As for answering the question, “Yeah, but what do you do?” If a believer comes to understand that mission is the missing piece in the puzzle of his spiritual life, he’ll have less difficulty seeing his actions (the doing) as part of that mission. If we were to truly redefine missions as being, the church wouldn’t be disappointed to hear about a missionary that “only” works a secular job and invites his neighbors over for dinner.

The church (at least the church in America) has, in general, a very poor understanding of what missions is. I’m happy to partner with people who are working to challenge bad missiology and provide biblical alternatives.

Thanks for your comment.

So maybe I’m not there either.

I am beginning to realize that our Theology of Mission is developed from a Reformed Theology perspective which focuses on Soteriology. Trinitarian Theology focuses on God so it has a much more relational perspective.

@Jeff: Too many American missionaries before me have made the nationals in my field “a task to be done”, and the nationals are very aware of this. It has made them more suspicious of me as a missionary as I’m viewed (at first impression) as another one who wants to tear through my agenda regardless of the people’s feelings. We’re making headway, but it will take years.

In my own missional journey this is what I am learning. The relationship needs to be there or we are just a noise gong. Too many times we make people a task to be done and not a person to relate to.
Jeff

You are absolutely correct. God’s order is always of utmost importance. It is clear to me that “being” always came first in scripture.

No where is the order of being then doing made more clear than when Jesus says to Peter, “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:32)

Jesus was telling Peter that his being would drive his doing. I guess that my comment was just a concern that we don’t swing the pendulum from the extreme of doing without being to being without doing.

So … I do agree with you in this area.

It is hard to just jump into a conversation because there are not common meanings to our words and those need to be learned in dialogue with each other. By ‘being” I am thinking more of relationships. Our ‘doing’ needs to flow from our relationships. First with God, then with others. I realize that this is very simple explanation and it needs a lot more development, which I can’t do here. So to say, we probably more in agreement than appears at first glance

While I agree with you on the importance of being. We cannot also forget the word of God’s admonition to be doers of the word and not hearers only.

We must develop a balance in our lives where our doing emanates from our being. Doing apart from being results in the prideful dangers of the Pharisees but being apart from doing results in the failure to fulfill the great commission.

We should always serve because of who we are, led by the Spirit of God, for the purpose of glorifying God in this life. Light’s work (illumination) occurs because it is light and so should our works occur because we are children of the Father.

I spent numerous years in Africa and the biggest problem I say was that it was all about the doing and not about the relationships. When we got together as missionaries it was about the task not about who we where as the community of God. So I had to protect my task so that you wouldn’t get the money I needed to do my thing. Our focus on the doing destroys the community that God is building.