Emerging Angle: Love the Context for All Mission
by Erwin McManus
It would seem a value like “Love is the Context for All Mission” would be pretty innocuous. Over the years I have found the opposite to be true. After “Mission is Why the Church Exists” comes a core value that affects everything related to the execution of our mission. This value demands that everything Mosaic does carry the motivation, authentification, and declaration of love.
This is the emerging angle – everything we do must always be in the context of love. Doesn’t sound that controversial … until you put it into practice.
Then the rubber hits the road and there are a lot of tread marks.
Eric Bryant who serves as an elder and is the operational leader of Mosaic has recently released a book entitled “Peppermint Filled Piñatas.” Its subject is far more serious than its title-though the book itself is hilarious at times.
Though he is wonderfully lacking in self righteousness, he confronts our intolerance exposing all the people Christians love to hate.
I hate the word tolerance and so does Eric. He advocates a radically unorthodox position – let’s move beyond tolerance and move to love.
Emerging churches are often seen as suspect because there are so many openly sinful people attending.
What is often called the great compromise is actually the great commission at work.
Jesus is used as the basis of condemnation – that the gospel is being compromised – yet it was about Jesus that John states, “He did not come to condemn the world but to bring life.”
To read Jesus is to see one who was intolerant of empty religion and self-righteous hypocrisy and treated with tenderness the sinful and broken. The modern church has been far too tolerant of sin, hypocrisy and corruption among its leaders while proclaiming judgment on the masses.
Jesus’ reputation was ruined because he was accused of being a friend of sinners. It was true.
I hope my name is deserving of a similar smear campaign for the same reason as the one and one alone whose opinion of us really matters. Because in the end when it is all said and done they will know us by our love; and as Paul concluded all that matters is faith as it is expressed through love.
So while mission is why the church exists, love must always be the context for all mission.
After reading this article, it seems to me that the many of us within the church are afraid to love. I have the sense that love is pretty risky - it may not be returned, it opens us to being changed, it exposes the possibility that we’re not as loving as we think we are. It’s funny that the church as an ‘organization’ may be willing to endure the rigours of change, but that the people of that same organization may not embrace the importance of love.
Erwin, you are so bang on. Without love, mission does not take place in the proper context. Thanks for reading the heart of God.
Thank you, Erwin! For the convicting reminder that the Apostle Paul also taught in 1 Corinthians 13. Without love, we are all “noisy gongs”!! John wrote in the first chapter of his gospel that Jesus was full of two things: love and truth. (John 1:14) They are mutually compatible and not exclusive of one another. May we be more like Christ and full of both grace and truth!