Send us out, O Lord,
As tools for glory in your hand,
To breathe truth, love and hope,
Across our homes and foreign lands
It was just another day going to get bread for my auntie at the local bakery on what felt like the hottest day of summer. As I parked my car, I noticed a new face I haven’t seen there before. A man tucked away in a corner near the bakery. I realised he hadn’t only been there for a while, but also had not bathed in a long time, as the strong stench hit my nostrils.
I slowly approached him, introduced myself, and asked if he would like some bread and cold water. He nodded. As he stood in his own urine, we talked. Although his words were difficult to understand due to his speech impairment, he began to respond to my curious questions, sharing his name and story. I stood there and listened, and my heart began to break hearing the things that brought this man to be where he was. Then I heard God’s tender voice say, “Beloved this is my gospel, this is my love.”
In a day and era of busyness, where time-oriented culture and self-focused are highly celebrated and even encouraged; to stop for someone seems almost impossible, challenging, and burdensome.
To go against the tide of culture, and to look beyond self is inconvenient, and deemed as improper self-care. But the invitation to be like the Christ who humbled Himself, came and took on human flesh, to be in our midst and in our mess remains before us.
A friend once said, “people are not projects,” and truly to Christ, people are not projects, for each person mattered much.
He was the Christ who was concerned about the person in front of Him. He set a beautiful example of one who stops, loves, serves, and gives Himself willingly. He was one who was compelled by love. From the blind man Bartimaeus, the Samaritan woman at the well, Zacchaeus hanging on a tree, the fishermen out at sea, the outcast demon-possessed man, to the thief hanging on the cross next to Him – Jesus never shied away to give Himself to the one in front of Him.
Through Jesus, God made a way for all peoples, nations, tribes, and tongues to worship Him in Spirit and truth. We believe that Jesus actively sends us to the ends of the earth as messengers of His Kingdom, no matter how inconvenient, no matter what the cost.
We want to see humanity through Christ’s eyes. To walk on the pathways and go to places where humanity dwells with His feet. We desire to touch humanity with His hands and love humanity with His heart. Jesus Christ, divinity who embraced humanity, He took on our form so that we can be restored back to Him, redeemed, and conformed into His image.
We believe that our going is essentially an outworking of an ever-deepening relationship with our Creator. As we seek His face, as we respond to the work of His Spirit within us, we develop a desire to share the incomparable treasure we have found in Jesus with everyone. Starting with our families, our neighbours, our colleagues, our nation, and to all of humanity. Just as our Lord left heaven’s seat to reach us, we believe that as we are conformed to the image of our Saviour, we cannot help but reach out to those around us, in truth and love.
To embody love, the gospel, and ultimately Christ to a world, so desperately and deeply longing for Him.
To stop and see the person in front of us. To see Christ in them and to be Christ’s heart, hands, and feet. To the ends with Christ is not just for the few, the some, the special, or the qualified.
Missionary Heidi Baker said it best, “love looks like something.” The gospel always looks like something. The gospel is tangible, and it is embodied. The mission is to love like Christ. To serve humanity as Christ served. The gospel is merely more than words but of action and demonstration.
To the ends is to our family members and to the street boy on the street. To the young woman in church and to the barista at the local coffee shop. Across the street, and across the ocean. To our neighbours, and to the nations.
God is on a mission, a mission of love. So, to the ends, we will go with Him.