The Joy and Pain of Being Missional, by Rusty McKie

The other morning I had breakfast with a fellow Sojourner to talk about life, God and whatever else came to the table.  Our conversation naturally turned to the new St. Matthews site that Sojourn is launching in a few months.  This topic seems to come up in conversations a lot these days, and we were glad to see that most Sojourners are moving from feelings of concern to feelings of excitement.

Being missional in all we do is a joyful thing.  To step out in faith and be used by God to advance His Kingdom is both humbling and exhilarating.  For those living in St. Matthews, we have a great opportunity to be the Church and see Christ build His Church (Mt 16:18).  More space in Germantown and new space in St. Matthews means that more might hear the gospel and be saved.  We should rejoice in this (Luke 15)!

As our conversation progressed, my friend and I began to realize that this movement in our church is going to require a lot of hard work.  There may be some who have served in various ways at the 930 that will feel led to go to the new site.  This means more service needed in both St. Matthews and Germantown.  Most of us tend to think someone else will serve, and this is where the pain of being missional begins – sacrificial service is needed.  Advancing God’s kingdom in Louisville will require hard work and sacrifice for us Sojourners.  God will most likely call many of us out of our comfort zone.  Are we willing to follow Him?

Because of the influence of our self-centered culture, most churches, unfortunately, have only an intellectual knowledge of sacrifice.  We have been so impressed with the ways of our culture that we see nothing wrong with our often selfish behavior.  However, Jesus has said:

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.” – John 12:24-26

Jesus reminds us of the truth that we live in a world where sacrifice precedes glory (Rom 8:17-18).  We must follow Christ, and picking up our cross will surely mean a death to self.  The beautiful truth of the gospel, though, is this death to self is the best way to live.  Those who cling to life will only lose it, but those who give their life away in obedience to God will truly experience all the joys He has to offer.  What if we as a church embraced this?  How countercultural would we be?  To happily deny ourselves so that someone else may know Christ is a life imitating Jesus!

I encourage us all to ask ourselves, “How am I living?”  Are we living in such a way to build up our own kingdom or God’s Kingdom?  As Sojourn moves forward in advancing God’s Kingdom here in Louisville, I believe God will expose the true nature of our hearts.  He will show us whose Kingdom we are building.  Let us all turn from self-worship and turn to the living God!  Will you serve God in the coming months for the sake of the gospel?  Will we sacrifice all to see God’s Kingdom go forth in Louisville?

“Like a dying leaf, we all are more beautiful when we’re red and golden brown, when we learn to let go and trust the wind.  We all are more beautiful when we’re red and golden brown, when we learn to let go of ourselves.” – The Dirt and The Flood