On pointing others to Christ.
I spent my Saturday in Ottawa for the Regional Youth Conference (RYC) for CFC-Youth Ottawa and Montreal. One of my personal highlights was seeing an overwhelming amount of youth from the West Chapter (Montreal is cluster size with 2 Chapters), performing for dance, worshipping, sharing, serving in production and simply being AT the RYC. It was only shy of two years ago when the entire Chapter fit at my house for a Household Assembly.
The West Chapter was my last MV assignment before going Full-time. I remember having hard meetings with MJ and Marko. Discussing, carrying out and processing successful and failed ways to address different issues- increase membership attendance, pastoring without CCS, inspiring leaders to step up (especially brothers). These meetings were at times filled with emotions (frustration, tears, impatience, but also joy, eagerness and most importantly hopefulness)
I spent my Sunday at Saint Wilfrid’s Meet and Greet, Parent’s Orientation and Cluster Meeting. It’s always an eye and heart opening experience to hear the concerns of members, leaders and CCs at the Chapter level. The directions we discern for and set at Area level (we’re talking 2 stories up in leadership, with Cluster and Sector) are kind of useless without visits at the grass roots.
In the meeting- I listened as a Tito consoled a Youth Leader for his failed attempts at communicating and following up on a Camp Leader (Prayers up, Camp Surrender!) and the pressure of having to take care of things while being in exam period. Tito simply said: “It’s okay, you tried your best. Now, we help you.”
As a missionary, it’s very easy to see ourselves as a “movers” of the mission in the different things we being asked to do- event planning (like RYC), giving trainings (camp trainings), running events (regular cycle of events). But what matters most is being able 1) to consistently witness of Christ’s love (even in crappy times, being to share about God’s every day victories in our lives), 2) simply assure others of God’s overflowing gift of mercy (needed words affirmation) and 3) to point others to the Lord’s work especially in hopeless situations (calling for and spotting the inspiration and pacifying movement of the Holy Spirit).
The is what sustains the Great Commission. We do this it by being active in our lives in the Spirit rather than reactive out of something else (our qualifications, self-promotion, etc.) in all we do in mission. We are that right kind of active (and certainly no longer reactive) in mission when we are always deliberate in building up members, youth leaders and even CCs (pastoring, mentoring, training) rather than being creative and trusting in delegating service tasks.
To be full-time for mission is to be full-time for others as servant leaders. Before moving, always being attentive to the hearts (not just needs) of God’s people. Some times, all they need is loving (not judgemental or expectant “i-gotta-ask-you-to-do-something”) presence – ours, and a reminder of the Lord’s in all situations.
The call to anyone to service is always suppose to be one of out of love- God love us with a personal, intimate, persevering, fulfilling love and we respond (in all we do) with that same love. If we do not see this anymore… Then how can point others to it? We have forgotten who we are as His beloved. Do we still recognize Him in all things? A reminder of our dignity as servants leaders from John 3:1-2:
1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he[a] is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
Simply Lord, may Your love shine through in all that I do.
From Your beloved,
@Cinderellish