Biblical Basis For Missional Living - by C.Land

Following is a post from Mabel White's students minister, Caleb Land in a response to a question he received about the biblical basis for missional living:

I don't know why I haven't done a post on that before, so In no particular order:

The example of Jesus found in John 1 (particularly vs. 14) - This is huge. Verse 14 in the Greek speaks to Jesus literally making his dwelling among us, among humanity. He cared enough about us to come to us, why wouldn't we follow His example?
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) - says, "Go" into the world, not "Attract People to You." We are supposed to go make disciples. This isn't just for missionaries called to other parts of the world, this is for all disciples to follow as illustrated by the work of the church in Acts.
2 Corinthians 2:14-17 - (our MSX theme)We are to be the Fragrance or Aroma of Christ in the world, both to the believers and non-believers. How can people get a good whiff of us if we only hang out with each other and hide in the walls of the church?
Matthew 5:13-16 - We are supposed to be the seasoning of the world and we are supposed to be the light that shows the lost world Jesus. Once again, we have to be in the world (but not of it) to do this effectively.
Acts 8:4-8 - The Christians are scattered by persecution, yet they preach Christ as they disperse. In this example God changes the culture of a Samaritan city through the work of Philip.
Jeremiah 29:7 - An OT passage that I believe applies to us as the church. Jeremiah tells the exiled Jews to pray for and seek the welfare of the pagan city where they are exiled. We as the church are exiles all over the world. We too should pray for and seek the welfare of our cities.

To which I commented:

John 17 is one of my favorites. Jesus prays that the disciples (and all who would believe after them - which is us) not be removed from the world, but that they be protected while they are in the world.
Matthew 28 - the Great Commission, the command is not GO (sorry Caleb) it is make disciples - GO is actually a poor translation of a participle - better translation is AS YOU GO. As you go to work, to school, to play, to coach your kids ball team... MAKE DISCIPLES
Acts 17 - Paul's contextualization of his message in the midst of the Areopagus.

Great thoughts from Caleb and great passages dealing directly and indirectly with our missional call. You can check out Caleb's blog at http://missionalstudents.typepad.com/missional_students/