The Big Picture

Sometimes, I just don’t get it. I completely miss the big picture. It isn’t that I have never seen it but rather that I have a tendency to let my attention drift. In fact, I’m learning that I actually have to make a conscious effort to keep this big picture in sight or it will slowly move into my peripheral and before I know it I’m wondering where I lost it.

            Ultimately, the big picture is the gospel. A simple (yet in no way small) explanation of what I mean by the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. This good news tell us that the Son of God became a man, took upon himself the sins of the world and absorbed the punishment for those sins on the cross. Three days later he rose from the dead, defeating death and sin, and now awaits the day when he will return for his people and set up his kingdom. Through all of this he has provided not only the forgiveness for our sins, but also our adoption as sons and daughters of God! This is extremely good news!

            This gospel is the climax of all of human history and part of God’s theme of his glory through the reconciliation of all things to himself. Basically, God is fixing what we broke. Through the gospel he provided the reconciliation that broken humanity needed. God’s story of redemption is an impressive one.

            We are currently living in the chapter of this story that is often referred to as “The Church Age.” It is given this title based off a very big and important idea. This idea is that the church (that’s you and me) has been given the ministry of reconciliation (II Cor. 5:16-21), the task of representing the God of the universe and pointing people to His Son.

            God’s story does not lack plot twists, for sure. He not only dies for the villains and adopts them as His own children, but then proceeds to commission them to carry out the most important and necessary task in all of history. This is truly mind-blowing!

            In spite of all of this, our churches are filled with people whose attendance to Sunday morning worship is spotty at best, avoid getting involved in a small group, and haven’t talked to an unbeliever about Jesus in years.

            Do we as the church get the big picture or have we allowed it to drift into our peripheral and, eventually, out of sight?  Do we recognize the weight of the task that has been given to us? I’m not sure we do. Maybe this is why many of us view church as boring. We simply don’t get it.

            I want to “get it.” I want to see other believers “get it.” I’ll be posting a blog series on church as a missional community over the next couple of weeks. I want to include how we as God’s people relate to each other, culture and the importance of the mission we have been given. I hope the posts will be both challenging and overflowing with joy at the prospects of experiencing God in a greater way as His people.