Being, Becoming, and Doing

At the end of his gospel, Matthew records Jesus sending the apostles out to "make disciples." Much of Christian church discussion right now centers on knowing exactly how Jesus made disciples, so we can imitate his methods, and thereby be "more fruitful." That's a focus on technique, or "doing." Others are focused on "being" or "becoming" more like Jesus through spiritual work, with the understanding that "when we become more like Jesus, we will do what Jesus calls us to do." To those of us accustomed to "doing," a focus on "being" can feel like backing up 30 yards from your current position on the football field, in order to practice more plays instead of playing the game. So which is it? Becoming, or doing? Should our focus be on our own transformation, or on doing mission activities?

Well, it's both. The two move forward hand in hand. Here's why: we know that God's "being" is love, and that God's "doing" in that love is to send his son, Jesus Christ, to redeem all humans. In the same way, as Thomas Torrance writes in his book Atonement: "the being and nature of the church are equally inseparable from its mission." Individually, as well as collectively as the Body of Christ, we could say "who we are, as followers of Jesus, cannot be separated from what we do as followers of Jesus, as we flow with his divine movement of love."

To continue the football analogy, how do you know that someone is a football player?  He plays football! Football players have to learn how to run, throw and catch, block and tackle, but playing football involves, well, playing football. They practice every week, and as they play football they see ways they need to practice some items more. As Christians, we might desire to share God's love with someone we meet in the supermarket ("doing") but she responds to us in anger or maybe is smelly and unkempt, and we turn away. What next? The Spirit of God reminds us gently that we need to "become" more like Jesus, so we can go out again. I've seen this happen with short-term mission trips: going with Jesus to an unfamiliar place, we recognize how much we'd rather turn around and stay in our comfort zone. The Spirit corrects us for our selfishness, and we learn to open up and share more than before.

The goal of our "becoming" is to take on our true identity in Christ, by the work of the Spirit in us.  What's goal of our "doing?" The same as Jesus: that all people can see who God is and be led by the Spirit to respond to him in love. Our efforts in "becoming" lead directly into becoming more able, every day, to "do" the mission work God puts in front of us. And that's how "being" and "doing" are intimately and inseparably connected.