What do we get out of bed for? What makes someone enjoy doing her or his work? It has to do with what we think is important - our 'values'. If our behaviour can be compared to the tip of an iceberg, our values are underwater. They are not visible, but they guide our behaviour.
Starting point
Briefly, the premise of this blog series is that God in Christ through the Holy Spirit is the sentient God. In other words: Gód is working with His fallen creation to bring redemption. It is He who has sent His Word, Son, Spirit and Church into this lost world. And therefore, mission and evangelisation are fundamentally a matter of God Himself. The church then has a calling to serve in this great, Godly movement. A calling to make the Gospel audible and visible through words as well as deeds.
This starting point is decisive in shaping our missionary values. If we truly see and believe that Gód is concerned with His fallen world, that it is He who sent missionaries centuries ago to bring the Gospel to our pagan ancestors, and that it is He who with His Word and Spirit seeks us out generation after generation, then this will also shape our values about the church and its calling, about ón us and our calling.
Light of the world
When we look for how this is addressed in the Bible, we come across some key places in the New Testament, for example. Christ says: 'I am the light of the world'. Those who follow Him 'shall certainly not walk in darkness' (John 8:12). The Lord does not say: I am the light of the church (that too), but the light even of the world. His coming determines the fate of the world, and even of every human being (John 1:9). And because God sent His Son into the world, and the Holy Spirit was poured out by the Father and the Son, missionary work in this world is a matter of God Himself.
Our vocation
Next, it is the calling for all followers of the Lord Jesus to 'be light' in turn, following Him, as reflectors of His great light. That is why the Lord says: 'You are the light of the world. A city perched atop a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor does one light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but on the stand, and it shines for all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.' (Mat.5:14-16).
Values set us in motion
When we take in these things, namely that Gód is the great 'Missionary', and that we may reflect His light into this world after Christ, it forms our inner convictions. 'Values' grow in us; things that are so important to us that they set us in motion. More on missionary values next time.
Rev. Peter L.D. Visser
