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The COVID-19 endemic is giving rise to much speculation about the end of the world as we know it. Among some Christ-followers there is stiff resistance to government and other authorities, but in this instance there is little theological basis for it. The good news is that God is still at work behind the scenes and we’re not at the end of the story, yet.
In light of the great uncertainty around us, we can easily be tempted to try and take control of that which appears to be within our control. We must rest in the fact that God is in control and, for those who are in Christ, that will always work out for our good. Rather than fatalism, we need to hold on in faith and focus on meeting the needs of those most negatively affected.
As COVID-19 restrictions persist for good reason, it is understandable that our patience wears thin and we start to push the boundaries. But by doing so we can put others at risk of harm. Rock solid leaders cannot afford to think only in terms of the needs of their own. We must work to keep the collective good in mind, always acting with love for all.
We are too easily tempted to “save” what we get it in case we run out. This is a poverty mentality. The Polynesian people have an abundance mentality that informs their values of hospitality. The kumara makes for a great metaphor for the gospel.
There is a Maori saying that if you’re going to bow or submit to anything, make sure it is a lofty mountain (i.e. worthy of your honour and respect). Unity is the high ideal that we should aim to summit for the sake of Christ.
A very common proverb among Māori encourages us to think collectively as if we were all in a single waka/canoe. All God’s people should think this way and commit to unity as critical to the goals of mission.
Ezekiel provides a wonderful vision of the Kingdom of God spreading forth like a mighty tree. His vision predicts the diversity of God’s Kingdom and makes a missional statement regarding how the branches are sent forth and multiply.
Without getting too self-helpish, you really are God’s gift to the world! You have a unique contribution to make and a responsibility to find out what He’s asking you to do. As His love flows through you it will express itself in unique ways via your unique abilities to lovingly help repair the sin damage around you.
The English word “call” is probably derived from the Welsh “galw”. In English we intermingle this Welsh with Latin so that “calling” is related to many words with the Latin root “voco”: vocal, advocate, irrevocable, provoke, revoke, equivocal, even vowel and vocabulary. It is also the root of vocation.
As a mission mobiliser I’ve spent a lot of time considering why people choose to get involved in a type of mission that relocates them. There are a host of different reasons, but one thing seems clear from Scripture and lived experience: God moves people. Moreover, God moves people for His purposes.
If you’re a Westerner you’d probably think of history in linear terms and think the Bible supports that worldview. In the Biblical narrative the world has a start, there is some history in the middle and there is a description of the world ending. If you’re a non-Westerner chances are that you’d take a more cyclical view of reality and read the Bible from that perspective.
Jesus is the epitome of what we now understand a “missionary” to be: one sent forth by God for a specific purpose. While being God He was sent by God to activate the next part of God’s grand plan. Jesus was God’s weapon of mass Sin destruction, and He knew it. Jesus’ entire ministry was a message from the Father about what the Great Change would look like. “The Kingdom of God is like…”