Mansion or Mission?

ONCE upon a time, April and I lived in a mansion. It was our first full time job after I graduated seminary. We were trying to sell our home in Kentucky and the church we went to work for in Nashville had just purchased the former estate of Hank Williams, Sr. So we moved in.

The following video is from a sermon I recently preached in chapel at Cedarville University. The text we looked at was 1 Peter 4:1-11. I used the metaphor of a mansion to describe how Peter says we shouldn’t live, like those who don’t know God. The world is not here merely for our luxury, pleasure, and comfort.

Instead, of seeing the world as our mansion we should view it as our mission. The massive house the church obtained, which we lived in for about half a year, was quickly repurposed as a ministry center. Rooms were gutted, stages were built, fellowship areas were decorated. What was once focused on luxury was transformed for the purpose of kingdom impact. The same should be true for our lives as well.