Explosion of Joy

You know we hear a lot about Christian duty and living the Christian life and if we are not careful it becomes performance-based obedience. It becomes a struggle to earn God’s favor. At times I have to remind myself the reason that I share the good news of Jesus, that I do any good deeds, that I love my neighbor is from a correct heart position. A position of understanding and focus on all that was done for me. 

It is from amazement and a transformed heart that we share, that we love, that we care. It sometimes can be too complex to grasp or too complex for words. British theologian and missionary; Lesslie Newbigin, correctly describes our transformation as an explosion of Joy...I so agree. 

“There has been a long tradition which sees the mission of the Church primarily as obedience to a command. It has been customary to speak of ‘the missionary mandate.’ This way of putting the matter is certainly not without justification, and yet it seems to me that it misses the point. It tends to make mission a burden rather than a joy, to make it part of the law rather than part of the gospel. If one looks at the New Testament evidence one gets another impression. Mission begins with a kind of explosion of joy. The news that the rejected and crucified Jesus is alive is something that cannot possibly be suppressed. It must be told. Who could be silent about such a fact? The mission of the Church in the pages of the New Testament is more like the fallout from a vast explosion, a radioactive fallout which is not lethal but life-giving.” 

You know, on my less broken days, when I see clearly, I am so excited, so uhhh, joyful and ready to share, to serve, to love. 

May we all move forward propelled by the explosion of Joy only possible through Christ! 

Grace and Peace!