There are so many good things we can invest our time and effort in. Is there anything in particular we, as a Church, should focus on?What does God want his church to do?Is the mission of the church the same as God’s?If God does something, does that mean the church must do it too?Is it the mission of the church to bring the Kingdom, to promote Shalom?
Didn’t Jesus leave his embassy in the world, the church, without purpose or without revealing it, do we have to invent our mission?
- There are many different positions on this subject; Let me.
- With the danger of simplism.
- Summarize them in two main positions: some see the mission in a global way.
- Encompassing all that God does in the world; in this understanding.
- If something is good and if it is aligned with God’s will and future plans for the world.
- It is part of the Church’s mission (whether to eliminate poverty.
- Seek a cure for disease.
- Etc.
- ).
- This position says that the mission of the church is basically to make our neighborhoods a better place to live.
On the other hand, some see the Church’s mission in a focused way. The Church’s mission is not to make the world a better place (although this can be a good secondary consequence), but to evangelize and make disciples. implies how we understand the work of missionaries, how we see investment in missions.
I would like to defend a focused understanding and for the Great Commission in Matthew 28 to present what Jesus wants his church to do; However, why return to a few words from the end of the Gospel of Matthew and call these commandments of Jesus the Great Commission?I want to give four reasons for this understanding:
1) It makes more sense to base our mission on specific commandments of Scripture and not on the implications of hypotheses; I understand that one of the mistakes of the global vision is the assumption that the mission of the Church, as God’s companion, must encompass all that God does (missio Dei). However, we read in the scriptures, we see that there are things God does in the world that we will not participate in or will not accomplish, especially in this day and age. God will destroy the wicked, but the church should not
2) It makes sense to look at the NT more than the OT to have a missionary theology, and it is due to the advent of the coming Messiah. The central point of the Old Testament is that the mission was by attraction (the nations coming to the people of God), but with the coming of Jesus changing (the people of God going to the nations).
3) Even in the NT, it makes sense to turn to Jesus for the mission of the church. Christ is the king of the church and has certainly left instructions for his embassy on earth.
4) The early church emphasized the last words of Jesus, these words are at the beginning of the Acts precisely to justify and guide all the actions of the early church.
Some understand that the Great Commission was given only to the apostles, however, I believe there were more people there, the biblical text calls these people disciples and my brethren (v. 10) and this designation, in Matthew, is usually given to more people. than the apostles.
Moreover, it would be strange for the apostles, who had already seen the Risen Christ, so it is foolish to say that some of them hesitated, but that other disciples doubted, so I think we should understand that this is the commission of the churches, not just the apostles or only individual Christians.
Jesus says that they should make disciples of all nations. Nations? In the biblical text, it is used in several ways, without specific connotations of ethnolinguistic groups. The point of Jesus is not that we should make at least one disciple of each ethnolinguistic group, but that we must go everywhere. How to put up an accountant to complete the Grand Commission. The Church must fulfill her mission until the return of Jesus and, like the sower, sow seeds “without distinction”.
The biblical text speaks of ‘Ide’, ‘Making Disciples’, ‘Baptizing?’And “learn to save. ” The Church is called to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to the world, baptize them, and then spend her whole life teaching these new disciples.
We carry out the Great Commission by the permanent presence of Christ with us, by the permanence of the Holy Spirit.
If the church’s mission is, in fact, to evangelize and make disciples, then what is the place of good works and social justice?What is the primary purpose and purpose of good works?(a) Make the world a better place or (b) Confirm and adorn the gospel we preach?I want to advocate for the second option.
1) There is no promise that our works will change the world. This may happen, but God did not promise. And the danger is that we teach people to expect something he didn’t promise.
2) Let us look at the book of Acts: everything is organized around Jesus’ commandment to bear witness throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
The question is not whether good deeds are important, they are!But what is the theological purpose of good works: to confirm and adorn the gospel we preach?
Let us conclude by recalling that this mission is unstoppable, for it is supported by the full authority of Christ!