Isn’t there something in each of us that wants to make a difference, to leave this world a little better off than we found it, to live in such a way that we help others find the Kingdom of God we so enjoy? I really think there is. We want our lives to count for something. I believe it is built in us to leave a legacy, to pass on to the next generation values and faith that can change our hearts.
One pastor described it this way: “Community is when we use our lives to make a difference in the life of someone who is already here. Mission is when we use our lives to make a difference in the life of someone who is not yet here”. Read that again. It is very powerful. It is worthy of some thought and meditation.
Community is what you and I as members of a church family enjoy. It is where we live out the over 40 “one another’s” talked about in the Bible. We love one another, encourage one another, admonish and pray for one another. That is community. Your community is the group that knows when you are gone, when you are celebrating, when you are hurting, when you have needs. Your community is the group you ask to pray for you, help you with the kids, give you a ride or visit your family member in the hospital. Usually that is your church family, your Sunday Bible Study group or your small group. Your community is the group of people you try to influence, love and make a difference in their lives as you do life together.
There is also mission…when we use our lives to make a difference in the life of someone who is not yet here, not yet in a small group, not in anyone’s Sunday Bible Study class. Mission is when you love, serve, pray, and care for someone who is not yet here…not yet connected to God’s family. We are not responsible for making them “get born again.” That is God’s work. We are responsible for using our lives to make a difference. Good news about that…I believe we are created with that in our DNA…we are created in the image of God. It gets marred and messed up along the way and results in self-centered thinking and living, then we meet Him and are born again. The DNA of His purpose starts to grow and flow. You start believing that you can make a difference and that you were put here and are still here for a purpose.
Since September 15, 1985 my goal has been the same: “To lead JIBC to make a difference in our families, our church, our community, and the world.” That is community and mission. It is still the vision, still the mission, still the value, still the goal. I love Him more today than ever and am just as excited, by His grace and power, to make a difference.
Pastor Tom
