living sent

...your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and

recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ

showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with

pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets

of stone, but on human hearts.

2nd Corinthians 3:2-3, NLT

God has always had a message to deliver. He Himself delivered it in early days to men

like Noah and Abram and Moses. Prophets wrote and spoke the message as they heard

it from God. Jesus embodied that message through focused teaching and intentional

living. Now, in the days since the resurrection, that message has been given to be

delivered by the church. Not just through preaching. Not just on Sunday morning. Not

just by pastors. Not just through small groups. But, 168 hours of the week, by all who

follow Jesus. By all in whom Christ resides.

And He pens this letter without a pen. He does more than writes it. He embeds it. Not

on tablets, but on our hearts. And so, we live sent as a letter from God to

culture sharing the same message He has delivered all along - follow Me.

Paul introduces a very picturesque and challenging metaphor in 2nd Corinthians 3 as

he defends the focus and authenticity and credibility of the message he delivered and

the ministry he lived. He said that the people who received this message were now

letters written by the Spirit of the living God. What this implies is that the church is not to

be gone to, but rather to be sent out. Released with Godʼs stamp of love and grace,

sharing a message as we live sent in the daily.

Of the 140+ times the New Testament refers to “church,” not one is a place or an event.

So, it stands to reason that the essence of the church is more about

sending than gathering. It makes sense that all followers should see the

significance of their everyday lives and be the church to everyone they encounter. As

we live sent, we will, through action and word, live near enough to our culture to draw

people to the God that came near to them and created them to live sent, too.

While living sent certainly involves many elements, here are three in particular that we

suggest are of utmost importance to the mission of being letters that we are.

First, living sent is all about trusting your value. The primary hindrance for a

follower of Christ who is made to live sent is that he/she does not trust their value. We

often find it hard to believe that if we donʼt have a degree or some massive amount of

training, then we are not capable of being the letter that we are. This is especially true in

church families that hold up the pastor as more important than the rest of the local body.

What we need to understand is that our value is not appraised, it is declared.

The housing market ebbs and flows, has ups and downs. My home has been appraised

three times in the last four years, and every instance has produced a very different

perception of its value. Depending on the condition of the house, the state of the

weather, and the perspective of the appraiser, the value amount has varied. This is fine

for homes, but not for Godʼs letters, not for His followers.

You see, our value has been declared. He nailed it down. We are worth dying for. Our

worth as His letter and our value for living sent is not up for debate. If we follow Him, we

have trusted His declared value over us, are abiding in the One who declared that value

once and for all, and are resided in by the Spirit who makes us priests and kings. No

matter what degree we hold or what hat we wear, we are worth dying for and the

message that our family, neighbor, co-worker, and all of humanity needs to read is

written on our hearts.

Next time you grill out with someone who expresses concerns or hurts or questions,

your first thought should be a prayer for the excerpt of the letter God wants you to

share, whether through listening, caring, or speaking. The first thought cannot be, “I

wish my pastor was here.” He is as in need of the Author of the heart as anyone else, or

else “priesthood of the believers” is a doctrine we espouse to but do not actually live like

we believe in.

Live sent as though you have been declared worth dying for.

Next, living sent is all about doing life together. The “as you go” stuff within

the verses church culture has labeled “the great commission” means exactly that. Doing

life together is mandatory for discipling just as much as discipling is mandatory for every

Christ-follower. Jesus modeled it.

This implies a lot. Two implications are: (1) there is no A to Z process then for how we

live sent and “disciple” someone. There is a need, however, for ongoing discernment of

where between A to Z the person being discipled is, and thereafter a customized

discipling process is embedded within relational intentionality. (2) we will have to get

messy, deep into the lives of people, right where they are, like Jesus did, in order to live

sent and do life together. The problem - we tend to be spiritual germaphobes.

I heard one teacher put it this way. Church culture in North America treats culture at

large like a public restroom. Think about it. When I go into a public restroom, I try not to

touch a thing. I tell my children the same thing when I take them in - “donʼt touch

anything!!!” I go in. Do my business. Flush with my foot. Hope they have motion faucets.

Do they? Do they? Do they? Dohhh! They donʼt. I elbow it on. Get my hands wet.

Gingerly touch the soap dispenser praying desperately they will at least have soap.

Wash intensely. Rinse well. WAIT. Before the faucet thing, I check to see if they have

motion towel dispensers. If not, I give it four pulls and keep a keen eye out to make sure

someone doesnʼt steal my patient paper towel. Ah ah ah! Oh, he is reaching for the

other one. Then do the wash and rinse thing. Then pull my towel off. Then dry my

hands. Then turn off the faucet with the damp paper towel because it has a nonpenetrating

shield for germs. I look to see if I can back out of the door instead of having

to pull it. If I have to pull it, I do so with the damp paper towel. Then I turn to see if the

trash can is near enough and open enough to toss it in with one foot holding the door. I

give it my best basketball set-shot, and foot open the door swinging wide enough to slip

through. Whew!

You know you do it, too.

Sad question is, does the church tend to treat culture like a public restroom? We know

we got to go in, cause we got to go you know? But we sure as heck donʼt want to touch

it. Donʼt want to touch him. Donʼt want to touch her. But Jesus reached out and placed a

hand on that leper. Jesus extended His arms and embraced that prostitute. Jesus drew

near and touched me.

Live sent by doing life together, no matter how messy.

Finally, living sent is all about giving ourselves away intentionally. Jesus

gave Himself away. We know what love is in that Jesus gave up His life for us and we

should give up our lives for others (1st John 3:16). Itʼs hard not to see how highly Jesus

valued this aspect of living sent and challenged His followers to live it out.

Thereʼs no better illustration of giving oneself away than the story of the widowʼs offering

(Luke 21). Jesus stated that she gave “largest offering today. All these others made

offerings that theyʼll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldnʼt afford - she

gave her all” (quote from The Message).

Some important thoughts emerge here for living sent. We donʼt have to wait to live sent

until we “have a lot.” God makes much of our little. It also doesnʼt have to make sense

to give ourselves away. We should give as though we have access to Godʼs supply, not

just our bucket. Thatʼs why we can give our all.

Live sent by giving yourself away.

  LET GOD'S PEOPLE GO.  It is time to unleash God's people to live sent. Jesus values what all of us do with all 168

hours of the week as much if not more than what we

do on Sunday mornings.