As I begin this journey of planting a church in Pittsburgh, two
question that I’m continuing to wade through in my mind is, “What is the
mission of the Church?” and, “how do I get my people excited about this
mission?”
I understand the importance of having a mission statement; it
helps you understand what you are doing and what you are going after. It helps
you shoot arrows instead of shotgun shells. You can look at any successful
secular organization and see that it is their mission statement that drives what
they do. Starbucks says their mission is, “To inspire and nurture the human
spirit- One person, One cup and One neighborhood at a time.” McDonald’s mission
statement is, “To be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat.” Some
mission statements are straightforward and some are very long and complex. The
point of the mission statement is to keep the organization on track in what
they were created to do.
As a local body of believers here in Pittsburgh, what is our
mission statement? With God’s Word and help from a book called What is the Mission of the Church by
DeYoung and Gilbert, I have come to the conclusion that the mission of the
church is found in Matthew 28:18-20. Here we find the disciples getting their
commission from Christ. It was their orders and it was their mission. We see
the disciples shortly after that in Acts 2 beginning their mission. As
thousands got saved that day at Pentecost, we see more people joining the
mission that was given to the disciples. The universal church of God started in
full force and thousands began fulfilling the mission that God gave the
disciples that day on the mountain. Then, God started setting up the local
church in different cities across the land. As believers got together with
other believers they had one mission, and that was to fulfill the Great
Commission.
So here is my question, “Why would the local church of any city
have a different mission statement then what God gave to every believer in
Matthew 28?” If the local church is made up of believers who are coming
together to fulfill their mission, why would we want our mission statement to
be anything more than the Great Commission? It is great to feed the poor and
love everyone in your community; these are great visions to have. However,
these should not be our primary mission. The church is made up of believers who
have been given a mission over 2000 years ago. As a pastor, I want the programs
I run and the things I do help my people fulfill the mission that God has given
to them. My vision may change for the church as times go by, but my mission
will never stray from Matthew 28:18-20.
(On the next blog we will dive into Matthew 28:18-20 and spell
out what our mission is exactly and answer four questions that arise.)
I think that as human beings we like to have things be cut and dry, we like our choices to be either this or that. The more I read through scripture the more that I find that God often calls us to be both this and that, or to do this while still doing that. There are many seeming paradox's in scripture that serve to open our eyes to the true nature of who God is and how He would have us live our lives.
ReplyDeleteI bring this up because you mention that feeding the poor and loving our community are good things, but not our primary mission. I think that you might be oversimplifying the commission that we have been given.
"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."
The commission is to make disciples of all the nations, but included in making disciples is "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you". We cannot separate being disciples and making disciples from things like feeding the poor and loving our neighbor because living as a disciple of Christ is to do these things (and many more) and to teach others to do them as well.
I agree with you in as much as the mission of the church is not solely to feed the poor and love our neighbor, but it is also not less than that. You could actually say that the mission of the church is to love God and love our neighbor. One of the ways in which we love our neighbor is to reveal the glory of God to them both through word and deed which includes things like proclaiming the word of God, making disciples and caring for those in need.
I suspect that we are really not in disagreement here. I was just hoping to comment on some of the deeper implications of the mission of the church.