Thursday, July 9, 2020

Leters to My Grandchildren: The Church's Mission

My Dear Grandchildren,

We’re still taking a look at the Church and what it is to be doing. We’ve considered the Church in terms of its worship as well as the Church as the communion of the saints. Today, we look at the third aspect of what it is to be doing, its mission.

So, what’s a mission? (Definitions!) Here’s a simple definition that works well. A mission is an assignment that is given to a person or group. Well, the Church has been given an assignment. And it’s so very important to remember that. The Church doesn’t exist for itself. There is something that we need to do out in the world. We have a mission.

Next question. What’s the mission? Here’s one place where the mission is made quite clear.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18–20
So, our mission is making all of the nations into disciples of Jesus, and it’s our mission because Jesus says so. That means that the Church can’t ignore this and work at some other mission.

This bit of Scripture tells us something else about Jesus, something that is important to keep in mind as we work at our mission. He is Lord everywhere. All of heaven and all of earth is now under His authority. So, our making all the people of the world into His disciples makes sense. It’s simply a matter of telling people that they need to submit to Jesus who is Lord over everything, including them.

This leads to our next question. Will the Church succeed in this mission? Will it make everyone a disciple? Well, Jesus promises to be with His Church, exercising His complete authority over heaven and earth, ‘to the end of the age’. Since that is the case, how can the Church fail? So, yes, all the nations will become His disciples.

Now, the next question is, all too often, not answered very well. How is the Church to do this? How are we to pursue our mission? This is where we need to refer to the image of the Church as a body. So, some Christians are eyes and others are feet and others are ears and so on. The Spirit has given us different abilities and different tasks. Since this is true, it means that different Christians are called to different parts of the mission. So, there are those Christians who are called to preach God’s truth. Some of those preach to the Church (pastors) and others preach to the world (missionaries).

But what about Christian who aren’t pastors or missionaries? What are they called to do to pursue the mission? There are those who say that all Christians everywhere are to do what is called personal evangelism. They must go to other people to tell them about the Gospel. According to this way of thinking, this is to be a priority for all Christians. Now, telling others about the Gospel is a good thing to do. But is it something that all Christians must do?

I think that it’s important to see that the Bible never commands this. It never says that this is not something that all Christians must do. The different places in the Bible where you read a command about going to people to tell them the Gospel are meant only for pastors and missionaries. This is always true. A look at the context of each command will show you. It is pastors and missionaries who must go to people to tell them the Gospel.

Now, that’s something that most Christians these days have never heard. But it’s true. Consider the letters of the New Testament. You’ll never find a command in any of them that all Christians must tell others about the Gospel. Never. If evangelism is a command for all Christians, you’d expect the letters to say something about it. But they don’t.

Now, I need to be clear here. Growing Christians will want to tell others about Jesus when they have the opportunity. They will want to tell others about how great it is to know Him as the amazing Redeemer that He is. They will want other people to submit to Him since He is Lord. But no one can say that they must do this since God doesn’t command it.

You have no idea how many faithful Christians have felt guilty because they did not aggressively do personal evangelism. That’s one reason why I want to stress this point. 

Does this mean that lay Christians (not pastors or missionaries) don’t have to work at pursuing the mission? Important question. And the answer is clear. Absolutely not!! Saying that, makes no sense. Rather, lay Christians pursue the mission in a way that is different from pastors and missionaries.

Consider again those New Testament letters. They are filled with instructions about worshiping God and being the communion of the saints. They teach how to live in light of the Gospel.

Now, when Christians are faithfully working at these things it will show in how they deal with life. And how faithful Christians deal with life is so very different from how people who aren’t Christian deal with life. The life of a faithful Christian is filled with peace and joy and hope and lots of other good things. And why is this the case? It’s because the Spirit blesses Christians who work at that kind of living. (Remember, the Church is a ‘magical’ place.) It’s His blessings that make the difference. And it’s those blessings that make pursuing the mission possible.

So, this is how the Church is to pursue its mission of making all the people of the world into disciples. Pastors and missionaries preach and teach the Gospel. They explain how Jesus promises to change a person’s life and make it into something beautiful. The rest of the Church shows that what the pastors and missionaries are saying is actually true. They do that by the way that they live, by the beauty of their lives. And when everyone is doing what the Spirit has called them to do - pastors and missionaries as well as all the rest of the Church - great progress is made in completing the mission.

So, do you see what this says to you. You have a role to play in the mission Jesus has given to His Church. The Spirit may give you opportunities to tell other people about Jesus. When He does that, tell them as much of the Gospel as you can. But whether you have such opportunities or not, you do have the calling to show that the Gospel is true by the way that you live. Pray that you would do a good job at that.

With my love,

Grandpa B

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