Discover Your Missional Calling
How to use a simple resource we call "Live Sent."
You’ve all heard of the Great Commission, right? Maybe not.
Before the pandemic, a 2018 study by Barna Research titled Translating the Great Commission discovered that a whopping 40% of evangelicals, a group largely defined by their emphasis on spreading the good news of Jesus, have no recollection or understanding of the Great Commission.1
Five years later, 40% of evangelicals attend church less than once a year (see chart below)!
When people don’t understand the mission of the church, they are more apt to drift away. The opposite is also true.
Living a life on mission deepens a person’s faith and completely changes their perspective.
We are called to “live sent”. We use this phrase at Mobilize the Church to describe the general calling God has given us to make disciples. Every follower of Jesus is sent to make disciples. One popular author believes the original disciple-making commission of Matthew 28:19-20 was given to over five hundred people (see 1 Cor. 15:6).2
Our God is a sending God.
Missio Dei
This point has been emphasized in the classic doctrine of the Missio Dei or “mission of God”, a concept that originated with David Bosch and gained traction through the last few decades of the 20th century.3
The word mission is derived from the Latin word missio, which means “to send,” and the Missio Dei states that mission is not simply something God does. Instead, it is an attribute of God, on par with his other attributes of holiness, love, justice, and truth. We love because God is love. We speak truth because God is truth. We live on mission because God lives on mission.
The self-giving, generous, and sending nature of God reminds us that mission originates with God from eternity past.
Rather than followers of Jesus engaging in mission and asking God to bless it, God engages in mission and asks the church to join him in what he is doing.
The Great Commission is God’s invitation to join him in his work in the world. Our perspective as followers of Christ ought to be, “Lord, include me in what you are already doing in the world.” Like Isaiah the prophet, our posture should be, “Here I am, Lord. Send me!”
The God Who Sends
Forty-one times in the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to himself as being sent. He was sent to preach the good news, he was sent to the lost sheep of Israel, and he was sent to speak the words of God. Before his crucifixion, he prayed to the Father for the unity of the church, “So the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).
In John 16:7, Jesus then states, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.”
While Jesus mobilized hundreds of disciples during his earthly ministry, the Spirit of Christ mobilized thousands more.
In John 20:21, Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” The progression of “sent-ness” is clear in Scripture.
The Father sends the Son.
The Father and Son send the Holy Spirit.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit send the Church.
Every follower of Jesus is called to discover their missional calling, and live sent.
Four Questions to Consider
To discover your missional calling, we invite you to consider four questions. Each question springs out of a different aspect of calling and is summarized below.
The Call from Above (What?)
Discovering your specific missional calling begins with understanding what you are called to do. I’ve tried to clarify this calling, but to make it as clear as possible, you are called to make and multiply disciples! Here at Mobilize the Church, we have also created a practical field guide for making disciples, which you can find HERE.
The Call from Outside (Where?)
Once you are clear on the mission, the next calling to consider is the call from outside. Where is God sending you to make disciples? A good starting point is your immediate context of friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and other groups of people where you can make an impact. In most cases, God will call you to your immediate context, but for some, God may call you to another community or even another part of the world.
The Call from Within (How?)
Understanding the mission of God and where he is calling you to make disciples are the first two steps in the process. The third calling is from within. How will this all take shape? You are a masterpiece created for good works, which God appointed in advance for you to accomplish. The call from within is a call to explore your gifts and abilities, passions and testimony and learn how God has uniquely wired you for ministry.
The Call Ahead (What’s Next?)
Finally, the call ahead is an invitation to take extended time to listen to the Holy Spirit. How is God speaking to you and what is he asking you to do? The “live sent” process should result in taking a step of faith and obedience. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands."
Luke 6:49 says, “But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation."
FREE Online Resource
These four questions are the beginning of a discovery process we call “Live Sent”.
We invite you to take the next step in discovering your missional calling. To do that, simply click this FREE link to access an online course that will walk you through each step of the way. Our prayers are with you!
Jon Wiest is the Co-Founder and Strategic Director of Mobilize the Church. You can reach him at jwiest@mobilizethechurch.com or by calling 515-689-7145.
https://www.barna.com/research/half-churchgoers-not-heard-great-commission/
Spader, Dann. 4 Chair Discipling: Growing a Movement of Disciple-Makers. New edition, Moody Publishers, 2014.
Bosch, David. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Orbis, 1991.