ENGAGE
The second word in the S.E.N.D. model is, “Engage”. It is not enough to discover needs and resources through “seeking” them. One must go beyond the discovery of needs and possibilities. We must look beyond the demographics and move to the next step. That is the point where we “engage” the people we have discovered that have the needs as well as those who have the resources to make a difference for good in their lives.
God did not stop at “so loving the world”. God engaged the world. There is no better time of year than this to remember that. The whole point of Christmas is that God, in Christ, engaged the world through what we know as the Incarnation. John says it this way, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us, and we beheld His glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,”
(John 1:14). This act of “engagement” was the beginning of the world’s transformation.
The Webster’s Dictionary cites the following about the word “engage”. “To draw into (as a conversation); To attract and hold the attention; To involve oneself; be active; to bind by a promise; To occupy, keep busy; To employ.’ As we can see from this, a relationship is the implied and expected outcome of “engage”.
Notice the way God engages the world in Christ. He did not come to be served, but to serve. He did not come to gain, but to give. He did not come to make the world captive but to set it free. His power was revealed in compassion for the lowly, healing for the broken, forgiveness for the condemned, and light for those who sat in darkness. The resources Jesus had were not spent on Himself, but poured out to benefit those whom He came to engage…even through death on a Cross.
We have a calling to engage the world, too. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let that person deny him/her self, take up his/her cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his or her life will lose it, but whoever loses his or her life for My sake will find it,’”
(Matthew 16:24-25). In taking up God’s will for our lives, we are taking up our particular crosses and following Christ.
So, in engaging the world in the Spirit of Christ, several things must be present. It begins with loving and valuing those people around us. We must put value in those we serve. Our help should not detract from their worth, but enhance it. Likewise, it involves relationships. We must be willing to engage in relationships if we are to be legitimate in our endeavors to serve Christ through serving others. Everyone Jesus called to Himself was also called to be in relationship with others who were following, too. Moreover, to engage another is to be vulnerable. No credible love can flow through invulnerable lives. Who could have been more vulnerable than Jesus from Conception to the Cross? Finally, our engagement of the world must be flavored by the fruit of the Spirit. We can be kind in our methods and truthful in our message. We can be winsome in our ways and firm in our convictions. We can be strong without being oppressive, gentle without being weak, and prosper without being selfish.
In Mark 16:15, the Bible records Jesus as saying, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” This is another way of saying, “Engage the world.” We are to go into “our” world every day and engage it with the good news of Jesus Christ…in word and deed. No one touches the world in the same way, at the same time, and with the same gifts. We are all unique. But we can be uniquely engaging.
