Pastor's Blog - A Family on Mission
“Every member a missionary,” is a phrase I know you’ve heard before. We at Waypoint Church view our members not as mere spectators in the bleachers, but as active missionaries on the field, right here in Durham, NC.
However, Waypoint is not just defined by what we do but by who we are. And we are a family. We are intentionally living as missionaries in our communities, workplaces, and university campuses, while also gathering together on Sundays (and mid-week for small groups) as family. We are, if you will, “A Family on Mission.”
We come together as family every Sunday and worship as “the church gathered” and then get sent back into our mission field as “the church scattered.” This is actually quite counter-cultural here in America, living in a time and culture that prizes the individual and causes us to view the church through the lens of consumerism and view ourselves as the consumers. This often causes us to slip into viewing ourselves as separate from the church, rather than a part of it. The problem with that, is that we are a body, and as such, desperately interdependent upon one another.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:26, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” Thus, the wellbeing and condition of the one affects the many as a whole. This principle plays out in our own physical body, as well as in our homes.
Have you ever eaten dinner and someone from your family was missing? Their spot at the table is empty, but their chair is still there. If they were sitting there, the conversation would be different; the atmosphere would change. The whole family is affected greatly, even if only one person is missing. The family feels incomplete, and the remaining family members notice a void. Sure, you can get a meal anywhere (plenty of places serve dinner), but your family will bare the burden of the effects of you not being home.
Waypoint, God has made us to need one another. Your presence is needed when we gather as a church on Sunday (yes, even back-to-back Sundays); not for perfect attendance, but to take your seat at the family table. God has gifted each of us uniquely in order to be a blessing and encouragement to one another and to intentionally make us incomplete without the rest of the body. Let’s Reach Durham and Reach the Nations for Christ and His Gospel, but never forget that by Christ and His Gospel we have been adopted and are now a family—that is, “A Family on Mission.”
Pastor Zach