A new kind of missionary for an old kind of mission

From the book Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne:

”We have never really considered ourselves missionaries to the poor. Traditional thinking about mission and missionary tends to assume that we are taking God to a godless people or a godless place. But God is everywhere, always ahead of us. So missions is more about recognizing where God is at work and joining in. Places cannot be God forsaken, but they can be church forsaken. Our job is to unleash hope, unlock dreams, and help folks have ears to hear and eyes to see God where they are. The movement away from thinking about missions as separate from the rest of our lives is a good one - our whole lives should be missional.” (pp. 133-134)

​Bring your talent, and join the revolution.

Christ of the Breadlines. Woodcut by Fritz Eichenberg

Claiborne reminds us that “Jesus was not just a missionary to the poor, but he was poor.” He understood the people he was serving because he was one of them and they were One with him. Jesus was a born homeless, he was a refugee who spent the first few years of his life in a foreign land. As an adult he wandered the badlands where the criminals and insurrectionists hid, and worshiped in the Jerusalem Temple where the religious elites hid. He was homeless most of his professional career and was crucified for helping and caring for the poor, those who would called “the least of these our brothers and sisters.”

“This is the Jesus we follow.” The one Paul calls us to imitate.