Why Church: To Fulfil God's Mission

 

The great theologian Emil Brunner once said, "The church exists by mission as a fire exists by burning."  He meant that a sense of mission and calling gives life and meaning to the people of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus made it plain to his followers that they had a mission.  He told Peter he would build his church out of people like him, and that church would overcome the gates of death itself!  He sent his followers out two by two on a preaching tour.  After his resurrection, but before his ascension to heaven, he told them they were to go and make disciples of all nations.

This disciple-making mission was to take place in the context of churches.  While individuals went out and shared the good news, they always did it in connection with a church or group of churches.  

Early Christ followers took up this mission and transformed the ancient world.  But once Christianity become predominant, mission work weakened and nearly died.  

Thankfully, in the late 18th century, the Lord moved a British cobbler named William Carey to lead a great mission movement.  Though the vision began with him, he couldn't fulfill it alone.  So a group that eventually became known as the Baptist Mission Society formed to support him and other missionaries. 

The mission of making disciples falls both to the church as a whole and to individual Christ followers.  Sadly, many see gathering for worship at church as an end to itself.  Worship is critically important.  But just an airport terminal is the means to arrive at a destination, church gatherings are means to prepare each of us to be missionaries as we go into our communities.

God has called you to be a disciple-maker.  The best way to fulfill your mission is to belong to a local church.  It prepares and empowers you to go out and be a missionary, and provides a setting to nurture those you reach!