Well a new week begins and with it the usual demands of our time, money and energy. Believe me, I know the tugs of multiple obligations. That’s just life. And I also know how easy it is to go through a week being pulled here and there by everything so that a week, then a month, and then more months go by without the realization of our well-intentioned goals and plans. In the midst of everything, it’s so easy to forget why we’re here on this planet — to be God’s missional community that cooperates with him in his global re-beautification process.

One of the people that God used to shape me in my spiritual formation was John Wimber. I can’t count the times I sat under his teaching, crying and saying to myself, “That’s what Church is supposed to be like.” One of the reasons why I loved his teaching is that he taught us that the Church existed for the sake of the world. We were supposed to be “doing the stuff,” just like Jesus and that “everyone gets to play.” Back then it was revolutionary.

For many who heard John, they often equated those phrases to the dramatic and supernatural aspects of ministry, such as healing, prophecy and other spiritual gifts. And that was part of what John was talking about. But John understood that God’s mission was holistic. When he talked about “doing the stuff” and “everyone gets to play” he was talking about the entirety of God’s mission as embodied, demonstrated and announced in Jesus. That also included compassion, care for the disenfranchised and marginalized, and social justice.

Well, I came across a talk that John gave on social justice. And like years ago, I found myself once again saying to myself, “That’s what Church is supposed to be like.” And then I found myself remembering another one of John’s sayings: “I hope I grow up before I grow old.”

Take a few moments and read his lecture.