Is Mission Everything?

(this post is prompted by realizations I had during a conversation with my beautiful fiancée a few days ago, in which I began putting my finger on some of the structure and difference of our paradigms).

Lots of things are important in our Christian life: living holy, becoming like Jesus Christ in our character, worshiping God and having affective love for and an obedient will toward him, being used in our gifting for the building up of the church, glorifying God, etc.  On the one hand, these Christian injunction (being used, becoming holy, conforming to the character of Jesus, etc) are all connected , all of them promoting and spilling over into each other (this is how my fiancée would naturally see it).  But, for someone like me who tends to think of the logical relationship between ideas, and the organization of truths, I tend to think of one as ultimate.  One of these is the goal to which the others contribute.  The question I had recently is, “Which one?”

Historically, I’ve tended to believe and live like mission is everything (i.e. the goal).  I want to be holy so that I can be ready to be used by God. I want to be growing constantly so that I can become equipped for serving God.  I want Christ-like character so that I can have a heart and reputation and connection with God that makes powerful ministry possible.  I want to be close with God so that I might be lead by his Spirit … into ministry.  I even want to rest so that I can be rejuvenated for serving God.

(this view of the Christian life where mission is everything has been encouraged, I think, by some (recent) biblical theology which seems to emphasize the mission of God as the essence of the Bible and the most fundamental theological reality.  The implication of this seems to suggest that mission is everything to God.)

Relationships are also about mission.  The hope is, sometimes, that my friendships will help me (or them) grow for more effective mission.  The whammy is marriage.  Marriage is a consuming commitment, so how does this fit in a world that’s all about mission?  The answer is, “Not easily,” but that hasen’t stopped me from trying: “maybe marriage will help me do mission better… if not, then maybe marriage just represents a different strategy for mission: rather than doing ministry out there, I spend my labors trying to build up a few, trying to form a spiritual DNA in my family that will multiply ministers.”

The problem with mission as the ultimate goal is that it seems to not include so much of the not-so-missional stuff that makes up the reality of marriage (recreation, romance, and domesticity) and raising kids (playpens, base ball games and skateboarding, etc.).  Pursuing marriage (and the family it brings along with it) has caused to wrestle with what life is all about, because it doesn't seem it can be all about mission, at least not in the way I (and others?) typically conceptualize “mission” (or “ministry”).  Most take mission to refer to things we do out there in the public sphere of the church or world.  But most of our life is not there or in tasks, let alone those tasks. 

Secondly, mission as the goal of the Christian life is not a God-ward goal, but rather a world-ward one.  I can be all about mission and accomplishment, but not really about loving God and knowing him.  My goal is not that I might know Christ and be conformed to him, but that I might accomplish great things for God.  My goal is not relationship or fellowship with God, but simply success in the work for God.  That seems wrong. 

Thirdly, making mission everything makes everything be all about work.   All my deeds and pursuits are to accomplish.  This kind of thinking—having mission as the goal of all my life—has revealed to me that I don’t know how to live, but only how to work.  Is it a surprise that much of the mission emphasizing is written by men (who—and this will offend some—often tend to focus on work compartmentalized from the context of relationships and family) and that my paradigm has been challenged by beginning to live with a woman?  What is it to live as a Christian, aside from working for the Kingdom?  What is my ultimate calling (if it is not ministry)?  Im not sure, but Ill give my other thoughts in my next post.