The Context for All Mission

eric posted on August 3, 2009

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 released a book entitled “Peppermint Filled Piñata’s“. 

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. 

The Context for All Mission written by Erwin Raphael McManus