Seeing ourselves as the ends and not the means – it’s one of the selfish weaknesses of the modern church. Churches often slip into functionally espousing this idea (even if what they say is different) when they act as if the mission of the church is to gather as many people together as possible. In fact, the mission of the church is to reflect the greatness of God through sending out people who proclaim the worth of God in the lives we live. Just as God the Father sent Jesus on mission to redeem creation on the cross, Jesus sends His church into the world on mission to reflect the greatness of God through the lives we live. It’s simple. We are “to do what we are.” We are the church, the people of God who have been and are being transformed by the grace of God. We are a community of faith who live in dependency upon God and find our deepest joy in Him. That’s who we are and it’s what we are to do. Living this way, with this kind of intentionality, will absolutely transform the way we live, the way we love, the way we spend our time and the way we spend our money.