What do we say in our mission? How do we communicate the newness of the new creation in Jesus Christ? Perhaps one of the first things we should say on the basis of all this, is God is nearer than we think. God is on the way to you before you have begun to be on the way to God. Mission is not about introducing a distant and rather shy God to people that he’s never met before. It’s much more a question of saying to people that God is more interested in you than you are in God. And the good news is that if you show signs of interest of response, trust and love, then that interest turns into profound intimacy and relationship. God is nearer than you think. God is already on the way. So that what we say about God in mission is actually very closely connected with the question of where and how do we start? We start recognizing God who is there before us, and we say to the people with whom we’re speaking, ‘God is already at work in you and the challenge is for you to recognize this and give your heart and your will to cooperating with what God wants to do with and in you. Our assumption must always be that God has started.
Rowan William (Archbishop of Canterbury) - God’s Mission and Ours in the 21st century
