I was blessed in reading the blog of Terry Timm, Lead Pastor of Christ Community Church of the South Hills in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaina. Terry is teaching a missional church course for which my book Shaped by God’s Heart is the text. In one of his blog posts, he quotes Dianne Bergant speaking on Advent life. I have adapted her words and copied some of Terry’s comments. Together I think they are a beautiful description of the missional life:
“The [missional] life does not necessarily require unusual behavior on our part, but it calls us to live the usual unusually well. It affects the everyday events of life; it directs the way we interact with people; it informs the attitudes that color our judgments and motivations. It is as ordinary as the birth of a child; it is as extraordinary as the revelation of God.”
Jesus calls us to live the usual unusually well. This reminds me of Eugene Peterson’s translation Romans 12:
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.”
God is not looking for extraordinary and unusual acts of faithfulness, courage, daring or sacrifice. Worship is offering our everyday, ordinary lives back to God for the life of the world.
What would it look like for you to live the usual unusually well? And how might God take our simple acts of faith, hope, and love – infuse them with His Spirit and use them in the establishment of His kingdom here on earth?
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