Missional, Merciful, Worshipful: An Introduction

This is the introductory chapter of the book. You can listen to the 7-minute audio (above) and/or read the text (below). I hope you’ll get the rest of the “Pay What You Can” book here. All the proceeds go to a very worthy cause.

Fans of the game of baseball fawn over the “five-tool player.” He’s the guy who can run like the wind, throw like a rocket launcher, hit for average like a machine, hit for power like Superman, and catch fly balls like flypaper traps flies. To be a great ballplayer one needs to develop more than one skill. Those who can catch the ball, but are unable to do the other things the sport requires, aren’t likely to quit their office job any time soon.

I have friends who are multidimensional followers of Jesus. They can do it all. Well, I only consider them friends when they’re not making me jealous. To top it off, they’re humble. Don’t you just hate people like that?

A blogger I follow calls himself anAnabaptist, lower-case evangelical, fairly charismatic, slightly liturgical, and sometimes contemplative follower of Jesus. Talk about covering all the bases! On the other hand, I know people who seem content to be one-tool Christians. It’s not just a matter of their gifting. They seem to value only their preferred aspect of the faith. They’re scholars who know more than Paul––about his own epistles. They may pray more than the Pope, preach better than Martin Luther King Jr., or fast more than Gandhi. But that’s all they can or care to do for God. It’s all they talk about and all they admire in others. And if you don’t excel in the use of their same “tool,” they probably won’t admit you into their circle.

The Christ-shaped life and the Spirit-saturated church values and practices all aspects of God’s mission. For example, it’s never been God’s intention that evangelism would occur exclusively in one church while acts of mercy for the downtrodden would happen in another.

The tenth chapter of Luke’s Gospel features three scenes. Each scene is unique to the good doctor’s biography of Jesus’ life and teaching: the mission trip of the seventy, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the account of Mary of Bethany worshipfully sitting at Jesus’ feet. These narratives demonstrate three important aspects of Christian spirituality and church life: mission, mercy, and worship. Like a three-point sermon or a three-legged stool, each leg depends on the other two for balance and stability.

Reaching out to lost people, serving the hurting, and pursuing a deepening intimacy with God each are essential for infectious Christians and healthy churches. As you might expect, most people and churches lean toward one or another of these. Some major on sharing Christ everywhere they go, healing the sick, and confronting demons. Others aren’t as proficient at or compelled to good news sharing, yet they’re passionate about good news showing by serving poor and marginalized people. They’re drawn to social justice in the same way that others are attracted to evangelism. And then others possess a singular passion to cultivate a deeper intimacy with God through contemplative prayer, meditation, and worship, while mission and mercy are less of a focus in their spiritual tribe.

Each person, church, or spiritual movement has a particular stream in which they’re most comfortable swimming. Often, they overlook or devalue other streams. This approach to practicing our faith is flawed. When we swim exclusively in our own preferred stream, we tend to lose respect and lack appreciation for our brothers and sisters who swim elsewhere.It’s unwise to think other Christians get it all wrong because they don’t do it as we do.

One-tool Christians need to honor one another above themselves[i], appreciate the giftings of others, support their calling, and glean from their passion. If others don’t prioritize the same things you do, they’re not necessarily wrong, and you’re not necessarily right. They might have a revelation of a different facet of Christ than you do. So, thank God for them, learn from them, and skim off even just a little bit of their passion for yourself.

If making disciples is your thing, don’t judge those who love serving the poor or worshipping as their top priority.If you major in mercy, resist the temptation to criticize your friends who would rather preach or pray than do the work of justice.If you are one that would rather sit at Jesus’ feet than eat, try not to disparage others for their passion to serve the downtrodden or evangelize the outsider.

Let’s celebrate the contributions of others and emulate those who excel in spiritual practices in which we fall behind. Others may be more gifted and compelled by the Spirit toward one or the other of these emphases, but let’s not shirk our responsibility to improve in every dimension of kingdom life. Like the ballplayer not naturally endowed with allfive-tools, let’s work on the weaker aspects of our game.  

To change the metaphor, in order to lose weight, most doctors will prescribe a good diet and adequate exercise. One without the other will neither adequately nor sustainably reduce girth or lower poundage. In order to get in shape and maintain a healthy weight, we have to practice both. In the same way, to be spiritually fit and to have sound, balanced churches, we must work on being missional, and merciful, and worshipful.