Merredin Uniting Church

Scriptures – Book of Esther

NOTE – This sermon is largely drawn from John Ortberg’s presentation on “Shadow Mission” delivered at the Leadership Summit 2007

We have been talking about vision, mission and purpose over the last two weeks. We saw that vision usually has its source in holy discontent – a dissatisfaction with the things around us that seem to keep us from finding and seeing fullness in God’s purpose. Last week we specifically noted that our purpose must fit God’s purpose for us. We need a vision for which we were prepared to die – if God sent His Son to die for us, we can do no better than to find our vision within His vision.

This week I want us to look at vision from a negative perspective – from the point of view of a “shadow mission”. This is a term coined by John Ortberg to illustrate how we can so easily become distracted by the shadows instead of keeping our eyes focused in the object revealed by the light. Light always casts a shadow and we can sometimes identify the object from the shadows cast but it will often be greatly distorted.

Looking at the opposites can be a very useful learning exercise. I saw part of a show on TV the other day in which a presenter wanted to give $1000 to the waiter who best impressed him at a restaurant. He eventually found someone and when he asked him how he had learned to do his job so well, he said that it was by watching what others did wrong. We learn best from our mistakes, and I want to emphasize that this morning. I don’t want you feeling guilty about chasing a shadow vision in your life; I want you to see it for what it is and to be drawn instead to the real vision and purpose which God has for you.

You and I were created by God with a purpose in this life.

We were created to make a difference.

However … if we do not pursue the purpose of vision for which God designed and gifted us, our default mode is to find a substitute. It is impossible for us to live without purpose. But without clarity in our vision, we will be tempted to drift on autopilot, which in Biblical terms means that we revert to our sinful nature. That means that our lives will tend to revolve around something, even if we won’t admit it, that is unworthy, almost always selfish … something dark—a shadow mission.

If we don’t embrace our true mission, we will by default pursue this “shadow mission”—patterns of thought and action based on temptations and our own selfishness that lead us to betray our deepest values.

The greatest danger we face in this world is not that something dreadful might happen to us, but that something that can happen in us—an emptiness in our heart which robs us of our calling. It is not failure which we must fear, no, the greatest danger confronting us is that we might settle for something less than that which God desires for us.

Our mission is the highest purpose to which God calls us; a shadow mission is an authentic mission that has been derailed, often in imperceptible ways. John Ortberg says, “Part of what makes the shadow mission so tempting is that it’s usually so closely related to our gifts and passions. It’s not 180 degrees off track; it is just 10 degrees off track, but that 10 degrees is in the direction of hell.”
All of us have a mission—and a shadow mission. Even Jesus had to battle a shadow mission; that shadow was to be Lord without suffering, the Messiah without the cross. In Gethsemane, even He asked that the Cup of Suffering be taken from Him. If we fail to embrace our true mission, we will live out our shadow mission. We will let our lives center around things that are unworthy, selfish and dark.
In the story of Esther, we see the disastrous consequences of succumbing to shadow mission, and the stunning rewards of whole-hearted commitment to mission. I love the story of Esther –there is not one mention of God in the book but it is filled with God’s purpose and dreams and His unseen work.

Esther is a beautiful young Jewish girl living in Babylon during the Exile. Through a series of events she ends up in the King’s harem where she gains the favour of Hegai, the Eunuch who is in charge. She carefully follows his instructions and is crowned as Queen.

This however, was her shadow mission. Her real mission was to save the people of God from a plot to have them all massacred. She was so taken up with her shadow mission that she almost missed her real mission until Mordecai challenged her with her true calling – “who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”

Esther courageously chose to embrace the mission God had for her, to save His people. And we, like Esther, can enter into God’s mission without fear—even in threatening circumstances—because we know God is always at work in unseen, unknown and unlikely ways.

Beneath our mission for God lies our shadow mission. All Christians have one. Some give in to it, and some don’t, but it lurks beneath the surface nonetheless.

It is something that is deeply important to us but that leads us away from God’s purposes for our lives. It’s typically just a few degrees off from His will, but those few degrees can lead us far from our Lord.

For example, if God’s purpose for you is to teach the Word, your shadow mission might be to impress people with your wisdom. If God’s purpose for you is to lead people to Christ, your shadow mission might be focused on the numbers of converts you can add to your spiritual resume. If God’s purpose for you is to give charitably, your shadow mission might be to give more than anyone else you know. If you are called to be a servant, your shadow mission might be to claim accolades for all your service – and to make sure that you are heard and seen in everything that you do.

Our shadow mission is Satan’s perversion of our true mission. Knowing how we respond to pleasure and pain, he pulls us away from our authentic mission using our pride and our hurts. The Enemy either:

• takes our gifts and shows us how we can use them for our own selfish purposes instead of for God’s glory, or
• uses emotional wounds we have received in the past to keep us away from the center of God’s will as we hold back from stepping forward once more to be hurt.

What makes the shadow mission so insidious is its connection to our true mission. If it comes from our pride, we risk feeding the beast every single time we do the things God created us to do – for we want the glory for ourselves.

If it comes from avoiding our wounds, we can be certain that those hurts will cloud God’s purpose for our lives and keep us from stepping forward to do what God wants us to do.

One way to know is when our shadow mission is threatened, is when something provokes a deep and passionate reaction in us. This is not Holy Discontent which arises when something of God’s passion is denied. No, this is when the “me” in me is threatened; when the basis of my selfish pride is under attack.

And it will always be when either I do not receive the “pat on the back” which I believe that I deserve, or when I receive criticism for something which I have done.

I have found that the best reaction is then to step back a bit in the situation and to ask myself, “why am I feeling like this? Is it justified, or am I just upset because someone has stood on my toes?”

More often than not, I see the Enemy at work, tilting me just a few degrees away from what God wants me to do. When God is challenging me about grace, He will put me into situations where I need to depend on Him to show grace – often with ungrateful, spiteful people. And the Enemy will be there too and he will be saying to me, “after all you’ve done just look how you’re being treated. Not a thank you at all. You don’t deserve this, walk away.” And guess what… if I walk away I have learned the exact opposite of grace.

Vision in the church can fall into the same trap. In the Strategy Planning Session we will do on October 16th you will see that there are 12 keys which make an effective church. The first and most important is Specific Concrete Missional Objectives. But it is very close to another key called Several Competent Programs and Activities.

A Missional Objective is vital to the Gospel – it’s the very reason for which the church exists. You must know who you are and where you’re going – its your vision. And ours is “To live the Gospel to radiate the love of Jesus”. Everything must flow out of that and towards that – it must be the centre of who we are, day after day.

But what happens is that we substitute an activity for that and call it our mission. A soup kitchen can be a missional activity of a church but only if it is focussed on the church’s mission. But if just a few people are involved and the whole church does not own it then, while it might be the mission of those few people, it is just an activity for the church. The same can be said about Sunday Schools, Youth Groups and the vast array of items in a church calendar. We must be careful about creating Shadow Missions. If our Mission Statement says, “Living the Gospel” then it is about our life as a whole, in community, being Good News about God all the time.

And if “Living the Gospel” for us is to “radiate the love of Jesus” then we need to shine at being genuinely loving and exceedingly full of grace towards one another and the world.

Now we can begin to add some activities which can be missional objectives. Now a soup kitchen is about genuine help where some are praying, some are cooking, some are contributing, some are serving, some are sharing friendship and all are involved because all own it.

And then no-one is looking for a pat on the back for a job well done because we have all contributed to it. And no-one complains about another because our focus is on a shared goal and if I fail, your task is not to criticise but to help me.

And the Enemy can do what he likes because he will not get a word in edgeways because we, together, are focussed on a common vision – the glory of Christ and the sharing of Good News.

Hallelujah!!!!

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