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07776 November 30, 2007
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Christians called to freedom in Christ, not fear, mission pastors told
by Jerry L. Van Marter Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - The purpose of all mission activity is to "carry God's ministry of extravagant adoption - to see us all in the heart of God," the first of four keynote speakers told the annual meeting of the Association of Presbyterian Mission Pastors (APMP) here Nov. 29.
Allowing ourselves to be claimed by God's "adoption" rather than being captive to fear is the key to being effective agents of mission, said the Rev. Mark Labberton, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, CA, speaking on Romans 8 to 150 APMP participants.
"All kinds of fear can define us," he said, "To that is to fall back into what Paul calls 'slavery' rather than to embrace the freedom Christ offers. We cannot be the mission society Christ calls us to be if we are living in fear."
The movement from fear to freedom in Christ is a matter of Christian identity, Labberton said. "Who are we? Who are we seeking to lead? Who are we wanting to come alongside us? Who are we seeking to reach?" he said. "Paul, adopted into Christ, became a whole new 'who,'" he said.
"Paul really understood, from his own experience, what it means to be defined by fear," Labberton continued. "His story is a remarkable portrait of a life that was completely changed by God's adoption into a whole new way of living."
That new sense of identity is thoroughly biblical, he added. "Mission has more to do with identity than with numbers," Labberton said. "The Bible is less in the what and how of Jesus and is far more interested in the who."
Of course, the story of Jesus is not an altogether happy one, he said. "Our willingness to so identify with Jesus Christ means that we're willing to step into pain. Paul is right when he says that our deepest call to mission is to die to old reality (fear) and embrace our adoption, our new identity as followers of Christ.
"Grace makes it possible."
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