10 Nov Learning to Live on Mission

One of my favorite nights of the year is Mission to Worship, a night at Grace Church dedicated to celebrating what God is doing in our community and the world through the local church.

It is also a call to action – How can we be a part of what God is doing through the Culturally Engaged ministry, ministries within our community and through our day-to-day decisions?

What do I love about the evening (besides the fellowship, amazing desserts and adorable baby goats)? Being with a body of believers worshiping through song and hearing people from other churches teach from the unifying Truths of scripture are both encouraging for me. My heart is pointed to who Jesus is, and I’m given the opportunity to respond. How often to do I take this for granted?

This year, my children were old enough to participate in Mission to Worship, and my husband and I find this extremely valuable.  We find that their involvement in (or even observation of) “big church” corporate worship and hearing the same biblical concepts of engaging our culture we are teaching at home is very significant in helping them connect the dots.

This year, church planter, John Reeves, challenged us with loving those within our radius, and Miracle Hill CEO, Reid Lehman, challenged us to be advocates for the less fortunate in the Upstate. Here are a few things I took away from the evening:

Love Your Neighbor

• Do you know your neighbor’s name? Are you full of theological knowledge but unconnected to those right next door to you? That’s a problem.
• Are you friends with people who don’t look like you, those who don’t share the same socio-economic status as you, those who don’t know the Bible as well as you? If you are friends with these people, do you consider them your equal? Do they feel like your equal? They should.
• Are you willing to get dirty- literally? Do you believe that our God is bigger than germs, or does fear of getting sick prevent you from loving with the sacrificial love of Christ?

Love the Orphans and the Homeless

There is a great need for foster families in the Upstate! Out of the 293 kids in need of foster care in Greenville County, 182 are sent to other counties because of the lack of foster families here.

If you are not in a position to foster a child, you can become an advocate in the following ways: 

1. Become a respite family and provide a safe place for children to go while their foster family travels.
2. Become a mentor for a child in the foster system. Most children who age out of the system become homeless, nomadic or even go to prison. Walking with them through life choices as they age can greatly reduce this statistic.
3. Volunteer in Grace’s Foster/Adopt Resource Center.

Regarding the homeless—there is a great need for us to speak up in two specific areas:

1. A great creator of poverty is the lack of public transportation. If our bus system traveled outside of the city where there are more jobs and added longer route times, many who are willing and able to work would be able to get jobs.
2. Many homeless people are mentally ill. If the state funded case management for the mentally ill in shelters, not only would the shelter’s environment change, but those who desperately need help would get it.

The tent city under one of the bridges in Greenville grew from around 20 people to over 120 people because well-intentioned people brought lots of items like sleeping bags, heaters, blankets, food, etc. This does not create sustainable life change. Everyone was challenged to “share your lives, not your stuff.”

The things touched on at this year’s Mission to Worship isn’t a checklist of how to become a better person or a step-by-step guide on “How to Get God to Love You More.” On the contrary, these are a few ideas of how we can respond to great need. Christ’s sacrifice for us and our love for Him should fuel our desire to reach the unreached, love the unloved, and serve the unserved.

Reid Lehman closed by stating, “None of us can do it all, but all of us can do something.” So very true, isn’t it? But let me point out that obedience in this area will look different for everyone. When I was first asked to write about Mission to Worship my initial response was, “Absolutely!” because I just love this evening so much. But, when I sat down to write about it, I started doubting my ability to share because I didn’t feel like I did anything terribly significant. We didn’t leave that night signed up to foster a child, and we didn’t purchase a goat for an OVC family.

“None of us can do it all, but all of us can do something.”

But is God’s power and work in our hearts limited to “significant” things? His movement in our lives IS the significant thing! No matter how we label or rate what we are called to do, the important thing is that we obey that calling. And that will look different from person to person, family to family. What a privilege it is for the Lord to use us in advancing His Kingdom!

The next Mission to Worship is unfortunately 358(ish) days away, but we don’t have to wait for it to make movement towards what God is doing and to celebrate what He has already done!

-Mary Beth Spann