In this inaugural post in
our conversations series, I am delighted to introduce you to Dr. Matt Benson.
Matt currently serves as Sr. Vice-President with Operation Mobilization
(OM) and as Director of Strategic Partnerships with Saints Equipped to
Evangelize (SEE).
I first met him during my years at Bryan College where he was
the Vice President of Spiritual Formation, involving the campus community in
numerous avenues of ministry and mission locally and around the globe.
Personally, I had the privilege of learning under him in a New Testament survey
class as well as being blessed by him and his wife Melody as they opened their
home weekly to a group of us students and journeyed with us to L’Abri in
Greatham, England. Matt is one of those people whose wisdom is evident within
the first few moments of hearing him speak. Although I haven’t seen him since
the photo below was taken in 2014, I still recall specific nuggets of insight
that he imparted in our conversations during my college years. And now, I am so
excited to let you enter into a new conversation we’ve had on the topic of
mission. . . .
Olivia: What is your vision for seeing the
Church mobilized on the mission field?
Matt: I believe the church is God’s
instrument on earth to embody the gospel. John 1:14 tells us that God’s
glory is seen in Christ. In John
17:22-23 Jesus transfers that glory to united believers everywhere (the church)
that the world might know that God loves them. So powerful. In some way, anywhere
the church exists, she has been mobilized. That is to say, wherever there is
church, there is mission. Of course, the church also has the
responsibility to extend Christ’s body around the world insofar as that is
Christ’s command and within the scope of His redemptive mission. I love to see the local church capture a
comprehensive vision for how to extend its arms all over the world including in
its own neighborhood. Life produces
life. It is great when a church produces a church produces a church . . .
Olivia: How do you think vocation relates to mission?
Matt: I think vocational stewardship is
one of the very real missing dimensions of living mission in the world.
We live deeply fragmented lives that tend to locate missions in the
purely religious sphere. Missions gets
dumbed down to activity. In reality, all of my life and your life is
about God’s mission in the world. The
question is how might I steward my whole self towards God’s whole work in the
whole world. That certainly relates to leveraging my vocational talents
and passions towards the full expression of the gospel in the world.
God is the most passionate
evangelist in the world. Scripture indicates that He even speaks of
Himself through creation, day and night.
It is no stretch then to understand that God is revealing Himself and
His good kingdom through all sectors of society. He is seeking to reveal
Himself through business so we need vocational faithfulness to reveal God’s
Kingdom in the business sector. People
need to experience the texture of God’s kingdom through business. He is
seeking to reveal Himself through education so we need vocational faithfulness
to reveal God’s Kingdom in the education sector so that teaching and learning
is imbued with true kingdom potential.
One need not exit one’s vocation to somehow express God in mission.
In fact, doing so may mute one of His most powerful voices, your
vocational life.
Olivia: How can we instill a value and
passion for the spread of the Gospel in our churches and the younger
generation?
Matt: I think the younger generation
gets it. They already live in a pluralistic and globalized world.
Their friendships extend all around the globe and span demographics.
They are not threatened by differing perspectives and they tend to know
how to move along multiple communication threads at the same time. The
challenge is to equip them to not simply see Christianity as one among many
worldviews but actual life. Jesus says
that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Truth is fundamentally a person,
not merely a set of propositions.
In many ways, the church
in America is sensing a loss of being at the prophetic center of the culture.
We are living in a time of escalating volume rather than elevating
dialog. I think the real role of the
church both in the U.S and abroad is to be a powerful and strategic presence,
boldly living the Old Testament idea of hesed (deep and faithful love,
long lasting generosity, truth orienting hospitality, etc.). Our churches
need to free their members to live well and powerfully in their communities,
not as a program of the church but simply as a faithful and honest expression
of Christ where they are. You want to impassion a church about the
gospel? Go and become actual friends
with your neighbor. Lean into their
lives.
Olivia: What excites you about the mission
work you encounter and are involved in through your current positions with OM
and SEE?
Matt: Wow! What God is doing
around the world is phenomenal! In OM we have Zambians moving into Muslim
contexts in Africa, we have Latin Americans seeking to live the gospel among
Middle Easterners, Chinese believers spreading across the globe! God is
on the move. I love seeing Him inspire
brothers and sisters from various ethnic backgrounds into culturally similar
situations around the world! My work
with SEE is so completely different. It is about years and years of
faithful proclamation of the gospel in a little corner of Italy watching the
Lord chip away at stony hearts. Both are
exciting in their own ways.
I hope that through this
conversation you have been encouraged and challenged in your thinking about
mission and what our calling is as followers of Christ. If you are interested
in learning more about Operation Mobilization or Saints Equipped to Evangelize,
see
No comments:
Post a Comment