I just finished reading this book written by Rick McKinley, who is the pastor of Imago Dei in Portland, Oregon. He is Donald Miller's Pastor. So you know there is plenty of sarcasm... But also there was a good deal of wisdom in these 190 pages.
The book centers on the idea that the Kingdom of God is a place that is alive and functioning right now and here on Earth. It is not, as some would believe, a place that is a final destination in the Christian faith. McKinley uses Jesus' teachings about the Kingdom to illustrate simple truths such as loving each other as Christ loves us, living our faith daily instead of on Sundays and treating our brothers and sisters across the Earth like our brothers and sisters in Christ in the USA.
Some thoughts on the book:
* Jesus always went to people in the margins, FIRST. Always. Jesus lead those that followed him in believing that serving Him meant "going" to people... By saying yes to Christ, they said yes to being sent. If I choose to say yes to Jesus, I am choosing the say yes to being "sent". McKinley has a simple truth about this following his description of this situation - "And when I am sent, I know what to do - I will love people until they can feel it. I will proclaim Jesus' with words, actions and love."
I love the idea of loving until someone "can feel it". I think that is the most beautiful thing we get to live alongside as being a missionary. In Young Life, I get to watch teenage guys change from holding to a hard-fast, stone cold emotionless front to a caring, loving, serving son of God. It is an incredible blessing.
* God doesn't measure ministry. He is simply inviting us to be part of what HE is already doing...
* The number one task of any missionary is to become versed in the culture of the location they are doing ministry. For me, that means learning both about the city I live in (CAVE CREEK) and the lifestyle of teenagers within Cave Creek. I have learned crazy vocabulary that my high school friends use such as: Swicked, Brea, Ill (an oldie but goodie), Righteous, Bomb, Baller as well as about a billion acronyms...
McKinley goes on to say that the greatest tool any missionary can have is to be relevant. Many folks want to serve Christ, but focus on this fact too much and become too focused on being relevant and not on speaking truth through love. This humbled me and made me think about my approach to living for Christ...
Then he hits you with the simple truth - "Authentic relationships make you relevant...Loving without an agenda will ALWAYS make you relevant..."
Man, that is awesome! So true. So simple. So right on. God will use that simple comment. I never really think of my friendships with kids as having an agenda, but how many of them do? The truth comes back in. Authentic relationships. Love my friends. That's it. Love them. Don't try to evangelize them, but love them. This is what speaks louder than anything I could say anyways...
Anyways, anyone wanna borrow a book?
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