(amazing grace. how important the sound)

with so much talk going on out there about "being missional" or as we describe it "living sent," it's very important for us not to fail to mention the significance of grace in this process.

i keep finding that people are stifled in living sent for one basic reason - they don't think they are worth being sent or have anything to contribute if they are. this feeling is not steeped in God reality, but rather in the perceptions that we create of ourselves. in order for people to live sent, they must understand two basic principles:

1st - that following Jesus does not mean "pleasing" God as much as it means "trusting" God. what most of us tend to do is weary ourselves with attempts to make God as well as ourselves happy about our lives, rather than trusting that what He did is enough. it is so crucial for followers to recognize and actually live as though they believe that they will never become more than Jesus has already made them to be through the restorative work of His selfless death on the cross. No one speaks more adequately on this topic, in my opinion, than John Lynch in the TrueFaced series that he and several others did. if you happen to catch the 1st teaching component from John Lynch on the TrueFaced DVD, it is solid stuff worth putting in the hands of the people you are equipping to live sent.

the only point of disagreement i have with his teaching in that particular message, and remember my opinion is worth the same amount that we paid for this blog site, is when he states that grace allows us to stand with God with our sin before us ready to work on it together. i would suggest that we stand in God's grace, His arm around us, our sin before us resolved and nailed to a tree so that we are free to live sent in abundance with Him. but i digress.


2nd - that the value of each of us as followers is not appraised, but declared. we live in a very unstable real estate market in Central FL. people are used to appraisers coming and suggesting a value about their home. it sometimes pleases them, and at other times it stresses them with worry over the amount of their mortgage and the potential value of their home. as humans, we treat our spiritual value in this way. we live sent with confidence when we feel confident about the measurement of our behavior. however, it leaves us pleases some days and stressed on others, stifled even. we must remember that Jesus declared our value on the cross - WE ARE WORTH DYING FOR. we have value to plant and water into other people's lives because we have had the King declare we are more than peasants. so, as we live sent in the daily, in our various spheres of influence, we can listen and love and serve and speak hope into the lives of people who share their hearts and lives with us.

all that to say - don't forget to stress the importance of amazing grace as it affects followers and compels them to live sent to share that same message of freedom and unleashing and value with others. don't just say "be missional." make sure you are telling followers why they should be and what enables them to live sent.