Getting to a missional mindset requires seeing life differently. In regards to people, how you see people will impact how you relate to them. Jesus looked upon the masses and had compassion on them. He saw them as a sheep without a shepherd. The compassion that he had impacted how he ministered to them.
To the ones who were blind, he brought to them sight. To the ones who were sick, he brought to them health. To the ones who were worn out by the religion forced on them, he brought an easy yoke. He hurt for them. He wept for them. He loved them.
Where did this come from?
I have often wondered what was meant by Hebrews 5:8: Even though Jesus was God¢â‚¬â„¢s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. Then it dawned on me while reading Millard Erickson’s book, Who’s Tampering with the Trinity. Jesus, in his eternal, divine position, never had to be obedient. It was only as a human, in his temporally submissive state, that he had to learn how to be obedient, to be a servant, and to suffer. He understood how to struggle. It was a means of identification with his creation.
By the time Jesus started his ministry, he surely had lost love. He lost earthy grandparents and cousins who loved him greatly. He most likely lost his father, Joseph, to death, possibly even at a young age. He knew people who had been sick and blind, and broken. He knew poverty. Through the pain that he experienced in his humanity he was able to understand those whom he would call to himself. He saw people as something other than a resource to be used or a connection to make. He saw them as individuals living broken lives despite them people designed for relationship with Him.
When you experience poverty, you have a different view of the poor. When my mother had breast cancer and my dad prostate cancer, I gained a different perspective and an even greater respect for those who have cancer. When you lose everything, and finally get back on your feet, you feel a sense of connection, compassion, and love for those who are going through that journey as well.
When you think of the suffering or struggles that life has through at you, do you not have a heightened awareness of others who are going through similar events? You often begin to look on them with compassion, as someone with a real name and real issues.
Want to see the missio dei and how God wants you to minister in the missio dei? Think of your struggles, your pain, your suffering and your brokenness. Remember how that felt. And find those experiencing the same life and help them on their journey to wholeness.