Our God is a missional God. He is a sending God, and we are a sent people! As John 20:21 (ESV) says, “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
In this article, we will answer three key questions about being sent by God. These questions will help you understand your role in being used by God to positively impact the lives of others:
- What are we sent to do?
- Where are we sent?
- What are the characteristics of people who have been sent and live as kingdom disciples?
Let’s dive in!
What are we sent to do?
These familiar passages outline three key directives:
- The Cultural Mandate – Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; work and keep the garden. (Genesis 1:28, 2:15)
- The Great Commandment – Love God and love your neighbor (others) as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)
- The Great Commission – Go and make disciples who make and train disciples, etc. (Matthew 28:18-20)
We are commanded to love all people, but we are sent to make and train disciples. We do this by sharing the gospel in word and demonstrating it in deed.
Disciples are made when we share the Gospel from the Word of God, the Holy Spirit opens the eyes to understand the Word, and submission takes place through faith and repentance. Through an intentional process that has as its goal to make and train disciples we can achieve the outcome commanded in the Great Commission.
As we love people in word and deed, we become relationally connected. We begin to learn together, work together, and create together. Physical, emotional, and relational needs are met, and we begin to see individuals, families, and entire communities flourish.
Followers of Christ who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, live out the three passages above, albeit in often clumsy and broken ways, are kingdom disciples.
Where are we sent?
Some people may be sent as missionaries across the world, and some may be sent with a church planter to start a church in another city, but all of us are sent by Jesus into our everyday lives where we live, work, and go.
We are sent to our neighbors, our communities, our schools, our workplaces, and even our pickleball or tennis teams. In short, we are sent to the places we spend time. When we live with kingdom intentionality, we live with the missional openness and expectation of a sent people, wherever we go.
Five Characteristics of people who live as kingdom disciples or “sent ones”
Kingdom disciples who have been sent by God are marked by a few common characteristics. In this article, we will explore five important traits, but remember, this is not an exhaustive list.
1) An Intimate Relationship with the Lord and Led by the Holy Spirit
An intimate relationship with Jesus is vital, and the key to developing intimacy is spending time with Him. Jesus Himself, the Son of God, needed time alone to be with the Father and to hear from Him. Jesus longs for us to come to Him, walk with Him, and learn from Him (Matthew 11:28-30). Reading and meditating on His Word, praying to Him, and practicing other spiritual disciplines develop intimacy.
If we walk by the Spirit and are led by the Spirit then we will experience the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16,18, 22). As we spend time alone with Him, the work He is doing within us will become evident. We have this confidence because “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
As He leads and guides us, He is working to make us more like Him! This is intimacy with an intentional purpose.
2) A Missional Awakening: An “aha moment that ignites a passion to be “sent”
God’s heart is missional. He has compassion for people. He desires to see us flourish. As we spend time with Him, our hearts grow more like His. His grace and His love for us compels us to also have a heart for others.
A missional awakening or an “aha” moment where the Lord “leads us” or gives us a “wake up call” is really an invitation by the Holy Spirit to step into a purpose much bigger than ourselves. How can we recognize when an “aha” moment has come? Our hearts may be stirred to action as we are reading the Scriptures. It might be during a time of duress or suffering and our hearts are tender to the plight of others. Job loss or even retirement may cause us to ask, “what now?” It is not unusual to find our “aha” moment in situations where we have extended ourselves outside of our comfort zones.
Regardless of how it may come, when we look back and see a specific time(s) where the Lord gave us a greater passion to love in word and deed and make disciples, we will be encouraged to know that the Lord is working in and through us.
3) A Vital Relationship with the Local Church
Another key characteristic of those living with kingdom intentionality is a strong commitment to and a vital relationship with the local church, the bride of Christ. The local church is often overlooked as a place to find renewal and recharging for effective engagement with those whom the Lord has placed in our circle of influence. It is in the church where discipleship, community, and equipping to live as a kingdom disciple has the greatest opportunity for success. Christians were never meant to live in isolation. We need each other to walk consistently with the Lord and to live missionally.
One of the primary ways churches can train disciples is through “Life-on-Life Missional Discipleship” (LOLMD), which is lived out through a discipleship group–a small group of people with a leader, who form an intentional commitment to one another and spur one another on towards walking with Christ and living missionally as they invest in each other’s lives. LOLMD has the strong components of truth, equipping, accountability, and prayer that lead to mission and living with a kingdom intentionality. When we are on mission together, we are much more likely to have a lifestyle of mission and kingdom intentionality. It is important to be part of a community of people where we can be refreshed, refueled, encouraged, equipped, and sent together.
4) A Purposeful Intentionality
To go through life, allowing the gentle flow of a current to move us idly from one location to another, is to miss out on the satisfaction that comes from having a grand purpose in life. Those who have a deep desire to live as kingdom disciples where they live, work, and go will be recognized for their intentionality. It takes intentionality to build relationships.
If we want to have an impact in people’s lives then we must build authentic friendships with them. To build friendships, we must spend time with them! To have time, we must build margin into our own lives and make it a priority. It begins with the ability to “see” the people who are already in our lives. The command to engage with and love others is not just for extroverts, no one is excluded from this invitation.
Where do we spend much of our time? Our home, our work, our kid’s sports teams, our gyms, our favorite restaurants and grocery stores. Pray to the Lord for the people we interact with in our daily lives. We have a saying, that missional living is as easy as “Greet, Befriend, and Invite”. Introduce yourself (greet), build a friendship (befriend), and invite them into our life where through relationship they can hear and experience the gospel in word and deed.
Our occupation may be the place that takes most of our time. Scripture has called us to work heartily, as for the Lord (Colossians 3:23). He has designed us and given us gifts, talents, and callings to be an ambassador for Him at work. With a little thought and creativity, our work skills may be used beyond the workplace as well.
When we begin to discuss mission, we often visualize some grand expedition. However, it could be something as simple as praying for another person. The Holy Spirit opens our hearts to the needs of someone, and we pray. We may send them a text to let them know we are praying for them or call them to see how they are doing. The key is to be sensitive to the Spirit’s prompting and to act on it.
5) An Impactful Mentorship
When you look back over your life, was your life impacted by a coach, an older friend or someone who took an interest in our personal development? Many of us stand on the shoulders of those who precede us, mentors, men and women investing their lives in others with kingdom intentionality.
Mentors’ lives are models of kingdom purpose, as they share insights, wisdom, and guidance with us. They may have been with us in a work or ministry context, but they also could have been a neighbor, a parent, or a relative. We gain practical ideas for engagement and often deeper understanding when we spend time with others who have gone before us. When we have experienced an impactful mentorship, it gives a strong incentive to do the same with others. This is the model that Jesus set up for us. “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).
Who is a mentor in your life? Whom can you mentor?
Conclusion
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).
There are people all around us who are lonely, anxious, depressed, lacking purpose, and lost. They are looking in all the wrong places to fill the void that only the Lord can fill. They desire to be “seen” and to be ‘known.”
We are the “laborers,” and God’s people are sent into the harvest field around us. We do not carry the weight of changing hearts and lives; only the Lord can do this. We are simply called to abide and be faithful. The Lord takes care of the fruitfulness.
Personal Reflection:
- How is God calling you to live as a kingdom disciple in your current context? What steps can you take this week to be more intentional about building relationships where you live, work, and go?
- Have you experienced a personal “aha moment” where God awakened you to His missional purpose? If so, how can you respond to that calling more fully? If not, how might you open your heart to recognize one?
- What role does the local church play in equipping and supporting you to live as a kingdom disciple? Are you actively engaging with your church community in discipleship and mission?
- Who has been a mentor in your life, and how has their example impacted you? In turn, who could you intentionally mentor to help them grow as a disciple of Christ? What practical steps could you take to invest in someone else’s spiritual development?