to the community. The image above are the new leaders welcomed at the 2016 AGM.