The Church's Mission
(Delivered at the HRCC Missions Seminar on 17 November 2018. This is the first of three sessions.)
Introduction
In our recent conference, Tim Challies preached from Mark 5 about the demon-possessed man. Jesus delivered that man, and do you remember what he wanted to do next? He wanted to go with Jesus. We can imagine this man’s pleas: “My Lord, where are you going? Let me come with you! I want to walk with you and serve you for the rest of my life!” The last thing he wanted was to be separated from His Savior.
But what did Jesus tell him? “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” Jesus left that man with a mission. And how did that man respond? Verse 20, “he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.”
Brethren, that is a wonderful illustration of our situation today. Here we are, justified and adopted. We could be with God in heaven right now, and don’t you just wish you could be? And yet, here we are. We could be beholding God’s face in heaven, yet here we are. We could be experiencing a sin-free, glorified state, yet here we are. Why are you and I still here?
Today, we will talk about the church’s mission. There are only two points that I want to make.
- THE CHURCH HAS A MISSION. A mission is something that you are sent to do. It’s an objective that can be achieved within a limited period of time. There is something that the church is supposed to be doing here on earth. There is a specific reason why we are here, not in heaven. WE HAVE A MISSION.
- THE MISSION IS OUR UNIQUE RESPONSIBILITY. We need to be very clear on this so that we can move forward. The church’s mission is not just like every other command given to us in Scripture. It is not just one more item in a long list of Christian duties. It demands our special attention. It has special claim upon our lives. It deserves the unique investment of the church’s resources. But that’s claiming a lot and you and I need to be clear, with no doubt in our minds that indeed, the church’s mission is truly unique.
Now, let’s go to our first point.
No. 1 –The Church Has a Mission
God has left the church on earth in order to fulfill a particular task. There is an objective we are to meet, or else we will only ever be partially obedient and partially faithful.
I believe that that mission is best defined in light of the Great Commission passages, and the examples of the Apostle Paul and the New Testament Church.
Proof No. 1 – The Great Commission Passages
All four Gospels and the book of Acts contain versions of the Great Commission. For the sake of time, let’s just focus on the best known one...
Matthew 28:18-20 – “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
This is Christ’s final charge to His church. He has accomplished the redemption of all the elect, disarmed Satan, overcome death, and is now going to ascend to His rightful place at the Father’s right hand. He has been given absolute, comprehensive, irrevocable authority over earth and heaven and everything there and in between.
Now, he says, what? “Go build a huge ministry center where all Christians can gather and worship me everyday”? “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore gather and make an ingrown, inward-looking community”? No. He says, “Go and make disciples of all nations”!
Proof No. 2 – Paul’s Example
Paul was an apostle, so how can he be an example of the church’s mission? The answer is simple.
Paul may have been an apostle, but he was also a missionary of the church in Antioch. He was a missionary commissioned by, supported by, and in touch with, a regular local church.
Acts 13:2 – “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.””
What does that tell us? It tells us that his work represents not only the work of an apostle, but the work of the church. It represents the church’s obedience to the Great Commission.
So we cannot say, “Oh, Paul did what he did as an apostle, so that doesn’t mean we need to have the same priorities as he did. We aren’t obligated, like he was, to bring the gospel to other nations.” We cannot say that because he was a missionary, and for the most part, he just did what any other missionary sent by any other church was called to do. He just did it better and more powerfully and with more authority than anyone else!
Paul doesn’t belong in a glass case, like some relic from ancient times. We go to museums to admire relics, but we know they have no effect on how we live today. That shouldn’t be our attitude toward Paul. Paul’s life and missionary zeal isn’t an admirable remnant of the Apostolic Period, now long gone. No! His example has direct bearing upon the church today! It reminds us, compels us, obligates us to make world evangelization our mission!
Proof No. 3 – The New Testament Church
There are a number of churches in the New Testament that are really held up to us as exemplary churches.
The Antiochans: A Sending Church
The church at Antioch was the first predominantly Gentile church. The story of its founding comes right after the salvation of the Gentile Cornelius and his household. We’re told in Acts 11 that it was founded when persecution forced Christians in Jerusalem to scatter to other cities (v. 19), even then, most of them would preach only to fellow Jews! But there were a few, we’re told, who preached to the Greeks at Antioch, and – viola! -- the first Gentile church was born!
God blessed that church tremendously. The trailblazing missionaries, whose names we will know only in heaven, saw a large number of people turn to the Lord (v. 21). Then Barnabas came and considerable numbers were brought to the Lord (v. 24). They were growing so fast that Barnabas had to get Paul to help him there, and the two stayed there for an entire year (v. 26)!
As I said, God blessed the Antioch church tremendously. I think He was making a point. God said that the gospel was for all the nations, and the Antioch church added an exclamation point to that statement!
The Antiochan church was the first church produced by cross-cultural missions. The Great Commission was foundational to their very identity as a church! No wonder, then that they became the first missionary-sending church.
We’ve already noted how the Antioch church was God’s means of commissioning Paul and Barnabas as missionaries. This included supporting them. Paul returned to Antioch twice, maybe more, to encourage that church.
Aside from the Antiochans, there are two churches that brought tremendous joy and encouragement to the Apostle Paul. Of all the New Testament churches we know of, these two yielded the least problems and the purest worship. The first one was the church of Philippi. The second was the church at Thessalonica. And do you know what they had in common? They were both committed to the Great Commission!
The Philippians: A Supporting Church
Paul planted the church at Philippi during his Second Missionary Journey, around 49 CE. He wrote the Letter to the Philippians more than ten years later, in 61/62 CE.
The Philippians were a very vibrant church, and joyfully supported Paul’s work. They sent him money while he was in Thessalonica, in fact, several times (Php 4:15-16). They did so again at Corinth (2 Cor 11:7-9). They sent relief funds to the Jerusalem church, even though they themselves were poor and had financial needs (2 Cor 8:1-5). Again, when Paul was in Rome awaiting trial before Caesar, the Philippians sent Paul gifts through Epaphroditus (Php 4:18). This is the kind of church the Philippians were!
No wonder he was full of joy and thanksgiving toward them. He commended them for their participation in the gospel from the first day until now (Php 1:5), for being partakers of grace with him in his imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel (v. 7).
The Thessalonians: A Testifying Church
Compared to the Philippians, the church at Thessalonica was a very young, very immature church. When Paul writes to them, they were less than two years old! Their leadership wasn’t fully established, there were aspects of their character they needed to work on, and they had a some wrong ideas that needed correction.
And yet Paul gushes over this church. His heart was so full of thanksgiving and joy over these believers. They were persecuted but were unflinching. They overflowed in good deeds. They were motivated by faith and love. And that directed them in two ways. First, they looked upward from serving idols to serving God.
1 Thesssalonians 1:9 – “For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve [the] living and true God”
Secondly, they looked outward to the lost world that needed Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:8 -- “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.”
That’s why Paul could tell them confidently, “our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (v. 5).
My point is this: the best New Testament churches were all committed to the Great Commission.
Now, again, my point is that THE CHURCH HAS A MISSION. I only have two points, and that’s the first. There is something that God has called it to do. There is a task that it must fulfill. That task is to make disciples of all nations. We know that because of the Great Commission Passages, Paul’s example, and the example of the New Testament Church.
That brings us to the second point.
No. 2 – The Mission Is Our Unique Task
The church’s mission is not just like every other command given to us in Scripture. It is not just one more item in a long list of Christian duties. It demands our special attention. It has special claim upon our lives. It deserves the unique investment of the church’s resources.
What is to be the church’s priority on earth? Many say it’s holiness. For them, the primary responsibility of every local church, of pastors, and of church members, is to cultivate personal holiness in the members of the church. Missions, they say, will come naturally from a church that is growing in holiness.
I think I understand where this view is coming from. I know the texts people use to defend this view. I think holiness is very important.
But I do not think that God left the church on earth so that it could grow in holiness. This became clear to me when I began asking the question, “What is the relationship between worship and missions?”
You see, worship is the church’s ultimate priority.
(WCF) “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”
(Macarthur) "[Worship] is our supreme duty for time and eternity—to honor, adore, delight in, glorify, and enjoy God above all His creation, as He is worthy to be worshiped."
I believe this wholeheartedly. But I also believe that making disciples of all nations is the church’s earthly mission. It is our unique task while we are on earth.
First of all, have you ever wondered why Jesus didn’t just take the church with Him into heaven? Have you wondered why God didn’t take you to heaven the moment you were saved?
(Macarthur) “If we were saved for fellowship then we would be taken to Heaven where fellowship is perfect. If we were saved for praise and worship we would be taken to Heaven where praise and worship is unhindered and perfect. If we were saved for the sake of teaching and training and knowledge and wisdom we should be taken to Heaven where knowledge is perfect. The reason we are left here is in order that we might make disciples of all the nations. That is our God given priority as a church.”
Secondly, missions is God’s strategy for His greatest glory. God’s plan is to get the greatest glory for Himself, and the way that He will accomplish that is through the church making disciples of all nations. Just think about it. God is more glorified in the worship of many than in the worship of a few. God is more glorified by the diverse worship of many cultures than by the one-dimensional worship of a single culture.
Nowhere does this come across more clearly than in the book of Revelation.
Revelation 7:9-12 – “9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.””
Did reading that make your skin crawl? It makes my skin crawl! And it’s supposed to. The Apostle John is sharing this grand vision of heaven. Everything here reflects the immeasurable splendor and majesty of our holy God. It’s an overwhelming sight. If you or I had been there, we would have melted, literally, probably. Just melted, because our physical bodies wouldn’t be able to endure such glory.
And at the heart of all this is, what? A lone man offering praise to God? A small group of Baptists reading from the KJV? No, but a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, … and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Isn't it arrogant to say, "God gets more glory from me and my personal holiness than from the worship of the nations," or even “God gets more glory from me and my church than from the worship of the nations”? But isn’t that what we are saying, in effect, when we downplay the importance of missions?
Conclusion
Brethren, I have endeavored to make two things clear from Scripture. First, THE CHURCH HAS A MISSION and that is to make disciples of all nations. Secondly, THAT MISSION IS OUR UNIQUE TASK. Reaching the nations with the gospel must be our earthly goal. May this be clear in our minds, so that we can move forward together in this great task!
