God’s first choice for where humankind should live was a garden. The soil in the Garden of Eden was completely fertile and every kind of flower, tree and plant imaginable grew in perfect conditions.

I’ve been an Anglican minister working for, with, and among Muslims now for well over a decade--much of that in Muslim-majority cities and countries. In the Muslim world there is no concern about integration.

A few years ago, I was talking with a in sister in the Lord. We were discussing our work. I was in seminary. She was working at the movie theater. I’ll never forget when she said, “Well, I’m not like you, Lilly. I just work in the mall.” My heart broke a little. For Christians when we describe our vocations the words “I just…” should never enter the equation. Every Christian, a priest of God’s kingdom, His royalty on heaven and earth, is never just anything. We are all in service to the king. All of us, through our lives, relationships, and vocation are a critical part of his plan to save humanity and redeem the earth.

Bishop Leslie Newbigin argued that there are two world religions: the Christian faith and everything else. These two world religions can be summed up best as, “One in which we laboriously ascend to God and the other, in which God descends to us” (The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society). To laboriously ascend is to spend your life climbing a spiritual mountain. Picture God at the top imperiously looking down on his creation, while we climb to meet him, suitcases in hand. Backpacks strapped on.

These days you often hear about mission strategies, development, objectives, and programs. Effective ways of evangelism, business plans, mission statements, vision casting, and church growth. A few months ago, my husband, Bo and I had the opportunity to look at several different Anglican church profiles and mission statements. They had one thing in common: all of them had church growth at the top of their priority list.

What does it mean to be devoted to the Apostle’s teaching and why is that important for our spiritual lives?

It’s easy to compare the Old and New Testaments and think of missionary activity – the outward-focused spreading of faith in the God of the universe – as something new and unprecedented until Jesus’ time. After all, there is little evidence that Israelites traveled very far outside the Promised Land except as prisoners of war. However, a closer look at the Hebrew Bible shows that God had threaded mission as a constant theme throughout his word, and even into the very fabric of Creation.