Sunday morning I tried to cast the whole of Biblical narrative into the theme that God desires to share the inner life of the Trinity with others. God creates, chooses Abraham, establishes Israel, sends Jesus, and calls us into the body of Christ all to further his purpose of sharing the love, unity, and fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit with his creation.

The chosen, whether Israel or the Church today, are not chosen for their own sakes but for the blessing of the entire world - humanity and creation. The people of God become God’s fellow workers in his mission of bringing everything in heaven and on earth into oneness in Christ, to experience the divine life of righteousness, love, justice, and holiness that is God’s own joy from eternity.

Part of this purpose is accomplished in the atonement which removes our sin and guilt. However, we cannot limit the mission to forgiveness of sin or we will err in the ways God’s people have before: preach salvation from sin and misuse the environment, talk about forgiveness and leave racism, discrimination, and poverty unaddressed. If we understand the mission of God is for creation to participate in the life of God, then we cannot ignore the plight of our neighbors, or the abuse of the world.

Can we choose a fuller message than the conservative “salvation from personal sin” one which neglects societal dimmensions, or the liberal “social gospel” which focuses primarily on these latter issues with less to say about personal holiness? I believe that the Missio Dei includes both aspects.

Now the question becomes how to live a fuller understanding of God’s mission. What changes does this bring to our ways of being a church, the manner of our lives, the method of sharing our message, and the measures of what we ought to be accomplishing as God’s fellow workers? i  like the suggestion that the church becomes an alternative society: a witness, foretaste, and instrument of God’s lifestyle (kingdom) within the world.

The challenge I see is how much of an alternative society are we willing to be. The first Christians did that by sharing everything in common, creating racially integrated communities, defying the culture of the Roman empire, beings servants and not lords, and giving unheard of honor and respect to the lower societal classes such as women and slaves.

What would be the equivalent distinctives of a society shaped by the presence of God and living missionally in the world today right here? How would our manner of life serve as a witness, foretaste, and instrument of God’s way?