---Order and Disorder---

Are you ready for a doozy?

The Butterfly Effect is a notion discussed in physics. The notion is that minute changes in the initial condition of a system can ultimately result in large scale changes to the same system. The often stated example, the example that provides the name for the notion, is that the flapping of a butterflies wings, though producing only a slight movement of air, may set in motion a series of events that may lead to the formation, or interrupt the formation, of a tornado.

This notion appeals to me for various reasons and I think that it may provide a much necessary corrective to the manner in which we, as the Church, perceive our work as God's children and stewards on earth.

I am going to introduce to you another idea that is in some ways familiar to you and in other ways perhaps less clear than it should be. The notion is referred to as the "missio dei." Literally translated it means "the mission of God." Often we perceive God's mission, and necessarily then the Churches mission as well, as trying to regain a perfection that once existed in Eden. This idea is misguided. Eden wasn't perfect, it was incomplete. After God created man, and later man and woman, He commanded them to 1) Be fruitful (productively produce good results), 2) Increase in number, and 3) Steward over creation (implicating producing good results-Gen. 2:15) [all Genesis 1:28]. God also established the dynamic of His relationship to humanity.

In other words, God gave humanity something to do and He initiated the primary foundation for how it was to be accomplished. By this, it can be concluded that God intended humanity to play a part in the final stages of fulfilling God's will for creation. This is borne out by the message God later brought to humanity through Abraham, Moses and the Prophets and finally in person in Jesus Christ we recognize this same idea. The Kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated was to be composed of pure and whole heaven and earth guided and ruled by a fruitful and productive community of people unified by their love for one another, their love for God, and their submission to Him as the ground and focus of their being. [NOTE: This is the missio dei. It was God's plan from the beginning but we all know why it didn't happen in Eden. It involves a wicked snake, a tasty fruit, a deceived woman, and a failure of a man. Humanity didn't hold up its end of the bargain. If you don't believe me do a careful reading of Genesis through Revelation and keep your mind on the BIG PICTURE - don't stress over the details.]

O.K. Now. The missio dei has not changed and humanities role in it has not changed. We are still to be fruitful, to increase in number, to steward over creation and do all of this is light of the person and work of God and our relationship to Him. How is it to be done? Well. 1) Be Fruitful - Do all your work to the glory of God. 2) Increase in Number - Raise Godly Children and Make Disciples of All Nations. [Neither is more important, both are crucially important, and everyone should be fruitful in both. And I don't mean everyone needs to have their own children, there are a number of ways that people can help raise Godly children]. 3) Steward over Creation - The land is our inheritance from God [The first earth is our inheritance while we live just as the New Earth will be our inheritance in our New Life in eternity]. All of this under - Love the Lord Your God with every aspect of your being, your heart [passions], your soul [beliefs/convictions], your mind [thoughts], your strength [time].

What's my point? Well. The missio dei is a big deal. It is a big job. It is quite a calling, quite a responsibility, quite a burden. Yet, (as Shakespeare would say) here's the rub. Your only responsibility is to flap your wings. The butterfly effect. When you as an individual flap your wings, i.e make your best efforts to follow God's will, you are making what may seem to you to be minute changes in the initial condition of your life, someone else's life, your school, workplace, city/town, or church. You may only get someone to consider the gospel, or to donate their money to a just cause, give an hour of their life to consider God, or any other significant change however temporary it may be. But God is at work too and these minute changes have the potential to cause a chain of events that may lead to a tornado of faith, hope and love.