For each of us who seeks to make our business or career skills useful in the local and global mission of Christ's church, we often think about how best to do this.

In its simplest definition, "Christian mission" amounts to sharing good news. (And why wouldn't someone share excellent news with others? And what person would keep excellent news from others?)

We strive to do this sharing with words and actions woven together, in every part of life, just like Jesus taught and modeled. Mission is not a committee we sit on, it's not a check we write once a month, it's not an annual week-long emphasis, it's not an extracurricular activity, and it's not just for some spiritual elite squad.

No-one who follows Jesus is exempt from participating in God's mission in the world as Jesus modeled for us - that all people would be in healthy and full relationship with their creator, through the mediator God has provided in Jesus. That's good news.

In the context of business, the case can easily be made that for every Christian in whatever workplace, business IS mission.

Sure, business can also be a strategic approach, a means to an end, but before strategy comes basic obedience to Christ, and the workplace is one context where the gainfully employed are called to live out that obedience fully. Just like the faith journey itself, it takes a lifetime to explore all that can mean.

As in other areas of life, we succeed, fail, learn from mistakes, and strive onward.

When was the last time you saw widespread honesty, humility, servanthood, other-centered living, forgiveness, grace and mercy being lived out in the business world? Business is certainly a place that can use salt, light, and many "city on the hill" examples of Christlike living.

In the past, and to some extent still today, there has been a false dichotomy of "fulltime Christian service" (roles such as pastors, missionaries) versus the rest of the church who presumably would be "part-time" or not at all employed in this same venture to which Jesus called all his followers.

A diligent, faithful, "salty" Christ-following worker in any job is no less significant a part of God's articulation of the gospel than a preacher.

Today's globalized, wired, economically interdependent world brings a very different context to business, new opportunities that didn't exist even 10 or 20 years ago, to put our faith to work at work in our areas of expertise.

These opportunities to be salt and light exist in our own towns, but also across cultures and borders. As North Americans, our role in collaborating with the church in the rest of the world must change from what it was several decades ago, but the opportunities are exciting.

I highly recommend the Business As Mission Track at Urbana 06, where this will be explored in depth. And I recommend registering before the price jumps on Oct. 15.

I don't understand this, how homeless footballers (soccer players) from 48 countries can afford to travel to the Fourth Annual Homeless World Cup in South Africa, but I love it.

Only nine of the participating countries are in Africa, the rest are from literally all over the world including the United States.

It is beautiful to see people celebrate life, play, compete, in spite of the adversity and hardship they may face. All these players -- 500 plus -- are homeless for various reasons.

One side benefit of an event like this is to remind us that there are homeless people all around, not just off in the world's biggest cities. Their kids go to school, they hold jobs, some of them have advanced degrees, but for a multitude of reasons they may find themselves one day living on the street or in their car or in a temporary shelter.

Followers of Jesus are called in no uncertain terms to be directly involved in meeting the needs of the homeless (only one of which is a home, but that's a biggie).

"I was a stranger, and you invited me in." - Jesus 

The Pope is facing a range of responses from Muslims to some recent words he quoted about Islam, which were spoken by a 14th-century Byzantine emperor.

The violent responses several places in the world are unfortunate, any way I look at them. In my opinion, violence is not an appropriate response to being offended.

But there are thoughtful and more tempered responses too.

While passions have been heated and stirred by these events, I hope that in the long run it will bring about good and helpful dialog, and perspective that will help many to move further along in their sincere pursuit of God.

In the widest spectrum I can think of, most Christians take one or more of the following views on Islam.

First, Islam is one path that can lead people toward God. Not many Christians hold this view, but in some more recent corners of the Christian faith there is an awkward impulse to accomodate a religious tolerance that tries to leave space for every religious inclination in the world, a sort of democratization of God's revelation and accessibility to the point that everyone wins and nobody loses.

Second, Islam is a path that only leads people away from God. There is a group of people whose position is at least this strong or stronger. If there are some views of tolerance and respect for the Islamic faith, this view would be on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Third, Islam is a path that can lead people toward God but most of its popular incarnations amount to legalism, and its interpretation of how to approach God (through legalistic human performance) is inconsistent with the revelation, incarnation and teaching of Jesus Christ who preceded Muhammed and claimed to be one with God. Jesus confronted the Pharisees on their legalism and judgementalism, offering a new and better way to be in relationship with God than focusing only on rules of conduct.

Fourth, Islam is a path that can lead people toward God but much of popular Islamic teaching distracts people from true reconciliation with God and from engaging God's truth. This view holds that popular Islamic practice can involve outward piety without a necessary obedience of the heart and mind. This might be called "nominal" religion (outward association with a particular religious faith system) and it can be found in all religions, but it looks different in each case and each culture.

Fifth, the only legitimate path toward God is through Christ and there are no exceptions. Muslims must embrace Christ if they wish to be reconciled to God. There are some words Jesus said which many Christians see as the basis for this point of view, for a lack of another way to interpret what Jesus claimed about himself. For many people in the world, this exclusivity within the claims of Jesus is their biggest stumbling block. It's partly a choice about whether or not Jesus' claim is true, but also it is an uncomfortable position in some ways, by its exclusive implications.

Sixth, there are things that all people (who are all made in God's image) can learn from one another about the pursuit of God, and mutually respectful dialog among different faiths is a helpful thing. Respectful dialog does not have to involve compromise of one's own faith. There are aspects of real truth about God, to be found in many faiths. There is no religious faith system that is made up completely of falsehood.

Seventh, there is obviously the existence of Islamic extremism today, and even if it does not represent the majority of Muslims, it is certainly one of the "faces" of Islam that the world is seeing. Terrorists have done their deeds in over a dozen different global cities in the name of Islam, and so have Sunni and Shiite Muslims in gruesome sectarian violence toward each other in Iraq. (Keep in mind, that all religions including Christianity have their own extremists and radicals who don't represent the mainstream, or the fundamentals of the faith. But these folks often make the headlines.)

There are probably many more viewpoints than these, which Christians might hold toward followers of Islam. And of course some of the above points of view are offensive to some groups of Christians.

Personally, I do wish that more Muslims would take seriously their pursuit of faith as followers of the God of Abraham, and as people who according to their own holy book the Koran are instructed to have a respect for the "people of the book" (Christians) and the Injil, the gospel. What did the God of Abraham say and reveal through God's prophets? The Muslim faith today holds that the Koran trumps all previous communication from God, but there are some incompatibilities and inconsistencies between early Judaism, the Gospels of Jesus Christ, and the later expressions from Muhammed, which do not seem to be addressed in Islam in a candid way. Does God contradict God? Does God change? If not, then there should be a willingness among most Muslims to face these problems with openness and thoughtfulness.

I'm not trying to suggest that Christians (or Muslims, or anyone seeking God) should think of faith as a cafeteria, and load up their tray with the dishes they prefer, and assume that all is fine. I am not a relativist and do not believe that truth is relative for each person. Faith is not a cafeteria, and divine truth is not an ala carte menu, in my opinion.

I believe that truth is truth, and we should all seek it by seeking God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. We should do our seeking with a generous degree of humility.

We should seek God by following God's revelation, God's "Word" (God's "kalima"). God's word does not fade away. It may be tainted, misunderstood, and even misrepresented by human generations, but God's communicated Word is sufficient for created beings made in God's image to understand and respond in relationship to the loving Creator God.

For what it's worth, here is my encouragement for walking the path toward God: read the four gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, ask God to speak to you; and then decide whether Jesus spoke the truth and was who he claimed to be (the Way, the Truth, and the Life), or he was a liar, or he was a lunatic.

That faith choice can then inform how a person evaluates other understandings about who God is and what God requires of us.

What does the Lord require of us?

"He's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don't take yourself too seriously; take God seriously."
- Micah 6:8 (The Message)

I am a person who regularly renews my faith choice to be a follower of Jesus -- it's not by birth, and it's not a once for all choice followed by turning off my brain. Faith is by definition an ongoing process of choosing to believe things that are unseen and unprovable by human science. There is evidence to be found, but it's spiritual evidence. That's OK though... part of being made in God's image is that we're spiritual beings, and it is healthy for us to sift through spiritual evidence about who God is.

What views do you have of Islam? What are they based on? What respectful conversations do you Christians have with Muslims (or you Muslims with Christians) about discerning truth and pursuing God as the main thing in life?

The amazing thing about the Bible is no matter how many times we've read a passage (or heard a sermon or read books expounding all the angles) there are always new things that can jump out at us from God's Word.

This happened for me yesterday with John 4, where Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well, asks her for a drink, engages conversation about her commitment-challenged relationships, shares the inside scoop on how differently God's "chosen people" are now going to be redefined, and the merits of living water versus regular water.

These are her words that jumped out at me:

"But sir, you have no bucket."

There's only one thing that fully quenches the body's thirst: water. The soul, on the other hand, thirsts for and can only be quenched by communion and reconciliation of our broken relationship with the God, who created each person in God's own image.

Yet somehow, like this woman at the well, when God offers us what we truly thirst for, we might find our silly lips saying something like, "Sir, you have no bucket."

We're stuck on the pragmatics, the physics that we think will surely hinder the great things that God would otherwise do among us.

We're intrigued with God's promises, but we're also realists, right?

The God who created the world and our very life just by speaking, the God who forgave creation's disobedience, the God who waited and waits patiently for all his people, the God who sent prophets to remind and warn his people to repent and obey, the God who stooped to the point of empathy by not only his incarnation but humiliation, false accusation, and wrongful execution -- THIS God offers us living water.

And the best we can do is point out how the delivery of said water would be impossible without an appropriate liquid receptacle.

"I came that you might have life, and have it abundantly." But sir, you have no bucket... pray tell, how is my life abundant when I am surrounded by such suffering? Where is abundant life in the midst of famine or war or AIDS?

"The one who saves his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for my sake will gain life." But sir, you have no bucket... this reversal of logic doesn't hold water; how could sacrifice possibly prevail over self-preservation?

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." But sir, you have no bucket... there is no such thing as a light burden, is there?

"Blessed are the persecuted, the meek, the poor in spirit, those who mourn..." But sir, you have no bucket... in what way precisely are these groups of people blessed, in their suffering?

"Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you." But sir, you have no bucket... shouldn't we instead arm and defend ourselves against those who would attack us? You didn't create us to cut and run, did you?

"You will do much greater things than these." But sir, you have no bucket... and your typical fervent follower doesn't walk around healing the sick and disabled, or speaking truth to power like you did in your day.

"The one who would be greatest among you would be your servant." But sir, you have no bucket... I've been a servant my whole life and look where it hasn't gotten me. Most of the "great" people in life get where they are by climbing over us little folks.

"I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." But sir, you have no bucket... what does this mean, now that it's two thousand years later?

"Let us go to the other side." But sir, you have no bucket, although if you could produce one, would you help us bail water out of this boat? We're all about to drown!

"Blessed are the peacemakers." But sir, you have no bucket. How are the peacemakers blessed, some of them have lost their lives for the cause of peace? Even with their sacrifice, so many places in the world thirst for peace almost as much as living water -- yet it remains so elusive.

And there are dozens more examples of things Jesus quite plaintly taught and promised, things which we don't understand with human logic or we can't measure with human standards.

The truth of Jesus' words is sometimes below the surface, and sometimes it even sounds like foolishness.

The lesson for all of us is to trust the words of Jesus even when it's hard to understand how he will carry out what he promises, or how his truth will be borne out in our obedience when adversity seems to hover.

Just like the Samaritan woman, we just want to understand, and sometimes the words of Jesus are riddles to our ears. The woman said, "I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."