Christ Jesus knew what he was on earth to do. It was to save the world from the slavery of sin, disease, and death by being an example of life lived in total agreement with God. As he put it, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
It could sound presumptuous to say each of us has the same mission, if Jesus hadn’t also charged his followers to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils. And he showed that the way to accomplish these works is always to do the will of God. We often think we don’t know what God’s will is, or that we can’t be that good; but Jesus also showed us how to reject those temptations by understanding that God alone has power to govern and care for us. Ultimately, we have to accept his mission as ours, because the one omnipotent Spirit that impelled Jesus’ life impels all of us. Success in the mission comes from dropping a personal sense of a self separate from Spirit, as Jesus did.
Of course it’s that self-dropping that can feel like Mission: Impossible. But even those TV/movie stories may offer a clue as to how to turn what appears impossible into the doable. A secret agent receives an assignment: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it” is to stop an evil plot that threatens the world. First, the agent needs to accept the mission. Question: What does he do next? Not-so-trivial answer: He gathers a team.
