Dichotomy, or Paradox and Complexity?

The Gospel reading appointed for this Sunday includes “John’s” (the Johannine) Great Commission in John 20:20, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

Which begs the question…“Where’s he sending them, and by extension, us?” Jesus doesn’t clarify here, but we know the answer to that from the Great Commission found in Matthew 28: into “the world” to make disciples.

And that being the case, it behooves us to know—in the proper and biblical sense—as much about how we ought to see and interpret “the world” as we possibly can. Is it a world of dichotomy (good/bad, sacred/secular), or is it a world full of paradox and complexity? Knowing the answer to this question will radically shape how we embody our Mission (“to make disciples”) and our Shared Vision (I’m hoping you know what that is by now).