CN | Faithmapping Part 3 of 3: The Whole World

 

Whole Gospel for a Whole Church for the Sake of the Whole World Pt 3

Here are the links to the previous posts on Faithmapping:

• Faithmapping Part 1 of 3: The Whole Gospel 
• Faithmapping Part 2 of 3: The Whole Church

To review, our servant leadership development team has recently spent the last two months on what has quickly become a new favorite book of mine. Faithmapping: A Gospel Atlas for Your Spiritual Journey is an excellent reflection on how God has given us a whole gospel for a whole church for the sake of the whole world. For anyone exploring Jesus or desiring to become more like Jesus, these are core foundations for what the Scriptures tell us about who we are and how we can live. This is part 3 of 3.

Part 1 | One glorious gospel, in three aspects: 

the gospel of the kingdom
the gospel of the cross
the gospel of grace

Part 2 | Forms one church with five identities:

worshipers
family
servants
disciples
witnesses 

Part 3 | Who lives out those identities in all dimensions:

  

location – where we live
vocation – where we work
recreation – where we rest
restoration – where there's need
multiplication – where we reproduce

Part 3 of 3 | Introduction to the Whole World

"We're God's children who pray 'Our Father' (the gospel of God's grace), who never forget that the righteous died for the unrighteous as we pray 'hallowed be your name' (the gospel of God's cross). And in these next words, we pray with eyes open, knowing that this world, right here and now, is a place where God is getting his hands dirty, making this place look like heaven through this strange family called the church (the gospel of the kingdom). God's plan, ever since he cast his first children from Eden, was to restore what was lost. In the prayer Jesus teaches the disciples, he invites them to join him in that work of restoration. 'Pray that earth would look like heaven.' ... He doesn't call us to ignore the ordinary; he wants to transform the ordinary. He meets us in the midst of ordinary living and tells us, 'This is all part of my kingdom, and it's all going to be transformed.'" – pg. 199 

The Whole World | Five Areas – Location, Vocation, Recreation, Restoration, Multiplication

1) The Whole World | Location: Where We Live 

"Jesus wants us to pray, 'God, let your kingdom come in my home, in my marriage, and in my neighborhood.' Such a prayer invites our imaginations into unexplored territory, a place where peace and love role out over bitterness and where old wounds have the opportunity to heal. ... Because serving is who we are (not merely something we do), we stop keeping score. No longer do we think, 'I'll take out the trash if you do the dishes,' because we've met Jesus, our King, who rules over his subjects and washes their feet. We follow him with a basin and towel, or as Paul said, 'Outdo one another in showing honor' (Romans 12:10). We take courage as we struggle and grow because we're disciples, looking at Jesus, learning, growing, and repenting. This is the essence of being with Jesus and becoming like Jesus. ... Instead of a pile of burdens, life with God is a series of invitations; we're invited to know him, to immerse ourselves in his Word, and to invest in our families and point them to him. The question isn't, 'What's my obligation?'; it's, 'What's my invitation? How is God inviting me, right here and now, into life with him, into an experience with him in the midst of my ordinary circumstances?'" – pg. 202-204 

2) The Whole World | Vocation: Where We Work

"As the gospel takes root in us, it transforms the way we approach our work. Our natural tendencies are confronted and transformed by Jesus, who didn't avoid work but brought it a whole new level of dignity and glory by working as a carpenter. Even as he pursued his work in ministry, his work was marked by a willingness to be a servant, to acknowledge the lowly and hurting around him, and to be distracted from his work for the sake of God's kingdom. When Paul tells us, 'whatever you do,' he's including the workplace. What if our work were marked by generosity? What if humility were the primary virtue for engaging our workplace, coworkers, students, teachers, or children? What if we saw work as a place to live out our identities – to be worshipers, family, servants, disciples, and witnesses?" – pg. 207

  

3) The Whole World | Recreation: Where We Rest

" ... (we wreck our lives) by ignoring God's design for work and rest. The first is destroying relationships by refusing to set aside work and be present, and the second is unable to build any meaningful relationships because it might lead to obligations or responsibilities. ... (But) In Christ, we're invited to experience a truer and deeper kind of rest. The author of Hebrews says: 'Whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his' (Hebrews 3:10). It's a promise that harkens back to the Sabbath. In Jesus, we're able to experience the rest that God had in mind from the beginning of the world. It's an invitation to rest from our spiritual struggle – we're totally accepted by God in Christ, and we can rest in him. It's an invitation to rest our bodies, minds, and souls. John Ortberg said that for many of us, the most spiritual thing we could do might be to take a nap. Resting – ceasing work, even for a few hours – is a small reminder that our work and lives are ultimately out of our hands. God's invitation to rest is an invitation to acknowledge that he's in charge of the world and that he can govern it just fine without our help. ... Marva Dawn says, 'One thing that seems endemic to those who devote their entire lives to serving God, the Church, and the world is that a high proportion of them do not know how to celebrate. ... Theologian R. Paul Stevens says: 'Recreation, paradoxically, is one of those little 'works' we do that don't try to prove anything to God or even ourselves. We have been proven, more accurately approved, by Christ. Therefore we are free to play wholeheartedly. We can really get into it. The gospel frees us to rest because God's achievements are what count in the end. We are free to enjoy recreation not with a heavy heart (wishing we were out doing really 'Christian' work) but exuberantly because we have gospel confidence.'" – pgs. 208-209

  

  
4) The Whole World | Restoration | Where There's Need

"Restoration means stepping into the brokenness and need around us, and responding as servants and family to help make things new. We live in a world full of needy people, and the gospel is a message for needy people. To quote Tim Keller: 'Before you can this neighbor-love, you need to receive it. Only if you see that you have been saved graciously by someone who owes you the opposite will you go out into the world looking to help absolutely anyone in need.' ... I (Daniel) can vividly remember years ago talking to an inner-city pastor about my struggle with knowing how far to go when helping those with long-term need and struggles. I asked him, 'How do we know when we've gone far enough?' He responded simply, 'Look to the cross and ask yourself, 'Have I gone that far?'" – pgs. 210-211
  

5) The Whole World | Multiplication | Where We Reproduce

"For good or for evil, people follow our lead. ... 'people do what people see.' If our leaders are overflowing with gratitude and grace, repenting of their sins, and living out and sharing the gospel in every sphere of their lives, then the church will follow their lead. If they're complaining and miserable, living inward lives and refusing to acknowledge their sin, the church follows that kind of lead, as well. The point is this: We can only multiply the life we're living out. The life we live is a testimony and invitation to follow us as we follow Christ, and the authenticity and transparency with which we live that life says a lot about the gospel we're declaring. ... The gospel is like a living thing, a message that relentlessly and quietly spreads. As Isaac Watts wrote, it's headed out as 'far as the curse is found.' Jesus made it clear that the kingdom of God would spread and multiply. Its movement is an assault on the gates of hell itself, and those gates are destined to topple as the kingdom moves forward (Matthew 16:18). It advances and multiplies through both bold proclamation and soft-spoken faithfulness in daily life. As the church, we live with the expectation that God will continue the advancement of his kingdom in our world. We don't always see the changes with our own eyes, but we trust that faithfulness will bring fruitfulness in time. The Genesis charge to 'be fruitful and multiply' (Genesis 1:28) is now worked out through the church as the power of the gospel is declared and demonstrated by his witnesses. Within the church, we multiply disciples, and outside the church, we multiply worshipers. ... 'Mission is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Mission exists because worship doesn't.' We want to multiply worshipers. We want to see a world full of self-worshipers become a world full of God-worshipers. This was the hunger of the early church as they sent missionaries out to the ends of the earth, and they were utterly confident that their hopes would be answered in a world transformed by the gospel." – pgs. 213-215

– Sully 

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