Cultivating a Global Mindset
By Morgan Funke
The dissonance in this season is unparalleled. God is moving powerfully AND the needs of humanity are skyrocketing.
The Cause (www.thecause.org) the nonprofit I get to run, partners with people serving the underserved worldwide. Many of our partners are on the frontlines in their cities, and we consider it a privilege to help hold their arms up as they feed the hungry, encourage the broken-hearted, build up their communities, and spread the gospel. My heart has been heavy as I talk to them and hear first hand reports of what’s happening globally....
Lives are being lost daily.
In Lebanon, the price of chicken has skyrocketed to over $17 a pound, and political tensions are rising.
In The Philippines, their President ordered that people who break the lockdown should be “shot dead.”
In India, millions of people aren’t able to work and right now they are starving.
In Uganda the President has directed police to arrest anyone who gives food to the hungry and charge them with attempted murder.
Here in the US, countless individuals have lost their entire income; many don’t know how they are going to pay next month's rent.
These are devastating truths AND right this second in history, God has ushered a beautiful invitation to the Church to remember her global identity.
Understanding what God is doing in this time starts with embracing our full identity as members of the global body of Christ. We are being called to shake off partial identities built by country and culture, and live Kingdom centered lives in an entirely new, fully integrated, way.
Distraction is everywhere, trying to keep believers from internalizing this global reality. The Church is called to understand and alleviate the unique challenges facing people, made in the image of God, worldwide.
Embracing our global connectedness isn’t something that takes us away from the local community, they feed each other. This is a time of expansion that includes our neighbors, country, and world. There is no competition in the Kingdom. God is going to use this season to strengthen and build connections in all facets of our lives.
As a nonprofit executive, I get about 100 emails a day inviting me to hustle for donations because the future is uncertain. So much of the rhetoric is about competing for funding because we don’t know what’s coming.
But, that’s not God’s heart.
God’s heart is for unity, not competition.
God’s heart is for people.
God’s heart is to care for the most underserved human beings in the world.
God’s heart is for the orphan, the widow, the poor, the marginalized, the broken-hearted.
God’s heart is for each of us - economy skyrocketing or crushing depression. God is enough.
I’ve had to do a lot of repenting lately. During this season it’s easy to make agreements with fear and scarcity. It’s tempting to cling to hopelessness, or anchor our hope into the wrong edifice. We want to hope in the virus being gone, in the world opening back up, in economies restoring and life returning to normal.
Instead, we are called to put our hope securely and solely on Jesus. That’s the only hope that won’t disappoint.
We don’t know what the future holds, but today, we get to keep doing the things that God has called us to do. COVID-19 isn’t a surprise to God, so the “good works which God planned in advance for you to do” (Eph. 2:10), are ready for you, even now.
During this wild time, where so much has been lost, continue to focus on what you CAN do, instead of meditating on what you can’t. Continue to ask God what you need to be doing, AND what you don’t.
Corporately, God is using this time to deepen our callings. This moment in history is vitally important in the Kingdom. What we are in the middle of is revolutionary, it’s going to change everything. When the dust settles and the new world begins, this time will be a great reset. Let’s contend for a global Kingdom reset, right here, right now.