Categories
christianity discipleship

What motivates you to mission? | shawblog

My friend and colleague has written some fantastic thoughts on ministry to Muslims, which have broad applications for motivations for ministry.  Below is the concluding quip from a great post:

Passion for obedience to the basic commands of Jesus in response to His love for you. The 2 greatest commands of Jesus are very clear and simple: love God and love your neighbor. God has, in fact, fulfilled these commands already in Jesus (He loves God and He loves you). Is that enough to motivate you to passionate sacrifice for the Muslim world, ~87% of which has never met a follower of Jesus?

Litmus question: Do you require more motivation than the basic commands of Jesus to live sacrificially and missionally among Muslims? Can you articulate in your life how your understanding of the Gospel has motivated you to love Muslims more?

Read the rest here.

Although the post deals specifically with ministry to Muslims, it is a fantastic question to ask for every Christian as they engage in ministry.  Are my motivations driven by obedience to King Jesus, or something altogether different?

By Todd Engstrom

Although I was raised in the church and had a knowledge of God, I didn’t embrace Jesus until I heard gospel preached and lived out by some Young Life leaders. God has proven faithful and good to me since that day, even in great suffering and loss. I have learned to treasure Romans 8:28 as a wellspring of hope and truth.

God has blessed me with an amazing wife (Olivia), three sons (Micah, Hudson and Owen) and a daughter (Emmaline). Growing up in the northwest, the thought never crossed my mind that I would have four children who are native Texans. Despite landing in the south, I still watch Notre Dame games with my children every Saturday in hopes they will land at my alma mater.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.