“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -Ephesians 2:8-10
Operation Mobilization seeks to “help create vibrant communities of Jesus followers among the least reached,” and it is our hope that your time serving with OM will be a meaningful way for you to be a part of that mission. answer was both profound in its complexity and simple in its application: be who you already are. Paul was essentially saying to the church in the book of Ephesus: you are already God’s worksmanship, His masterpiece, His poem: live a life of intentionality, in the midst of the darkness, out of who you have already been made to be by a good and creative God.
Much like the believers in Ephesus that Paul was writing to, you are about to embark on a new chapter of your journey with Christ, with the high calling of sharing God’s heart with the world. A heart that is best revealed as we each show up, and seek to make the love of Jesus known through our unique gifts, stories, vocations and passions. And just as your salvation is an unmerited gift from God, so too is the unique story of what makes you who you are. What you chose to do with that gift will have an absolutely immeasurable eternal impact in the lives of others.
The Scatter Mindset
In his book, Scatter, Andrew Scott (Former OM President) unpacks a paradigm-shifting idea that the “Great Commission” can no longer be seen as something to be accomplished by the 1% of Christians who are “full-time missions workers,” but rather by the under-mobilized 99% of Jesus-followers who are gifted and passionate about many things, and simply need to be sent-out and scattered with humble hearts and bold intention.
Much like Paul’s reminder to the Ephesians, the idea of Scatter is that every believer would understand that they have been created for good works, and be an all-of-life-Christian who lives out those good works with world-impacting intent. As Andrew Scott writes, “A new paradigm is needed- one is which we recognize that all of life is where every believer gets to be a “full-time” follower of Jesus. Everything that was created has a purpose, and that purpose is God. That includes us. We were created by God, for God.”
The following video invites us to consider what it might look like for every follower to be “sent out” with their unique gifts and passions into places that have not yet heard of Jesus and His love…
Canon
scat·ter
/ˈskadər/
1: to separate and go in various directions : disperse.
Scatter in Scripture
From that fateful moment in Genesis when Adam and Eve first scattered from the Garden, to the Isralites forced to scatter out of Egypt and brought into the promised land…the Old Testament is abundantly clear that the people of God were often scattered for God’s greater purposes. Even more so- we see in the New Testment story after story of the followers of Jesus being sent out and “scattered” into new, and unreached places. As Acts 8:3-6 records, “But Saul began to destory the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.”
Philips’ story is just one example of how the first followers of Jesus were scattered and dispersed into unreached places because of persecution, famine, and war. And yet, in hindsight we can see how God scattered His people with loving intention that they might share the good news of Jesus- through their unique stories- wherever they were sent.
Andrew Scott issues the bold invitation that the Biblical reality of believers scattering to the ends of the earth might actually become an intentional path towards reaching the world for Christ. “Could this be the first generation to scatter throughout the earth, simply because we believed it was the right thing to do? That we won’t need persecution, famine, war, or any other motivation to push us - we just believe that it is our God-given purpose to be who He created us to be, in a place where He is not worshipped?
To scatter until the whole earth is filled with those who bear His image, until every neighborhood of the world has a reflection of God’s goodness and glory in residence?”
What thoughts and feelings come to mind as you think about the stories and times in the Bible when the people of God were Scattered? What parts of being scattered sound diffcult, lonely or even terrifying? What aspects of being scattered sound exciting and life-giving?
Content
So how exactly do you Scatter with intention?
Build. Create. Cultivate.
Created in God’s image, we are designed to go into the world – using our talents, giftings, and professional skills to do good in the world and for the world. And when we do, we reflect our Creator. Simply put: FIND YOUR GIFTS.
Write. Engineer. Innovate.
Maybe you’ve been told that to work as a “missionary” you need to leave your job, get specialized training, and join a certain type of organization, or perhaps you have been waiting around for that special “call.” But nothing could be farther from the truth! You were made to live out the Gospel as a follower of Jesus, sharing your occupational talents in cities and communities around the world. Simply put: FIND SOMEWHERE TO USE YOUR GIFTS.
THE WORLD NEEDS WHAT YOU HAVE.
Why? Because it’s the everyday places of schools and hospitals, offices and shops, farms and factories around the world, where the hope of Jesus is needed most. It is in the places of greatest darkness, where people most desperately long for Christ’s transforming light. In other words: SHINE YOUR LIGHT.
“The people of God have constantly gotten stuck, settled and soft, and He has had to shake them out of this state. My prayer is that we will be the first generation that scatters on purpose. That we will scatter to places where He is not known and take with us the gospel, which has the power to change everything. That we will scatter into every sector of society…excellent at what we do, gaining favor in our bosses’ eyes, and having credibility and freedom to share our faith boldly through our actions and words.” -Andrew Scott
These words offer a simple road map to what a life of intentional scattering might look like for 100% of the world’s Jesus-followers: Know who you are and what you bring…and be excellent at bringing it…no matter where you are scattered.
Take a look at one story of how this is being lived out…
What is one thing you can do right now to take steps towards living your life for God’s highest purpose and glory? What can you do to bring the love and light of Christ into the darkness of your present culture and places of influence? And where might God be inviting you to bring your skills and passions to new peoples and places in the future?
Create
Throughout this training we have invited you to consider how your own story can be used by God to impact the stories of others as you scatter to share God’s story with the world. Like shards of light, sent out into the darkness, we each reflect God’s glory through what we do and how we do it. In fact, we are the most brilliant reflection of a good and creative God when we are who He uniquely shaped us to be.
Far too often we feel pressed into fitting certain roles, rather than embracing who God has made us to be. When we do that, we set ourselves up for failure because we exhaust ourselves by doing things we weren't designed to do. God, in His great wisdom and creativity, has made each of us unique, and He did that for a grand purpose — that we would take how He has shaped us, and use it to impact the world for Christ.
Finding Your S.H.A.P.E.
When God gave humanity the collective role of governing His creation, He designed unique individuals to live together in community in such a way that they could reveal His glory through distinct lives and stories. The idea of “S.H.A.P.E.” (a concept originated by Erik Rees in his 2008 book of the same title) refers to your:
Spiritual gifts
Heart and passions
Abilities
Personality
Experiences
Taking time to do an honest self-inventory in these five areas can help you recognize how the things God gave you at birth (your abilities and personality), and the things God gave you after you became a follower of Jesus (your spiritual gifts), and the ongoing things produced in your life (your passions and experiences) have made you the unique individual you are.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Let’s start with your gifts. Spiritual gifts are the unique spiritual abilities that God gave you the moment you received the Holy Spirit, after you professed faith in Jesus Christ. You can look up a lot of different spiritual gift inventories, but a great place to start is by reading and prayerfully meditating on Scriptures like Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12.
HEART/PASSION and ABILITIES
There are things you are passionate about and things you are good at, and sometimes these are not the same. The things that you’re both passionate about and good at — those are strengths that you should build up and focus on first. When you’re trying to discern what your passions and ablities might be it’s helpful to do some honest reflection:
What are things that give you energy and joy? What are tasks or topics that make you come alive? What are things that make you angry because they need to be fixed? Looking back over the last few weeks, what are a few things you spent time on and pursued that might point to your passions?
PERSONALITY
This may be the most resource-rich area of S.H.A.P.E. Personality and inventories like the Enneagram, DiSC profile, StrengthsFinders, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator are all useful tools that can help you assess what you value and how you interact with both God, others, and the world around you.
CliftonStrengths Assessment
One tool we have found to be exceptionally helpful for identifying your God-given, story-shaped strengths is the CliftonStrengths Assessment. We have included the cost of this assessment in your fees, and believe it can be a valuable resource to help identify the strengths you bring,
Please complete the CliftonStrengths Assessment and bring the results to our Cohort Call.
Meyers-Briggs Type- Indicator
Knowing your Spiritual Gifts and Strengths is one piece of the puzzle, but the way in which we live out our strengths is often influenced by both our unique personality and our life story. If you have not take the Meyers-Briggs test, please click on the following link for a free test.
EXPERIENCES
Finally, take stock of your life experiences. Write down as many important moments you can think of and ponder how these experiences have affected you. Think back on your “I Am From” poem and your Life Map as a good starting point for some of things that are true about the unique story God has written through you.
What are the milestone stories of your life? What are the experiences that have shaped who you are today? What are the valleys of suffering and the mountaintops of joy that have shaped your soul up to this point in your story?
The answers to these questions will help you discern who God has designed you to be, and may even serve as a road map to finding how God has created you to reflect His glory through your life. Best of all, your willingness to adventure to the world in the coming weeks is a great way to learn more about how your deep passions and the world’s deep need might come together to bring God glory.
Now that you’ve learned a little more about the concept of S.H.A.P.E. please take some time to complete this free test online:
We are excited to learn more about you and the ways you bear God’s image, and hope this tool will be helpful for you as you continue to find your unique S.H.A.P.E. and place in the Body of Christ. Please take a few minutes to answer these questions and bring the results of your CliftonStrengths Assessment, your Meyers-Briggs assessment, and your S.H.A.P.E. assessment results to our next Cohort Call.
What have I learned about myself and my S.H.A.P.E?
What do I love to do that has been valuable to others?
What do other people about my strengths and weaknesses?
In light of how God has made me and what other people have shared- what are some vocational possibilities for my life?
One hundred years from now, what would I want the story of my life to say about how my life reflected God’s heart for the world?