The fulfillment of God’s mission isn’t a future goal, it’s has already been completed. Like a cake that has come out of the oven but is still cooking inside, God’s mission is both finished in Christ Jesus and is still cooking, soon to be ready, through our work as Christ’s disciples.
Moses felt ill-equipped to do what God asked of him. But God equips those whom God calls - and God calls each of us to join in the mission. Every disciple is an agent of God’s mission. When we understand that we’re not making up our own purpose, but we’re joining in God’s work, we are free to discover our own unique part.
Why do we talk about Christian-ish? It’s because we understand our own selves and our own tendencies. God’s mission leads us to love and build relationship, in word and action, with all people.
In the institutional model of church, we develop faith, then we join the community, then we go out into the world. But just as faith can lead to action, action can lead to faith. Often, we believe not before we see God move in the world, but as we see God move - especially when we’re the ones through whom God is moving. There is no prerequisite of faith to join the mission.
We’re not in charge. God is. The Church doesn’t do missions. Rather, God’s mission includes the church. When we follow Jesus, we as God’s people are joining in God’s mission to reconcile the world. We’re following Jesus on the Way.
God isn’t sitting on a cloud watching humanity below. In Jesus, God became one of us, and through the Holy Spirit is active in the world, changing hearts and lives. God is on mission, moving throughout the world in a desire to reconcile us to God. In other words, God is a missionary God - a missio Dei. Mission is both an attribute and a fundamental activity of God.