MSPG 6 - Worship & Missions

I don't pretend to be a missions expert, but the church has to start somewhere. The Lord has been teaching me more and more about missions since 2015, and I've spent a lot of time in the last two years exploring this important aspect of the church's life.

Since Elynne and I are planning to migrate soon to study at TMS, I don't have much time to share what I've been learning with others. So in the next five months, January to May, I'm holding a weekly "Missions Study & Prayer Group" (MSPG) to equip them to help in the church's developing missions program.

For overviews and links to all the lessons in this ongoing series, click here.

Disciples can easily be confused regarding mission's relative importance to worship. Consider the following quotes from a biblical preacher that, when compared, may lead to confusion:

"[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."

"[Matthew 28:16-20] reaffirms to us the primary responsibility of Christians in the world. ... I know that we are called to praise and worship... but that is not our primary responsibility. ... If we were saved for praise and worship we would be taken to Heaven where praise and worship is unhindered and 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."

So what is the connection between worship and missions? What is the place of worship in the Christian life? What is the place of missions? I want to show you the following:

• Worship and missions are both uniquely important.
• Worship and missions are not competing but complementary.

I - Worship and Missions are Both Uniquely Important

A. Worship Is Our Ultimate Priority

Worship is the church’s ultimate priority. 

(WCF) “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”

Everything God does is for His glory, that all of His creatures might worship Him. Isaiah 43:7

Everyone who is called by My name,And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.

That is why worship is the heart of Christian obedience. It should define everything the Christian and the church does. Nothing we think, say, or do should ever fall outside the scope of worship. 

Ephesians 1:5-6 – “5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

There is no other Christian activity or virtue that is always operative all the time in every situation (except maybe for faith, but that’s another discussion).

1 Corinthians 10:31 – “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Can you think of a situation when you don’t need to exercise patience? How about courage?

How about love?... Are we supposed to love evil? Are we supposed to love Satan?

B. Missions Is Our Unique Assignment

There are Christians who believe that believe that worship is the ultimate priority, therefore missions is just one of many responsibilities of the Christian.

(Challies) "I place great value in evangelism and regard it as a Christian duty. A church that does not care to evangelize cannot be a healthy church and likewise, a Christian who never shares his faith is, in all likelihood, spiritually ill. Evangelism is a privilege and an honor and I admire those who have dedicated their lives to sharing the good news with others. ... We are responsible to take opportunities presented to us in which to evangelize and are even responsible to work towards creating such opportunities, but I see no reason to believe that these need to be equal pursuits in terms of time and attention. Our primary responsibility is to ensure that we are bringing glory to God through our lives as we use the gifts and talents God has given us and that we constantly submit our time and our talents to Him."

Even though this brother doesn’t deny that evangelism (and by implication, missions) is important, one gets the sense that sharing the gospel is as important as anything else you might do for God’s glory. This view seems to appeal to many biblically-minded believers.

But let me give FIVE ARGUMENTS to show that MISSIONS IS OUR UNIQUE TASK:

Biblical Argument: Tota Scriptura

There is no single Bible verse that tells us this, but I believe that this is the view of missions that embraces the entire scope of biblical teaching.

Missions is the only Christian duty that is limited to this age. Everything else we’re called to do, we’ll do better in our glorified state.

The Great Commission is special. It is Jesus’ final words on earth, preserved in three of the Gospels and in Acts. The Great Commission frames the entire narrative of Acts and it underlies the entire New Testament.

There is a special connection between missions, redemptive history, and the kingdom of God. (In contrast, what is the connection to love and redemptive history? There is a connection, but you see that it’s an indirect connection.)

Missions is the only aspect of Christian obedience that must be fulfilled before the Lord’s return. In fact, God in His sovereignty has made it a prerequisite to the consummation of Christ’s earthly kingdom (Mat 24:14).

Doxological Argument: The Glory of God

Missions is God’s means for His greatest glory. God reveals throughout Scripture that He desires to be worshiped throughout the whole world, among every tongue, and tribe, and people, and nation. To relegate missions to simply one of a plethora of Christian duties is to effectively say, "God gets more glory from me 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.” 

Hermeneutical Argument: God-Centered or Me-Centered?

It is commonly understood that it is wrong to be selective about which biblical principles to apply in order to justify our personal lifestyles. The corrective to this would be to say, "God, not you, must be the center of your life." But it is less commonly understood that it is also wrong to read passages of Scripture individualistically, ie, as they pertain to me primarily, rather than as they pertain to God. God's purposes are towards individuals, true, but they extend far beyond the individual to embrace the whole universe. I will give an account of my own obedience, but that obedience includes loving, self-denying, Christ-exalting service towards the evangelizing of the nations. Thus, there is something sub-Christian about an individualistic approach to Scripture. Christianity is not about "God and me", but about "God, the church, the world, and God's calling for me in all of this".

Historical Argument: The Church & Missions

The Church has by and large, throughout its history, adopted this view of missions. And after 2000 years of this kind of thinking, where are we in terms of world evangelization? The idea that missions is simply one among many Christian duties would have been rejected by those who have contributed the most to the cause of missions. Thus, history has proven that this is a self-defeating perspective.

Pastoral Argument: Preaching

If I thought this way about missions, as a pastor, that would translate into my preaching and my life. First, I would preach on missions rarely because there are a hundred other things to preach on that feel more relevant to the daily struggles and concerns of church members. Secondly, I would devote practically all of my energies to internal church issues, and this is the example for living that church members would pick up from me.

Personal Argument: Daily Life

If I thought this way about missions, it would easily get crowded out by more immediate, more "urgent" concerns, and years could easily go by without my joining a missions-related ministry, going on a short-term missions trip, helping a missionary, or devoting a substantial amount of my financial resources to world evangelization.

The above arguments show that to relegate missions as just one among many Christian duties is to downplay its theological importance and to place practical hindrances to the church's fulfillment of the Great Commission.

II - Worship and Missions Are not Competing but Complementary

WORSHIPFUL LIVING has to translate into MISSIONAL LIVING. At the same time, I want to show you that MISSIONAL LIVING flows out of WORSHIPFUL LIVING.

No missionary worth his salt starts with a desire to “do” missions. He/she starts with a desire for God to be glorified, to be worshiped.

But before we get into that, I want to define what I mean by “missional”.

1. Defining “Missional”

“Missional” comes from the word “mission”, which comes from the Latin word mittere, which translates the Greek word apostello.  Our English Bibles translate that word as “sent”. So the idea of being “missional” is just this: living as those who have been sent on a mission. Missional living happens when you embrace God’s mission for you and for the church.

But what is that mission?

2. Our Mission: To Make Disciples of All Nations

This is the task for which God has sent the church into the world.

When you and I were saved, God could have taken us directly to heaven. He didn’t have to leave us here. So, why’d He do it?

Let me pose the question another way. When Jesus ascended into heaven after His resurrection, He could have taken his disciples with Him, right? If His priority was for them to worship Him perfectly then it would have made more sense to give them an express ticket to heavenly glory! Instant sanctification, perfect worship! But the Lord didn’t do that.

Instead, He left the disciples on earth. Now, if you think all that Christians are to do while we’re on earth is to grow in Christlike character and worship God throughout the week, then this won’t make sense to you. Why’d the Lord leave the disciples behind?

The clearest answer to that in the Bible is found in Christ’s parting words. We call these the GREAT COMMISSION PASSAGES. These tell us why He left them behind. What they were to do in the world.

Each of the Four Gospels plus the book of Acts has its own version of the Great Commission.  But I want to draw your attention just to the one in 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."

Now, the command is in verse 19, “make disciples”. That’s the bottom line of what we are alive on earth to do. Okay? We don’t know all of God’s reasons for not taking us into heaven the moment we were saved, ok? The Bible doesn’t tell us. But there is ONE reason that the Bible makes explicitly clear. Why are you and I here right now? What is God’s purpose for us?

We are here to make disciples of all nations.

That is not a command only for pastors, or cell servants, or missionaries. That is a command for the church. That is a command for Christians. If you’re a believer, that is a command for you. Your life’s mission, Christian, is to fulfill your role in the Church’s task of making disciples of all nations.

If you understand that and commit yourself to that, that’s MISSIONAL LIVING!

Some Christian teachers say that missions is just one of many Christian responsibilities. Yes, missions is important, but it’s not more important than growing in Christian virtue, or fellowship, reading your Bible, or worshiping with the church.

I don’t think that’s right, and I have many reasons why I think that’s so. But I’ll just mention one.

3. Missions Is God’s Appointed Means for His Greatest Glory

We mentioned this briefly under the "Doxological Argument". Let's look at some Scriptures that support this.

Matthew 28:18 – “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.””

Jesus has just completed His redemptive work on the cross and has risen from the dead. As a reward, He has earned all authority.

For a little while, the Son concealed His glory and lay aside His divine privileges so that He could become one of us. This was the period of His humiliation, and it culminated in his agonizing, humiliating death on the cross.  

But now, He has conquered sin and death, He has disarmed Satan and secured the salvation of all the elect. The time of His humiliation is over, and henceforth He takes up once again the fullness of His divine majesty and power.

Now, what is a fitting response to this? What were the disciples supposed to do?

Did Christ say, “Go and put up a nice worship center, gathering daily for worship, fellowship, and service”? No! That would glorify Christ, sure, but He had much bigger plans than that.

What did Christ actually say? “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”! Christ had all authority, and we honor that by taking the gospel to all the world!

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!”

I could show you many more passages like these two, but I think the point is clear. MISSIONS IS GOD’S MEANS FOR HIS GREATEST GLORY.

Prayer Items

1. Suffering Christians in Nigeria

2. Missionary-in-training, Shairene - upcoming exposure trip

3. Tribes that Shairene will visit

4. UPG - The Ahan of Nigeria