Just Love was inspired by the earliest account that we have of Jesus sending his disciples out to make a difference in the world. The account is recorded in Mark 6:6-13. The following are some reflections on this account written by Jarrett, the Lead Visionary:
6aAnd he was amazed at their unbelief.
I wonder if Jesus is still amazed at our unbelief. Having served on a church staff for 30 years, I am often amazed how many in the church today do not seem to believe that we are called to live, love and serve like Jesus.
6bThen he went about among the villages teaching.
Jesus never stayed in one place for very long. He was constantly on the move, going from village to village teaching, healing and restoring. He never set up shop in a building and expected people to come to him.
7He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
Jesus didn’t go on mission trips by himself. He called and gave authority to disciples to go on mission trips and do the things that he did.
8He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.
When Jesus sent his disciples out to be the church, he ordered them to travel light, to keep it simple and to stick to the basics. Disciples do not need unnecessary funds or line items, and they do not need to carry any baggage that might slow them down, make them forget about their mission, or enable them to get too comfortable in one particular place. Jesus said that they need to leave some things behind if they want to be his disciples in the world. And notice that Jesus said they are to take no bread. Could that mean that Jesus wants them to go out and share a meal with others? Join a dinner party?
10He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’
Jesus said disciples can expect failure. If disciples are following Jesus and taking his inclusive love out to the people, they will not be received by everyone. But they should peacefully keep moving and keep doing what they have been called to do.
12So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.
Disciples go out and proclaim that all should repent of their selfish, self-centered ways. However, that is difficult to do if the disciples are not willing to repent of their own misguided ways.
13They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Disciples do big things. They stand up and speak out against evil. They restore, and they heal. They are a literal movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.
I believe this account of Jesus sending the disciples out on a mission trip raises several questions for the church today:
- What if a church’s annual Mission Trip was not just one week a year, but it was 52 weeks a year? What if church itself was a Mission Trip?
- What if the church truly left the building to move from village to village to teach the selfless, restorative, healing love of God to all people? What if the church stopped talking about getting outside of the walls of the sanctuary and literally had no walls? What if the church taught the love of God, not in one town, but in several towns?
- What if the church left behind all of its baggage—its old structures, old frameworks, and old models? What if the church left behind its love for the nostalgic memory of the way things used to be? What if the church stopped its pining to return to the good old days, and instead, dreamed new dreams and embraced a new vision, and moved forward into good new days? What if the church simply kept the faith simple by sticking to the basics, like loving others as Jesus loved others?
- What if the church was a courageous, risk-taking, wall-breaking, peace-making venture that was never afraid of going to new places, even to those places it is not welcomed? What if the the church felt free to move around to multiple locations to do the work they had been called to do?
- What if the church repented and changed its ways from a selfish faith that focused on going to heaven and receiving a blessing? What if the church embraced a faith that focused on being in the world and being a blessing to the world? What if the church was able to catch a new vision of how to be church, how to be on a mission to follow Jesus wherever he leads it to go?
- What if the church was a literal, living movement for wholeness in this fragmented world? And what if church was about making new disciples instead of keeping old members happy?
I believe the answer is: “We could change the world!”