The Mission Matters

Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that believes church coffee is proof that bitterness can produce fellowship.

 “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.”

2 Timothy 2:3-4

Before I share today’s article, I’ve got important news. 2027 may be the last mastermind I hold for kingdom leaders (at least in its present form). Therefore, if you are a lead pastor, assistant pastor, youth pastor, Bible teacher, or preacher, apply right away here. This is the only mastermind I’m aware of for Christian leaders. And it’s transformed the lives of countless pastors, preachers, and teachers (you can read some of their testimonials on the application page.)

The Mission Matters: Surprising Lessons from a Marine

The following quote come from A.J. Pasciuti, a retired U.S. Marine. His words about life in the Marine Corps maps perfectly to what the New Testament envisions when it comes to a disciple of Jesus Christ doing life together with other disciples. Beginning of quote:

“[The Corps is] indoctrinating you into a culture of how to be and who to be as a person. What we do inside of the Marine Corps is we always give everything back to the team. Everything goes back to the unit, to the service, to the country.

So why we come together and why we work so well is because everybody’s green when you join the Marine Corps. You’re not black. You’re not white. It doesn’t matter where you come from. The mission is what matters and the Marine to your left and to your right.

What makes us unique is the fact that we come from so many different places, but we have a common mission [and] we don’t let anything come in the way of that.

And whenever you’re in a circumstance like that [where the enemy is trying to destroy you], you bond. Did the other young Marines buy into the vision or were they going, ‘I don’t know whether I should be here. This is way too hard.’”

End of quote.

Everyone who has been wrecked by God’s Eternal Purpose (the Mission for every Christian) and has lived for it with other believers in close-knit fellowship can resonate with Pasciuti’s words about life with others in the Marine Corps.

If your Christian experience is something other than this description, it’s not what Watchman Nee would call “a normal Christian life.”

It’s abnormal.

If you’re isolated and you’re not currently doing life with other Jesus followers who are living for the gospel of the kingdom and standing for God’s Eternal Purpose, check out A Recipe for Finding Fellowship.

It’s highly practical and should help.

Yours in the Mission,

fv