unfinished business

I just read a preview of Richard Stearns' new book, Unfinished. Here are some things that resonated with me.

First, when Jesus said that preaching the gospel to the whole world would presage the end of the current world, that's a good thing, not a bad thing. It naturally follows from Jesus' good news that he kingdom of God is at hand. So God's people should be joyful messengers (and not in a schadenfreude sort of way, either), instead of dour prophets of doom.

Second, the Church in the US has lost sight of the mission God gave us to carry this message. The result is that we have lost our sense of purpose. We have tried to substitute many things for the sense of identity and fulfillment that comes with pursuing the purpose for which God created the Church. Here are some subtitute pursuits that come to mind:
- Intellectual fulfillment in studying the Bible or knowing a lot about any other topic such as church leadership, Reformed or Dispensational theology, small group dynamics, marriage and parenting, etc.
- Emotional fulfillment in worship or community.
- Volitional fulfillment in committing oneself to any godly cause: fighting human trafficking, translating the Bible into new languages, etc.

The above are not bad pursuits in themselves, but they cannot replace the purpose/mission that God gave the Church to declare the good news and make disciples of Jesus. All of the other pursuits must be done under this overarching purpose or they become gods to us.

Third, Jesus calls us to be disciples, not deciders. He has not asked us to make a decision but to begin following him. Following Jesus means taking on his mission and doing it the way that he did it. He worked for three years with 12 men just to get them to the point that Richard Peace calls "conversion" (and one of them didn't make it). I can't think that becoming like Jesus will be accomplished by simply making a decision. And no amount of effort can hide the fact that I'm not there yet: I'm "unfinished". My consolation is this: "...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)