This week, we are taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming to focus on missions. We normally have a Mission Fest but I have a hard time calling it that since we do not have a missionary joining us this year because of COVID and other reasons, so were just going to call it Missions Week. Nonetheless, it is a useful and important idea to take time to regularly consider missions and evangelism as a subject. Being a small church, we are not exactly responsible for sending out a lot of missionaries, we simply do not have the finances for that sort of thing but it does not mean we are off the hook. Quite the opposite, it means that we need to be more conscious of how we are advancing missions and evangelism because we have only so much to work with. We need to be very intentional with how we are seeking to invest in the expansion of the kingdom of God.
Before we are able to do that we need to understand the importance that evangelism and missions is to have within the church. The church exists for a couple of reasons. First, and as is the purpose of man, the church exists to worship God. And of course, when I am talking about the church I do not mean this building, this building is not the church it is simply where God’s church in Lowry South Dakota gathers Sunday morning and a handful of times throughout the week. We are the church, and just as the chief end of man is to worship God and enjoy him forever, so the chief purpose of the church is to worship God.
The second purpose of the church is the fellowship of believers. Worship is magnified when it comes from the hearts of many different people who have gathered together to offer that worship in a spirit of unity. On top of that, God has created man to be a social creature. We are created to be in relationships with others, to support each other, to lift each other up, to demonstrate our love for God by loving one another.
But neither of those answers the question of why the church remains in the world. I know how much you all enjoy Christian Fellowship, how much more enriching it is then being with nonbelievers, no matter what the situation may be, but it is not our primary responsibility in the world. If God created the church for fellowship, then we would all be in heaven where fellowship will exist in perfect unity. We were saved for praise and worship. And we will live to do that for eternity in the presence of God. But the church does not exist in the world primarily for worship because our worship is going to be perfect only when we reach heaven.
The primary responsibility of the church in the world then is evangelism. Specifically, as Jesus said to the disciples in Matthew 28:19, our primary responsibility is to make disciples. I am sure you are all quite familiar with the Great Commission that Jesus gave before ascending into heaven after the resurrection. That is where were going to begin this morning as a gives us our foundation and objective in evangelism and missions. In verse 18 Jesus says, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, as you go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The focus of that command is making disciples. Everything else in the sentence is modifying that command. The other three verbs are all participles, verbs that are simply describing that main verb. As you go, make disciples; as you are making disciples, baptize them; and as you are making disciples you teach them everything that Christ has commanded.
The first point that I want us to see here is that we are commanded to make disciples, not make people’s lives better, but make disciples. Far too often today we talk about evangelism or missions as simply “sharing the love of Jesus.” That is a great thing, and we are commanded to love others as Christ has loved us. One of the ways we demonstrate our love for Christ is by serving others. But making disciples, and therefore the primary mission of the church in this world is not about sharing the love of Jesus by social programs or actions.
Many missionaries and missionary organizations are more focused on race relations, economic improvements, or education then they are on making disciples. Now I am not saying that those programs are bad in and of themselves, there are some organizations and missionaries that must use those types of programs in order to operate in what might otherwise to be a closed country. The problem comes when those improvements to the lives of the people take precedence over making disciples. Instead of becoming a means to an end, they become an end in themselves. These missionaries spend so much of their time on the social program that there is no time left over to teach new converts all that Christ has commanded. We must be careful not to see missions as social outreach and we must be careful that we invest in ministries that are not just about making people’s lives better but are instead making disciples.
The second point that I want us to see in the great commission is that we are not make ideological adherents, not make followers of Jesus, but make disciples of Christ. The term mathetes, “disciple” does not mean follower, it means “learner.” A follower may like the teachings of Jesus, a follower may recognize their sin and like the idea of Jesus as their Savior, a follower may adhere to some of the ideals of Christianity, but a disciple is something different. A disciple, Jesus says in Luke 6:40, when he is fully trained will be just like his teacher. A disciple will make their mind, their thought patterns, their worldview completely identical to that of their teacher. This is why making disciples includes teaching them everything that Christ has commanded.
The next point that we need to see is that all Christians are commanded to participate in making disciples. There is nothing about this command that restricts it to only certain people within the church. It is not only the apostles who were commanded to make disciples but all who are a part of the church share in this responsibility. Yes, some people are more gifted in it than others and God has called them to be pastors and evangelists and teachers, but their job, as Paul says in Ephesians 4, is not to grow the church themselves, but to equip all who are in the body of Christ. “He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to do the building up of the body of Christ… (Which) causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
We cannot see our monthly or yearly missions contribution as “doing are part” for evangelism or for missions. Christ did not command us to help others make disciples, it is the church the builds up the church. That is one of the downsides to emphasizing “missions” in the way that we sometimes do. We recognize that “missionaries” are people that are gifted in evangelism just as “pastors” are people gifted in teaching or counseling. The problem comes when we begin to treat these people as “the professionals” and we leave all of the work of evangelism or teaching to them. That was and is never how God designed the church to work. Evangelists and pastors and teachers are gifted to the church for the equipping of the saints. Whether it comes to evangelism home or abroad, we cannot allow ourselves to sit on the sideline and pay “professionals” to do the job that Christ has given to each one of us. The reason for that is simply because the task is too big for only a handful of professionals to accomplish.
In Acts, Luke records for us the last words Christ had for his disciples. It was not just for his apostles but all that were gathered, likely quite a large number of disciples. We cannot be sure, but it is possible that this is the event which Paul mentions in 1st Corinthians 15 in which Christ appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. Whatever the case, Jesus promised his disciples that when they received the Holy Spirit, they would receive the power to be his witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. He was speaking about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, something that all disciples of Christ are promised. If you have been washed and renewed by the Holy Spirit, then you have been given the task of evangelism and the power to accomplish it.
The next principle that we need to understand about our command to make disciples is that we are to make disciples of all the nations. The word “nations” is the Greek word ethnos, it is where we get our word “ethnic” as in “ethnic groups.” Ethnos does not refer to an area of the land but to a body of persons united by kinship, culture, and common traditions.
When we see the command to go to all the “nations” it can lead people to believe that the great commission mainly applies to foreign missions but that could not be further from the truth. 360 million people who live in this nation may see themselves as “Americans” but we live amongst a vast number of different cultures. It is something that CJ and I have had to get use to, the culture of South Dakota is different to what we were accustomed to. Granted, the culture shock was not quite as bad as moving to Madagascar, but there is still a difference in the culture. We are seeing what happens when two very different cultures clash right now in our national politics. The ethnos, “nations” we are to go to may be a bit more similar to ourselves than in the remotest parts of the earth, but we are still commanded to make disciples even here.
As we think about missions, we must always think about it in the context of the local church and as part of an overall program of evangelism. Our first mission begins in our own home. The primary role of parents is making disciples of our children. “Here, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down when you rise up.” If we refuse to evangelize, make disciples of those within our own family then how can we step out further. That is not to say that your family must all be Christians before you can evangelize anyone else, simply that evangelism must start in the home because that is where we have the greatest impact with our lives and with our message. How can we demonstrate love for others if we fail to show love to our own families by witnessing to or discipling them?
From there we move into our community, into our own people group, our own culture. They are the ones we most understand and associate with. We know their culture, their struggles and worldviews. We share schools, teachers, entertainment, political leaders and (generally) political leanings. To know and understand what they are going through is not much of a stretch and there are not the cultural barriers that there would be in other places. We have far less to fear in becoming a stumbling block ourselves through breaking cultural taboos or the like. These are the people whose lives we know and understand, the people that we interact with on a regular basis and our love for them should show clearly through our evangelistic efforts.
From there we move out into the wider world. This is what we typically understand as missions, sending people away from their hometown and into a culture not their own. This is where we also depart from the majority of Christians simply because of the difficulty involved, both financial and emotional. Going to a culture that is not your own, learning how to interact with them and present the gospel in meaningful and effective ways is difficult. To a point, the human condition is universal, but connecting with people in a different culture takes time and effort and ability that not all have.
This is where we get into sending out missionaries. And so we must start by asking the question, “who do we send?” In selecting missionaries, Scripture lays out three principles that we are to follow; prayerful selection, affirmation of the selection, and confirmation of the selection. First, the church must be intentional in praying for God to reveal the right people for the job. When the Antioch church in Acts 13 considered it sending efforts, it is leaders spent time fasting and praying over the issue.
Second, the church must affirm their selection and that means choosing people who are qualified and gifted for gospel ministry. The biblical qualifications for an elder in a local church highlighted in 1stTimothy 3 and Titus 1 should equally apply to any missionary who is sent out. If the purpose of a missionary is to build up the local church than he should be qualified to lead.
The first qualification that Paul gives in 1st Timothy is that they must have a desire to serve. If there is reluctance, for the individual is unsure about their calling to this ministry that should serve as a clear signal that they are not being called to that ministry. Whatever the focus of the missionary work, the individual must be trained and gifted in that area. If they are looking to found a local church, then they need to be gifted in the task of planting and leading a new church. If they are coming alongside an established local church to serve in a particular way, then before we can send them out or support them as a missionary we need to be sure that they will be an asset to that church rather than a hindrance.
Ephesians 4 makes it clear that the God who gave us the great commission also gives his church the means to carry out that task by enabling individuals within the larger body such as evangelists, pastors and teachers. That is why it is important for someone, before they are sent out as a missionary to prove their worth and ability at home. In fact, what we see in Acts 13 is that Paul and Barnabas who were set apart as missionaries were the best in the church in Antioch. They were not simply gifted men who were also qualified for ministry, they were part of the leaders of the church in Antioch and they were chosen because they were the best men for the job.
The church affirms their selection by recognizing the call of the missionary and affirming their partnership with one being sent out through the laying on of hands where the church visually demonstrates its role as the mediating sending agency of God.
In sending them, we are instructed to send them in a manner worthy of God as John says in his third letter commending Gaius. “You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing for the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.” This begins by making sure that they are equipped for their work theologically. Before sending anyone out to teach, the church should feel confident that they will accurately handle the word of truth, especially when they are not under the direct supervision of the elders of the church. Further training is often part of a missionaries journey before they even make it to the country or culture that they are being sent to.
Second, the church needs to commit to praying for the missionary. On a number of occasions, the apostle Paul sought the partnership of churches through prayer. He asked the Ephesian church to pray for him to be bold, he asked the Colossian church to pray for an open door and for clarity of the message, he asked the Roman church to pray for protection, and the Thessalonian church to pray for the spread and the glorification of the word as well as for protection from evil men. Partnering with anyone in ministry comes with a mandate to pray, especially for those who are separated from the local body who were unable to bear their burdens and a face-to-face way.
Finally, the church should send the missionary financially in a manner worthy of God. The implication being that the glory of God is at stake and how we send her missionaries. It begins by understanding the costs involved in the missionary work and being sure that the one who is sent is well taken care of. Some people become frustrated or resentful when they see the amount of money a missionary needs, not understanding that for many missionaries, even those in very poor countries, their cost of support exceeds the pay of the churches own pastor. They may feel like keeping the missionary impoverished keeps them humble where shows some extra spirituality on their part. But that is never something called for in Scripture. Quite the opposite. In fact, Paul tells Timothy that elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. Nowhere does Scripture make poverty a sign of spirituality. We should work hard to provide generously for those who are serving abroad, especially those in the most difficult circumstances so that they are never in fear or want.
Supporting a missionary should never be seen as a duty to be fulfilled or a way of satisfying our responsibility to make disciples. Instead, we should see supporting a missionary as a privilege that affords us the opportunity to partner with them as fellow workers in the truth, working to make disciples at home while they go to make disciples in a place that we cannot reach on a daily basis. Just as we are responsible for bearing one another’s burdens within the local church, we should be conscious of and actively seeking to bear the burdens of those we support in missions.
We come now to our time celebrating the Lord’s table together. The celebration of communion is a constant reminder of the extent God has gone to in order to fulfill his promises. And it is a reminder that should propel us forward in absolute faith. Not in our own power and ability but because of the sovereignty of God and the completed work of Christ upon the cross.
Celebrating the Lord’s table is only for those who are in a right relationship with God. It is only for those who have come to recognize their spiritual poverty, who have come to a state of mourning over their sin and repented of the sin that dominated their life and accepted the forgiveness that Jesus our Lord has granted. We practice open communion which means if you are visiting our church today and you have experienced God’s provision of your ultimate spiritual needs then we welcome you to join in this celebration of the sacrifice of Jesus.
I will ask the ushers to come up and pass out the elements, and while they do that, take this time to reflect on the Forgiveness that you have been granted, and any sin that you are continuing to struggle with. Especially the sin of the lack of faith in the promises of God.