You are the Project
Missions WITH Yourself
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
When we get called to missions, we generally have an outward focus—a missional focus—with eyes and heart set on announcing the gospel to others and prayers for God’s Kingdom to come on earth. In that posture, we write vision statements and build strategies so that we can accomplish the good works that God has prepared for us. But do we forget that WE are his workmanship? Literally His poem?
Sometimes, with right motives, in service of God’s good works, intent on accomplishing projects in His name, we forget that from God’s perspective WE are the project. I am the project. Of course I hope that my good works, done by the power of His spirit and to the praise of His name, will bear fruit in the world. But I also believe that my very call and engagement in mission is God’s tool to produce fruit in me.
My impulsion to become a missionary was to see God save souls. What I didn’t expect was that my own soul would be among those who were being saved. Not in the eternal sense—I know that God’s grace had moved me from spiritual death to life when I first put my faith in Jesus. Still, participation in God’s mission has saved me from all sorts of weeds that choke out faith and make it anemic or impotent—consumerism, nationalism, ethnocentrism, etc. Beyond that, life on mission has given me multiple opportunities to increase my faith, to deepen my dependence, to sharpen my understanding, and to amplify my experience God’s presence and love.
When Jesus first sent out the 72 disciples to announce the Kingdom—healing the sick and casting out demons—they came back rejoicing at the success of their mission. Jesus gave a caution:
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
Luke 10:17-20
In other words, celebrating the success of your efforts is focusing on the wrong outcome, and may lead to a fall. While on mission, we are to remain cognizant that we are first and foremost recipients of grace…”beggars telling other beggars where to find bread,” as Brennan Manning put it.
Why does this matter?
When I remember that I am the project, I will face both victories and defeats with greater humility and teachability. While I participate in what God might be doing through me, I can also cooperate with what God is doing IN me. A conflict with a teammate over strategy might be God’s invitation for me to prioritize being kind over being right. A disaster that has harmed my community might be God’s invitation for me to build empathy and compassion. A loss of a major donor might be God’s invitation for me to know Him as Jehovah Jireh and experience miraculous provision. As God does that work in me, He gives me more and more reasons to witness to His goodness in genuine and authentic ways. He keeps my testimony of His grace fresh and new.
Yes, but how?
Don’t forsake your first love!
How many missionaries and pastors only read their Bibles to prepare a sermon, only pray in passing or in public, and have forgotten how to worship in the quietness of their own homes?
Do you love Jesus? Are you content to sit alone in His presence? Are you desperate to know Him more? Or have you become satisfied with your understanding of what you already know? Are you more motivated by what you want to do for Him than by what He has done for you?
My organization gives me one day a quarter for “spiritual renewal.” At the beginning of each year, these are the first dates that I put on my calendar. They are hard stops for me, when I ask myself these questions and recalibrate my daily and weekly rhythms as needed.
Keep records of God’s faithfulness to you
Scripture often exhorts us to REMEMBER. How quickly a current crisis can erase memories of a lifetime of God’s faithfulness! Do you have ways to remember what God has done for you?
Do you tell others of your experiences of God? Testimony helps to anchor your stories in your consciousness. Do this authentically—not just in order to evangelize—but recognizing that you yourself need to hear the good news of God’s faithfulness from your own mouth.
My husband and I build “altars” of remembrance in our home. Just like a souvenir from a past vacation can take your mind back to the warmth of the beach, we place objects around the house to point us back to moments of God’s activity in our lives. My current favorite is one I call “sleepy Jesus.” It’s a figurine of Jesus sleeping that reminds me even Jesus got tired and rested, and He invites me to rest as well.
Receive and respond to conviction
I’ve not yet met a Christian who doesn’t still sin. By God’s grace, our sins do tend to get less egregious and less frequent; unfortunately, this can make it easy for us to ignore or excuse our offenses rather than call them out for what they are. Nevertheless, God sees, the Spirit convicts, and you have a choice to make. Repent or Repeat?
Busyness is an antidote to conviction. If you just keep moving and working you will drown out the still small voice that says, “Hey, something isn’t right.” Create space to “examine yourself” and pray the “search me” prayer.
Confession keeps me close to Jesus and close to my own frailty. It also keeps me honest. Honest in my efforts and honest in my witness. A couple of practices help me in this area: Praying the Examen, corporate confession at church, and participation in a weekly prayer and accountability group.