What Is the Mission of the Church? E-Book

Kevin DeYoung

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Seitenzahl: 427

Beschreibung

Social justice and mission are hot topics today: there's a wonderful resurgence of motivated Christians passionate about spreading the gospel and caring for the needs of others. But in our zeal to get sharing and serving, many are unclear on gospel and mission. Yes, we are called to spend ourselves for the sake of others, but what is the church's unique priority as it engages the world? DeYoung and Gilbert write to help Christians "articulate and live out their views on the mission of the church in ways that are theologically faithful, exegetically careful, and personally sustainable." Looking at the Bible's teaching on evangelism, social justice, and shalom, they explore the what, why, and how of the church's mission. From defining "mission", to examining key passages on social justice and their application, to setting our efforts in the context of God's rule, DeYoung and Gilbert bring a wise, studied perspective to the missional conversation. Readers in all spheres of ministry will grow in their understanding of the mission of the church and gain a renewed sense of urgency for Jesus' call to preach the Word and make disciples.

Leseprobe

“A very timely and eminently engaging book for all those who care deeply about the church’s mission in our day. Again and again, I found myself nodding in agreement as the authors made a key point from Scripture or noted the missional relevance of a given biblical passage. I highly recommend this book, not just as food for thought, but more importantly, as a call to obedient, biblically informed action.”

—Andreas Köstenberger, Senior Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology, Director of PhD Studies, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

“In what appears to be a growing tension over what the mission of the church encompasses, DeYoung and Gilbert bring a remarkably balanced book that can correct, restore, and help regardless of which way you lean or land on all things ‘missional.’ I found the chapters on social justice and our motivation in good works to be especially helpful. Whether you are actively engaging the people around you with the gospel and serving the least of these or you are hesitant of anything ‘missional,’ this book will help you rest in God’s plan to reconcile all things to himself in Christ.”

—Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor, The Village Church, Highland Village, Texas

“Christ is the greatest message in the world, and delivering it is the greatest mission. But are we losing our focus? Are we being distracted, sometimes even by good things? Zealous Christians disagree sharply today over the church’s proper ministry and mission. Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert bring us back to first things in an age of mission creep and distraction. Offering balanced wisdom, this book will give us not only encouragement but discomfort exactly where we all need it. It’s the kind of biblical sanity we need at this moment.”

—Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

“Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert have written an important book on an important topic. Fair, keenly observant, startlingly honest, this book is replete with careful exegetical work. Verses are not merely cited; they are considered in context. The length of an idea is considered, all the way from its expression in the local church back to its source in Scripture. The result is a book that is nuanced and clear, useful and enjoyable to read, and that is no small gift from two young pastor-theologians who have already become reliable voices. Open this book and you’ll want to open your Bible and open your mind on everything from justice to capitalism, from mercy to love.”

—Mark Dever, Senior Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC

“DeYoung and Gilbert clear the fog that has settled over the nature of the church’s mission. Their tone is gracious, the style is accessible, but most importantly this book is marked by fidelity to biblical revelation and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The authors have succeeded in what they exhort us to do: they have kept the main thing as the main thing.”

—Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Among the many books that have recently appeared on mission, this is the best one if you are looking for sensible definitions, clear thinking, readable writing, and the ability to handle the Bible in more than proof-texting ways. I pray that God will use it to bring many to a renewed grasp of what the gospel is and how that gospel relates, on the one hand, to biblical theology and, on the other, to what we are called to do.”

—D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

“DeYoung and Gilbert have put us in their debt with their clear, biblical, theological, and pastoral exposition of the mission of God’s people. That mission, which they rightly understand within the story line of the whole Bible, is summarized in the Great Commission and involves gospel proclamation and disciple making. This superb book will encourage its readers ‘to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship and obey Jesus Christ now and in eternity to the glory of God the Father.’ ”

—Peter O’Brien, Emeritus Faculty Member, Moore College, Sydney, Australia

What Is the Mission

OTHER CROSSWAY TITLES BY THE AUTHORS

KEVIN DEYOUNG

Don’t Call It a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day (editor)

The Holy Spirit

Why Our Church Switched to the ESV

GREG GILBERT

What Is the Gospel?

What Is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin DeYoung and Gregory D. Gilbert

Published by Crossway             1300 Crescent Street             Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.

Cover design: Faceout Studio, www.faceoutstudio.com

Cover photo: Shutterstock

Interior design and typesetting: Dawn Premako

First printing 2011

Printed in the United States of America

Trade paperback ISBN:

978-1-4335-2690-9

ePub ISBN:

978-1-4335-2693-0

PDF ISBN:

978-1-4335-2691-6

Mobipocket ISBN:

978-1-4335-2692-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

DeYoung, Kevin.

  What is the mission of the church? : making sense of social justice, shalom, and the Great Commission / Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert.

         p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN 978-1-4335-2690-9 (tp)

  1. Mission of the church. 2. Social justice—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Gilbert, Greg, 1977– II. Title.

  BV601.8.D48 2011

  262'.7—dc23

2011017072

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

To Collin, Josh, Justin, and Tullian—

Contents

Acknowledgments

11

PART 1: UNDERSTANDING OUR MISSION

1

A Common Word in Need of a Careful Definition

15

2

What in the World Does Jesus Send Us into the World to Do?

29

PART 2: UNDERSTANDING OUR CATEGORIES

3

The Whole Story

Seeing the Biblical Narrative from the Top of Golgotha

67

4

Are We Missing the Whole Gospel?

Understanding the Good News

91

5

Kings and Kingdoms

Understanding God's Redemptive Rule

115

6

Making Sense of Social Justice

Exposition

141

7

Making Sense of Social Justice

Application

173

8

Seeking Shalom

Understanding the New Heavens and the New Earth

195

PART 3: UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE DO AND WHY WE DO IT

9

Zealous for Good Works

Why and How We Do Good, both as Individuals and as Churches

223

  10

The Great Commission Mission

What It Means and Why It Matters

241

Epilogue: So You're Thinking of Starting a New Kind of Church?

Advice for the Young, Motivated, and Missional

251

Bible Credits

267

General Index

269

Scripture Index

273

Acknowledgments

IT’S FUN TO WRITE acknowledgments because saying “thank you” is enjoyable. But it’s also difficult because we can’t possibly say thank you to everyone we should. Here’s an abbreviated list.

We are grateful for all the good people at Crossway who have been excited about this book and eager to make an interesting concept into an attractive read.

We appreciate Andrew Wolgemuth for always being in our corner and providing thoughtful counsel and support.

We love our churches—University Reformed Church and Third Avenue Baptist Church. It is a privilege to be in mission with and through you.

A thousand thanks to Justin Taylor. You are a great friend, editor, thinker, and encourager. It’s not an exaggeration to say this project would not have happened without you.

We’re glad to have good friends like Collin, Tullian, Josh, and Justin, who sharpen us and make us laugh.

Thanks to Mark Dever, D. A. Carson, and Tim Keller for reading through the manuscript and providing invaluable feedback. Many others read through portions of the manuscript. The book is stronger because of good push-back from a lot of smart people. Of course, we don’t claim their support for every jot and tittle.

Lastly, we thank our families. We love you deeply, but still not as well as we should.

PART 1

A Common Word in Need of a Careful Definition

If everything is mission, nothing is mission. —STEPHEN NEILL

IF YOU'RE READING THIS BOOK, you’re probably a Christian. And if a Christian, you probably take some kind of interest in the church. And if you’ve been involved in a church, you’ve probably wondered from time to time, “What are we trying to accomplish anyway?” Maybe as a pastor you’ve asked yourself, “With everyone interested in their own program and passionate about their own cause, are we even aiming at the same thing?” Maybe as a Christian businessman or stay-at-home mom you’ve thought, “I know we are supposed to glorify God. But under that big umbrella, what does God want our church to be doing?”

At their root, these questions all ask the same thing: What is the mission of the church?

The question is deceptively complex and potentially divisive. For starters, what do we even mean by mission? And if that can be settled, we then face more difficult questions. Is the mission of the church discipleship or good deeds or both? Is the mission of the church the same as the mission of God? Is the mission of the church distinct from the responsibilities of individual Christians? Is the mission of the church a continuation of the mission of Jesus? If so, what was his mission anyway?

Related to these questions are others: What should be the church’s role in pursuing social justice?Are we right to even use that phrase, and what do we mean by it? Does God expect the church to change the world, to be about the work of transforming its social structures? What about the kingdom? How do we build the kingdom of God? Or are we even capable of building the kingdom? How does the kingdom relate to the gospel? How does the gospel relate to the whole story line of the Bible? And how does all of this relate to mission?

Despite all these questions, there is a lot that evangelicals can agree on when it comes to mission: the gospel is, at the very least, the good news of Jesus’s death and resurrection; proclamation is essential to the church’s witness; heaven and hell are real; people are lost without Jesus; bodies matter as well as souls; and good deeds as the fruit of transformed lives are not optional. But if we are to find a lasting and robust agreement on mission praxis and mission priorities, we must move past generalities and build our theology of mission using the right categories and the right building blocks. In other words, as we grasp key concepts like kingdom, gospel, and social justice, we will be better able to articulate a careful, biblically faithful understanding of the mission of the church. And just as important, we’ll be able to pursue obedience to Christ in a way that is more realistic, freeing, and, in the long run, fruitful.

What Is Mission?

Before going any further in answering the question posed in this book’s title, we should acknowledge the difficulty in the question itself. A big part of the problem in defining the mission of the church is defining the word mission. Because mission is not a biblical word like covenant or justification or gospel, determining its meaning for believers is particularly difficult. We could do a study of the word gospel and come to some pretty firm biblical conclusions about “What is the Gospel?”—and we will, later in this book!1 But mission is a bit trickier. On the one hand the Latin verb mittere corresponds to the Greek verb apostellein, which occurs 137 times in the New Testament. So mission is not exactly extrabiblical. But as a noun, mission does not occur in the Bible, which makes the question of this book more difficult.

The answer to the question, “What is the mission of the church?” depends, to a large degree, on what is meant by “mission.” One could make a case that glorifying God and enjoying him forever is the mission of the church, because that is our chief end as redeemed believers. Someone else might argue that loving God and loving neighbor is the best description of our mission, because those are the greatest commandments. And someone else might borrow from the nineteenth-century hymn and argue that trust and obey is the essence of our mission, because that is the great call of the gospel message. In one sense we would be foolish to argue with any of these answers. If mission is simply a synonym for living a faithful Christian life, then there are dozens of ways to answer the question, “What is the mission of the church?”

But isn’t it wise to aim for a more precise definition of such a common word? We’ve never met a Christian who was against mission. In fact, every church we’ve ever known would say they are passionate about mission. So shouldn’t we try to be clear what we are all for? Christians have long seen the importance of carefully defining other theological words like Trinity, essence, and inerrancy.2 Theology will not go far without careful attention to distinctions and definitions. So why not work toward a definition of mission? Christians often talk about mission trips, mission fields, and mission work, so it would seem to be a good idea at least to attempt to define what we are talking about. Granted, word meanings can change, and it may not be possible to rein in the definition of mission after fifty years of expansion. But it seems to us that a more precise definition is necessary, if for no other reason than the conviction that Stephen Neill’s quip is spot-on: “If everything is mission, nothing is mission.”3

But where to start with a definition? In his influential book Transforming Mission, David Bosch rightly argues, “Since the 1950s there has been a remarkable escalation in the use of the word ‘mission’ among Christians. This went hand in hand with a significant broadening of the concept, at least in certain circles.”4 It used to be that mission referred pretty narrowly to Christians sent out cross-culturally to convert non-Christians and plant churches. But now mission is understood much more broadly. Environmental stewardship is mission. Community renewal is mission. Blessing our neighbors is mission. Mission is here. Mission is there. Mission is everywhere. We are all missionaries. As Christopher Wright puts it, disagreeing with Stephen Neill’s quote, “If everything is mission . . . everything is mission.”5The ambiguity of the term mission is only augmented by the recent proliferation of terms like missional and missio Dei. It’s no wonder Bosch concludes a few pages later, “Ultimately, mission remains undefinable.”6

But perhaps a common definition is not yet a lost cause. Before giving up on a definition, Bosch acknowledges that mission, at least in traditional usage, “presupposes a sender, a person or persons sent by the sender, those to whom one is sent, and an assignment.”7 Though his broader theology of mission is quite different from what we will propose in this book, and though he doesn’t like many of the ways this traditional understanding was employed, Bosch is on to something here. At its most basic, the term mission implies two things to most people: (1) being sent and (2) being given a task. The first point makes sense because mission comes from a Latin word (mittere) meaning “to send.” The second point is implied in the first. When sent on a mission, we are sent to dosomething—and not everything, either, but rather we are given a particular assignment. On a street level, people basically know what mission means. For example, the old TV show Mission: Impossible always involved a specific goal that Peter Graves was supposed to accomplish. Companies spend millions every year honing their “mission statements,” and fast-food restaurants even post “Our Mission” on the wall to assure us they’re fanatically focused on serving us the best burgers in town. Even in the world around us, everyone understands that a mission is that primary thing you set out to accomplish. Most every organization has something, as opposed to other things, that it does and must do, and it understands that thing to be its mission. We think the same is true of the church.

In his study of mission in John’s Gospel, Andreas Köstenberger proposes a working definition along the same lines: “Mission is the specific task or purpose which a person or group seeks to accomplish.”8 Notice again the key concepts of being sent and being given a task. Likewise, John Stott has argued that mission is not everything the church does, but rather describes “everything the church is sent into the world to do.”9 We are convinced that if you ask most Christians, “What is the mission of the church?” they will hear you asking, “What is the specific task or purpose that the church is sent into the world to accomplish?” This is our working definition of mission and what we mean to ask with the title of this book.

A Correction to the Correction

Our sincere hope is that this book can be a positive contribution to the mission discussion so prevalent and so needed in the evangelical world. We want to be positive in tone. We want to build up rather than tear down. But inevitably, a fair amount of our work in these chapters will be corrective as well.

Some of what we want to correct is an overexpansive definition that understands mission to be just about every good thing a Christian could do as a partner with God in his mission to redeem the whole world.10 But we are not antimissional.11 More and more, missional simply means being “on mission”—conscious of how everything we do should serve the mission of the church, being winsome and other-centered and Good Samaritan–like with those outside the community of faith, and having a sanctified strategy of being intentional and “attractional” for those who don’t know Christ. It is often shorthand for “get out of your holy huddle and go engage your community with the gospel.” We are all for that. Every Christian should be. We are not out to tar and feather any Christian who dares put -al on the end of mission. Even less do we want to cast aspersions on many of our friends who happily use the word and usually mean very good things by it.

Nevertheless, it is not wrong to probe the word missional. It’s a big trunk that can smuggle a great deal of unwanted baggage. Being suspicious of every mention of the word is bad, but raising concerns about how the word is sometimes used is simply wise.

With that in mind, we register a few concerns about how missional thinking has sometimes played out in the conversation about the church’s mission:

1. We are concerned that good behaviors are sometimes commended but in the wrong categories. For example, many good deeds are promoted under the term social justice, when we think “loving your neighbor” is often a better category. Or, folks will talk about transforming the world, when we think “faithful presence” is a better way to describe what we are trying to do and actually can do in the world. Or, sometimes well-meaning Christians talk about “building the kingdom” or “building for the kingdom,” when actually the verbs associated with the kingdom are almost always passive (enter, receive, inherit). We’d do better to speak of living as citizens of the kingdom, rather than telling our people that they build the kingdom.

2. We are concerned that in our newfound missional zeal we sometimes put hard “oughts” on Christians where there should be inviting “cans.” You ought to do something about human trafficking. You ought to do something about AIDS. You ought to do something about lack of good public education. When you say “ought,” you imply that if the church does not tackle these problems, we are being disobedient. We think it would be better to invite individual Christians, in keeping with their gifts and calling, to try to solve these problems rather than indicting the church for “not caring.”

3. We are concerned that in all our passion for renewing the city or tackling social problems, we run the risk of marginalizing the one thing that makes Christian mission Christian: namely, making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Before we go any farther down the missional-corrective road, though, perhaps it would be helpful to make clear at the outset what we do and do not want to accomplish with this book.

We do not want:

Christians to be indifferent toward the suffering around them and around the world

Christians to think evangelism is the only thing in life that really counts

Christians who risk their lives and sacrifice for the poor and disadvantaged to think their work is in any way suspect or is praiseworthy only if it results in conversions

Christians to retreat into holy huddles or be blissfully unconcerned to work hard and make an impact in whatever field or career to which the Lord calls them

Christians to stop dreaming of creative, courageous ways to love their neighbors and impact their cities

We want to underline all those bullet points, star them, mark them with highlighter, and write them on our hearts. It’s far too easy to get our heads right, but our hearts and hands wrong.

Having said all that, however, here’s some of what we do want:

We want to make sure the gospel—the good news of Christ’s death for sin and subsequent resurrection—is of first importance in our churches.

We want Christians freed from false guilt—from thinking the church is either responsible for most problems in the world or responsible to fix these problems.

We want the crystal-clear and utterly unique task of the church—making disciples of Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father—put front and center, not lost in a flurry of commendable concerns.

We want Christians to understand the story line of the Bible and think more critically about specific texts within this story.

We want the church to remember that there is something worse than death and something better than human

flourishing. If we hope only for renewed cities and

restored bodies in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.

In correcting certain aspects of some missional thinking, we realize that missional thinking itself is striving to correct abuses of traditional missiology. Both corrections may be necessary at times. Hopefully no evangelical would say (or think), “Ah, let it all burn up. Who cares about food and water for the poor? Who gives a rip about HIV? Give ’em the gospel for the soul and ignore the needs of the body.” This is what missional thinking is against. And similarly, we hope no evangelical would say (or think) the opposite: “Sharing the gospel is offensive and to be avoided. As long as the poor have job training, health care, and education—that’s enough. The world needs more food, not more sermons.” This is what we trust missional thinking is not for.

A Prayer for Humility and Understanding

The truth is that both sides have some important things to say to one another, and we should be careful in our mutual correction not to overcompensate. At their best, missional thinkers are warning the church against a careless, loveless indifference to the problems and potential opportunities all around us, a dualistic disregard for the whole person. On the other hand, a (usually) different group of Christians fears overly optimistic (and exhausting) utopian dreams, a loss of God-centeredness, and a diminishment of the church’s urgent message of Christ crucified for hell-bound sinners.

Both are real dangers. We admit we are probably more sensitive to the second danger. And indeed one of the aims of this book is to guard the church from these errors. But we fully understand that many Christians, perhaps even the two of us, are often in danger of passing by the wounded man on the Jericho road. One of the challenges of this book—probably the biggest challenge—is that we may be seen as (or actually be!) two guys only paying lip service to good deeds. While we hope this book gives Christians a better handle on disputed texts and better categories for thinking of their service in the world, we would be disappointed to discover a year from now that our work did anything to discourage radical love and generosity for hurting people. Both of us, although far from perfect examples, have often given to hurting people and have supported organizations and individuals who work to alleviate suffering. Both our churches are involved in mercy ministry at home and abroad. All that to say, we want to be—and we want our congregants and all our readers to be—the sort of “just person” Tim Keller describes as living “a life of honesty, equity, and generosity in every aspect of his or her life.”12

And yet this book is not about “generous justice.” It is about the mission of the church. We want to help Christians articulate and live out their views on the mission of the church in ways that are more theologically faithful, exegetically careful, and personally sustainable.

A Pastoral Approach

At the beginning of a book it is often helpful to understand what kind of work you are reading. This is not a book by and for biblical or theological scholars. We will deal with a lot of texts and interact with a lot of theology (and hopefully will do so responsibly), but we are not attempting a scholarly monograph on a biblical theology of mission. We are not trying to tell mission boards what to do or to instruct missionaries on how to do their work, though we would like to think this book might be helpful to both groups. We are pastors, writing for the “average” Christian and the “ordinary” pastor trying to make sense of a whole host of missiological questions. From many conversations in print, online, and in person our sense is that this whole issue of mission (along with related issues like kingdom, social justice, shalom, cultural mandate, and caring for the poor) is the most confusing, most discussed, most energizing, and most potentially divisive issue in the evangelical church today. It is certainly a likely fault line in the so-called young, restless, and Reformed movement.

In doing research for this book we read a number of blogs and articles and a big stack of books. From time to time we’ll cite these explicitly in order to interact with real people and their ideas. But we will leave a lot of our research in the background. We do this for two reasons: (1) so as not to distract the reader with gobs of footnotes, and (2) so as not to give any impression that we are trying to size up the missional church. We don’t attempt to define missional, and we aren’t trying to divide the missiological landscape into good guys and bad guys. We really don’t want this to be an us-against-them kind of book. But we do want to respond to potential objections and interact with different missiological approaches. Hence, we tried to make our missions-related reading deep and wide.13

Back to the Question at Hand

So what is the mission of the church? We’ve kept you in suspense long enough. In short, we will argue that the mission of the church is summarized in the Great Commission passages14—the climactic marching orders Jesus issues at the ends of the Gospels and at the beginning of Acts. We believe the church is sent into the world to witness to Jesus by proclaiming the gospel and making disciples of all nations. This is our task. This is our unique and central calling.

That’s the case we will seek to make in the next chapter, looking both at the Great Commission passages themselves and at several other texts that are often suggested as alternative or additional commissions for the church. The next six chapters (part 2) explore a number of larger theological concepts that are always at issue in these discussions of mission. Chapter 3 asks what the main thrust of the Bible’s story line is and how that affects our understanding of the church’s mission. Chapter 4 seeks to understand the structure and content of the gospel message itself and asks whether the gospel of forgiveness of sins through Jesus is “too small.” Chapter 5 considers the Bible’s teaching on the kingdom of God and how we relate to it. Chapters 6 and 7 form a pair, exploring the idea of “social justice” and looking carefully at several biblical texts relating to justice. In chapter 8 we think about God’s intention to remake the world, and consider what that means for the church’s activity in the world. Chapter 9 is our attempt to think practically about what all this means. If the mission of the church is proclamation and disciple making, then what is the theological motivation for good deeds? And how might a local church think about what it ought to be doing? Finally, chapter 10 offers a concluding perspective and an encouragement to all of us to recommit ourselves to the great work our Lord has given us.

One last word before we launch into things: We want to say again that we strongly support churches undertaking mercy ministries in their communities. Both of our churches have programs and support missionaries that aim to meet physical needs while also hoping to share the gospel whenever possible. Though we do not believe that the mission of the church is to build the kingdom or to partner with God in remaking the world, this does not mean we are against cultural engagement. Our point is simply that we must understand these endeavors in the right theological categories and embrace them without sacrificing more explicit priorities. We should not cheapen good deeds by making them only a means to some other end (evangelism), but neither do we want to exaggerate our responsibility by thinking it is our duty to build the kingdom through our good deeds. Similarly, we should not overspiritualize social action by making it equivalent to God’s shalom. As the church loves the world so loved by God, we will work to relieve suffering wherever we can, but especially eternal suffering.15

1See also Greg Gilbert, What Is the Gospel? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), and D. A. Carson, "What Is the Gospel?—Revisited," in For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper, ed. Sam Storms and Justin Taylor (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 147–70.

2Jonathan Edwards, in his famous treatise The End for Which God Created the World, went so far as to distinguish between a chief end, an ultimate end, an inferior end, and a subordinate end. See John Piper, God's Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2006).

3Quoted in Keith Ferdinando, "Mission: A Problem of Definition," Themelios 33, no. 1; http://thegospelcoalition.org/publications/33–1/mission-a-problem-of-definition.

4David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1991), 1.

5Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God's People: A Biblical Theology of the Church's Mission (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 26; emphasis added. The disagreement, however, should not be exaggerated. Neill allows for a broad scope of Christian activities, but would place these within a correct theology of the church and a correct theology of ministry. In other words, mission is not everything, but that doesn't mean the church does only one thing. Thanks to David Reimer for drawing our attention to this point.

6Ibid., 9.

7Ibid., 1.

8Andreas J. Köstenberger, The Missions of Jesus and the Disciples according to the Fourth Gospel: With Implications for the Fourth Gospel's Purpose and the Mission of the Contemporary Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 199. The full quotation reads, "Mission is the specific task or purpose which a person or group seeks to accomplish, involving various modes of movement, be it sending or being sent, coming and going, descending and ascending, gathering by calling others to follow, or following."

9John R. W. Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World: What the Church Should Be Doing Now! (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1975), 30.

10For example, Reggie McNeal says "the missional church is the people of God partnering with God in his redemptive mission in the world." Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009), 24.

11We hope it goes without saying that we are not anti- our brothers in the Acts 29 and Redeemer networks. This book is not written to critique them, and we are confident they share our desire to make gospel proclamation and discipleship central in the mission of the church.

12Timothy Keller, Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just (New York: Dutton, 2010), 17.

13Among the books we read in part or (more often) in whole are: Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World; Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990); Newbigin, The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994); Bosch, Transforming Mission; P. T. O'Brien, Gospel and Mission in the Writings of Paul: An Exegetical and Theological Analysis (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995); Darrell Guder, ed., Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998); Köstenberger, The Missions of Jesus and the Disciples according to the Fourth Gospel; James F. Engel and William A. Dyrness, Changing the Mind of Missions (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000); Andreas J. Köstenberger and Peter T. O'Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2001); Mark R. Gornik, To Live in Peace: Biblical Faith and the Changing Inner City (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002); Cornelius Plantinga, Engaging God's World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002); Eckhard J. Schnabel, Early Christian Mission,2 vols. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004); Albert M. Wolters, Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005); David J. Hesselgrave, Paradigms in Conflict: 10 Key Questions in Christian Missions Today (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006); Ed Stetzer and David Putnam, Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community (Nashville: B&H, 2006); Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2006); Craig Van Gelder, The Ministry of the Missional Church: Community Led by the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007); Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2007); McNeal, Missional Renaissance; James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010); Keller, Generous Justice; John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010); David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2010); M. David Sills, Reaching and Teaching: A Call to Great Commission Obedience (Chicago: Moody, 2010); Timothy Tennent, Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the Twenty-first Century (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2010); David VanDrunen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010); Wright, The Mission of God's People; Michael Horton, The Gospel Commission: Recovering God's Strategy for Making Disciples (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011).

14Matt. 28:16–20; Mark 13:10; 14:9; Luke 24:44–49; Acts 1:8. See chapter 2 for discussion.

15See D. A. Carson's editorial in Themelios 33, no. 2; http://thegospelcoalition.org/publications/33–2/editorial.

What in the World Does Jesus Send Us into the World to Do?

MISSION, AS WE TRIED to demonstrate in the previous chapter, is not everything we do in Jesus’s name, nor everything we do in obedience to Christ. Mission is the task we are given to fulfill. It’s what Jesus sends us into the world to do. And if we want to figure out what Jesus sends disciples into the world to do, we think the best place to look is the Great Commission.

A Few Other Options First

Before we state our reasons for focusing on the Great Commission, and before we get to the Great Commission texts themselves and how they support our thesis above, it might be helpful to examine a few other passages that are sometimes pushed forward as offering a different and fuller mission identity for the church. As you’ll see, our problem is not with applying these texts to our contemporary context, or even with using them to shape our missional identity. Every passage of Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for us (2 Tim. 3:16). But—and here’s the rub—every passage is profitable only if understood and applied in the right way.

Genesis 12:1–3

We begin with Yahweh’s call to Abram:

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:1–3)

Everyone agrees that this is a pivotal text not just in Genesis but also in God’s grand plan of redemptive history. After a host of curses (Gen. 3:14, 17; 4:11; 5:29; 9:25) and lots of sin run amok, Genesis 12 bursts onto the scene with the promise of universal blessing. At last, here’s a spot of good news and a beautiful revelation both of God’s mission and of marching orders for Abraham.

But whereas everyone recognizes Genesis 12 as a key passage in the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation, others also see it “as one of the most important places in a missiological reading of the Bible.”1 What they mean is that Genesis 12 reveals the heart of God’s mission and ours—namely, to be a blessing. Reggie McNeal argues that in this “simple but far-reaching covenant . . . the people of God are charged with the responsibility and enjoy the privilege to bless everyone.”2 Likewise, Christopher Wright maintains that “it would be entirely appropriate, and no bad thing, if we took this text as ‘the Great Commission’. . . .There could be worse ways of summing up what mission is supposed to be all about than ‘Go . . . and be a blessing.’ ”3 Later he concludes, “The Abrahamic covenant is a moral agenda for God’s people as well as a mission statement by God.”4 In missional thinking, Genesis 12 is more than a promise. It’s more than a revelation of God’s ultimate mission in redemptive history. It is a command for the children of Abraham to help the nations experience all the good gifts that God longs for them to enjoy.5

At first, a closer look at the grammar of Genesis 12 seems to support a “missional” understanding of the text. There are two imperative verbs: “go” in verse 1 and “be a blessing” at the end of verse 2. So, contrary to the ESV translation, it looks as though Abraham has two commands: go and bless. Wright makes much of the grammar, arguing that “both [verbs] therefore have the nature of a charge or a mission laid on Abraham. . . . ‘Be a blessing’ thus entails a purpose and goal that stretches into the future. It is, in short, missional.”6 But it’s curious that Wright builds so much on this foundation when earlier he acknowledges that “it is a feature of Hebrew (as indeed it is in English) that when two imperatives occur together the second imperative may sometimes express either the expected result or the intended purpose of carrying out the first imperative.”7 In other words, the second grammatical imperative may not have the force of an imperative, but rather of a purpose or a result of obeying the first imperative. In fact, our English translations8 all render the end of verse 2 “you shall be a blessing” or “so that you shall be a blessing” or something similar. There are several other places in the Old Testament where an imperative verb should be translated as a result clause, rather than a command. Take Genesis 42:18 for example, where Joseph says, “Do this and you will live.” Both “do this” and “live” are imperative in form, but “live” is also clearly to be understood as the result of “doing this.” It’s not another command. We think this is how the second imperative in Genesis 12:1–2 should be translated—as a result clause, rather than as a command.9 This means, to quote Eckhard Schnabel, “Abraham does not receive an assignment to carry YHWH’s blessings to the nations; rather, the nations are promised divine blessing if and when they see Abraham’s faith in YHWH and if and when they establish contact with his descendants.”10

In talking about Hebrew grammar we quickly realize two things: (1) most people reading this book are ready for us to stop talking about Hebrew grammar, and (2) we are not experts in Hebrew grammar. Some (but not all) Hebrew scholars may disagree with the last paragraph. But even if the verb should be translated as a command, or even if it has that force no matter how you slice it, we still think the “missional” reading of the text says too much. Even if Abraham is told, “Go be a blessing,” the entire story of the patriarchs demonstrates that God is the one doing the blessing, quite apart from any blessing strategy on the part of Abraham. True, God’s blessing may be dependent (in a proximate way) on Abraham going. And true, Abraham’s obedience to God results in blessings on the nations. True, Abraham and his kin are interacting with Gentiles all throughout Genesis as the chosen family is the means of blessing for some peoples and cursing for others. But Abraham does not leave Ur intent on blessing the Canaanites. After Genesis 12, the narrative follows different individuals and nations whose plusses and minuses prove the promise of God that whoever blesses Abraham will be blessed, and whoever curses him will be cursed. God blesses Abraham’s family despite themselves, and he blesses those who treat Abraham well despite Abraham’s failures. This is not to suggest that Abraham’s obedience is irrelevant for God’s promised blessing. He has to go in order to be a blessing. Our point is simply that the obedient going is not going out to serve Amalekites and help them grow crops and learn to read. There is plenty of blessing to go around, but there is no evidence Abraham ever takes his call in chapter 12 as a commission to go find ways to bless the nations.

This doesn’t in any way mean it’s wrong for Christians to bless others, but it does mean we should not take Genesis 12:1–3 as a moral agenda or as another Great Commission. The call of Abram is not about a community blessing program. It’s about God’s unilateral promise to bless fumbling Abraham and bless the nations through faith in the promised Seed that will come from his family tree. Even when the blessing is connected to obedience, it is not the obedience of missional engagement but Abraham’s obedience in leaving his land, in circumcising his offspring (Gen. 17:10–14), and in being willing to sacrifice his son (Gen. 22:16–18). The emphasis in Genesis is on the chosen family as recipients of God’s blessing, not as the immediate purveyors of it.

Most crucially, the New Testament does not understand the call of Abram as a missional charge. Clearly, it is a glorious mission text announcing God’s plans to bless the whole world. But the blessing is not something we bestow on others as we work for human flourishing. Rather the Abrahamic blessing comes to those who trust in Abraham’s Offspring. This is Paul’s understanding in Galatians 3:9 when, after quoting Genesis 12:3 (“In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”), he concludes, “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” If there are missiological implications from Genesis, their emphasis is not “go and bless everyone” but rather “go and call the nations to put their faith in Christ.”

Exodus 19:5–6

We now turn to the well-known passage where God prepares Israel for his presence at Mount Sinai:

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. (Ex. 19:5–6)

Some argue that the language of “kingdom of priests” indicates that we are intermediaries for the presence of God in the world. The logic usually works like this: “The Bible says we are priests. And what do priests do? They mediate God’s presence. So what is our mission? We are supposed to be a kingdom of priests mediating God’s blessing to the world.” Reggie McNeal, commenting on Exodus 19, puts it like this: God “created a people to serve as his ongoing incarnational presence on the earth.”11 Christopher Wright puts it this way: “It is thus richly significant that God confers on Israel as a whole people the role of being his priesthood in the midst of the nations. . . . Just as it was the role of the priests to bless the Israelites, so it would be the role of Israel as a whole ultimately to be a blessing to the nations.”12

While it is attractive to think Israel is meant to mediate God’s blessings to the nations as a kind of incarnational presence, this is not the best way to understand Exodus 19 or the phrase “kingdom of priests.” Here are five reasons why:

1. The Levitical priesthood serves a mediatorial role not in terms of incarnating God’s presence (his presence is in the glory cloud over the ark of the covenant) but in terms of placating his anger. The primary function of the priests in the Old Testament is to mediate between God and man by administering sacrifices. The book of Hebrews understands the priestly office of Christ in largely the same way (4:14–5:10; 7:1–28; 10:1–18).

2. “Kingdom of priests” is best understood as a designation for Israel’s call to be set apart from the world and belong to God. “Kingdom of priests” is an overlapping term with (though not identical with) “holy nation.” This is why the Lord tells the people at the mountain to consecrate themselves (Ex. 19:10); they are to be holy as he is holy. Likewise, when the Exodus passage is referenced in 1 Peter 2:9, the focus once again is on holiness—abstaining from the passions of the flesh (1 Pet. 2:11–12). The image of a royal priesthood in the Old Testament and in the New Testament suggests holiness and privilege, not incarnational presence.

3. If God were giving the Israelites a missionary task to bless the non-Israelites, we might expect to see this task specified and elaborated in the Mosaic Law. Yet the rules and regulations of Sinai say nothing about a mission to the Gentiles. There are commands for Israel to express care for sojourners and foreigners in its midst, but not explicit instructions for Israel to go into the world and meet the needs of the nations.

4. The Israelites conquer the surrounding nations by military force, not by any kind of incarnational mission. The nations are more often threats to Israel’s religion than they are opportunities for service, even if God’s design all along is to save more than ethnic Jews (see Isa. 42:6; 49:6; 60:3). If Israel is supposed to mediate God’s blessing to the nations, it has a strange way of fulfilling the task.

5. The prophets never fault Israel for neglecting its missionary or international blessing mandate. God certainly cares about how his chosen people will be an attraction or a byword among the nations. But the direction is “come and see” not “go and tell.” If missional engagement were a covenant obligation, surely the Israelites would be rebuked for failing to keep this aspect of the law.13

Luke 4:16–21

A final popular missional text comes at the start of Jesus’s public ministry:

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” [Isa. 61:1–2]

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16–21)

No doubt, this text is one of the clearest statements of Jesus’s mission and the goals of his ministry. It is also one of the most misunderstood. In popular explanations, Luke 4 underscores that Jesus’s mission focused on the materially destitute and the downtrodden. In this interpretation, Jesus was both Messiah and social liberator. He came to bring the Year of Jubilee to the oppressed. He came to transform social structures and bring God’s creation back to shalom. Therefore, our mission, in keeping with Christ’s mission, is at least in part—if not in its central expression—“to extend the kingdom by infiltrating all segments of society, with preference given to the poor, and allowing no dichotomy between evangelism and social transformation (Luke 4:18–19).”14 Above all else, Luke 4 (it is argued) shows that Jesus’s mission was to serve the poor. So shouldn’t that be our mission too?