Word for the day by Christian Education Foy

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Christian Mission: Be Christ-like

Bible Reading:   Mathew: 10:16-23

Key verse: “Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves”(Vs.16 )

DEVOTION

   Once St. Francis of Assisi was taking an orientation session to a group of young evangelists. Towards the end of the session he said, “Always try to live the Gospel. If necessary, use words.” Christian mission is understood in a variety of ways: as charity, as development, as Christian presence and so on. Very often there is an understanding that mission is something that we do out there, as if it’s one of the activities of the church. The title of this note suggests that Mission is both our being and doing. Let us ponder on two thoughts from the text: 
One: The mission mandate.
The analogy of “sheep among the wolves “can be misunderstood. Very often there is a tendency to consider the people of other faiths as “wolves” and those within the church as the “sheep.” What is to be underscored here is that the Gospel is always from the sheep to the wolves. It’s never vice-versa. In other words, the mandate of the missionary is costly. Here the “wolves“represent the forces of sin and evil in the world. Such forces are looming large all over the world and the task of the missionary is to confront those forces with the values of the Gospel.
Two: The mission model.
There is a saying that Christianity was a dangerous enterprise in the early centuries. The challenge here is to be on the way of the cross not counting the cost. Thank God that we have had several such missionaries all over the world. This doesn’t mean that the Gospel should be presented in a polemical way. What matters here is the way of the cross or mission in Christ’s way.

 

PRAYER

 Lord, enable us to be your credible witnesses wherever we are. Amen.

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Are we serious in our task as those who are sent on a mission?


Rev. Dr. K. A. Abraham
Thiruvalla
Kerala-India

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