Di Bassinga Diaries: The Mission

"The aim of our charge is love which issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith." (1 Timothy 1:5)

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what I want my life to look like. This is the last free summer that I'll have for a long time, so it's as great a time as any. Anyway, I've been bogged down in specifics, unable to really pinpoint what exactly I'd like my life to look like. There is one thing that I can rely on, though: the desire to glorify the Lord in all that I do. This is actually far simpler than I've made it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's done so. Maybe I am. In any case, here's what I think about it.

What Can't We Do?

"'All things are lawful,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)

I start with this question because it's one that I've asked so many times in so many different ways: What can I do? What can't I do? Is this allowed? What if this isn't what God would have me do? Is the best thing I could be doing? Is this the right thing to be doing? These and so many more have come at times when I was already reeling a bit from a bad night of sleep or a "down" season in my relationship with the Lord—seasons in which I'd be very hard on myself, because "it's what I deserve right now. As I've matured, though, I've found that the first answer to these questions is very simple: if it's not sin, it's okay.

This might not feel like the most comprehensive answer, but it's one that gives us a great starting place—especially when we're feeling stuck. We're given so many clear examples of what sin is and what sin isn't, and there's even a solid, historical definition of the word to pull from (it's an archery term, meaning "to miss the mark"). But as born-again believers, it's true that we're no longer bound by much of the law of Moses, and we certainly have forgiveness and grace over the mistakes we make (Romans 6:14). So, without a clearly written law for every single instance that could come up, many of us try to put a new one in place by asking questions like those above.

"For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under the law but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

This sections in Romans continues to talk about the boundaries of this boundary-less grace that we've come to know under Christ. It's pretty encouraging, actually; what he tells us is that, under Christ, we are no longer "slaves to sin but of obedience." This isn't to say that we have no freedom, but rather that our compulsions have room to change with the help of the Holy Spirit. We have become "obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which [we've] been committed..." (the NLT says, "Now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you).

I say all that to say this: if you're wholeheartedly seeking more of the Lord, at least desiring more and praying for it, your heart changes. This change in heart, along with time in the Bible and the Holy Spirit living in us, creates sparks of action—impulses and desires which are good and godly. As I've grown in my relationship with God, I've had more ideas of ventures I could take on and I've learned that most important part of everything we do is that we do so with God at heart. So break down the barriers which your doubt tries to build. If it would honor the Lord, if you commit it to Him in prayer and some friends and counsel for wisdom, there's nothing (short of what is sinful) that can't glorify God.

The Task at Hand

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act." (Psalm 37:5)

Another piece of advice that I'd heard from a friend/mentor once which helped a lot was this, "Just keep doing the last thing God told you to do until He gives you something new." For me, it's been writing this blog. There have been many times in the last two years where I worried that maybe this wasn't for me, but the Lord has continuously (in prayer and through people in my life) reminded me that there is something here, something bigger than myself. Of course this isn't the only "thing." I've got friends and family who I try to pour into, there are people in church who I'm (getting better at) reaching out to, there are opportunities everywhere to take steps toward Christ, the mission, and toward faithful living.

The Little Things Matter

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." (James 5:16)

This is another important thought I've had: One of the best ways to spread the Gospel is to live it out. I've seen this play out many times over the last few years; once you profess your faith in Christ, people pay attention to you in the big things and the little. I've had many people tell me that something I'd said or something I did months and years ago had a great impact on them, things that I haven't thought much about (small things like taking notes in my Bible). We're representatives of Christ, every person who claims the title "Christian." With that in mind, if we wish to spread the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, it's important that commit to living it out as well as we can.

Every time you choose grace over anger, kindness over coldness, and vulnerability over silence, you display a way of life that is foreign to many people; this is living out the mission. I've also found, though, that God is glorified more in moments where we admit our faults and our need for help than when we try to claim strength of our own. So even when we do make the wrong choice, owning up to that can glorify God. I used to worry that I had to be perfect to glorify the Lord, but all that does is take glory away from Him. This is at the heart of 2 Corinthians 12:8-10:

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this [a thorn in the flesh], that it should leave me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

The Mission is Christ

At the end of the day, this life is no longer about us, it's about the Gospel of Christ. Once we've committed our lives to Him, we live to share the news. This is why I refer to 1 Timothy 1:5 so often. If we can love people with a pure heart, a sound mind, and a sincere faith, then we can live this mission out. If we are right with God at our core, spreading the true Gospel of Christ, then we will inevitably do well with this Great Commission that we've been invited to carry out. Everything I've laid out here can be summarized like so:

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1)

Be blessed.