Missions in Scripture

Here is a list of Ten Scripture Texts on Missions, originally posted on Ed Stetzer’s Blog (which you should check out):

GENESIS 12:1-3 The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.EXODUS 19:5, 6
Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.

ISAIAH 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
Who should I send?
Who will go for Us?
I said:
Here I am. Send me.

MATTHEW 24:14
This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.

MATTHEW 28:18-20
Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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 everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

MARK 16:15
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.

LUKE 24:46-48
“This is what is written: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”

JOHN 20:21
Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

ACTS 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

1 PETER 2:9-10
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people for His possession,
so that you may proclaim the praises
of the One who called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light.
Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;
you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

The Cycle of Missions

I had a brief discussion with the folks at Missions Launch (@MissionsLaunch) regarding the last post “Defining Missions“, and they made a valid point that is worth repeating. Worship is the ultimate goal and missions is the means. However, involvement in missions tends to inspire deeper and more affectual worship from participants. Call it the Spiritual Circle of Life, the reciprocal process naturally builds on itself. Proper understanding of God’s desire for worship leads to greater commitment to be on mission. Increased involvement in missions leads to greater worship of the Father. Deeper worship leads to greater impact…you get the picture.

Hmm…it’s almost like that’s the point?

Defining Missions

WHERE’S YOUR STARTING POINT?

No place in scripture will you see that the call of missions to be compartmentalized within the local church. It is to be the life-blood of a congregation; the underlying passion that drives every aspect of each member’s personal life, as well as every ministry within the church.

I’m not proposing you begin a movement in your congregation to dismantle the mission ministry or string up your missions pastor/director/committee; our Director of Administration is a former missions pastor. Just don’t let the folks in your missions department be the only people focused on missions; their role should be training and facilitating missions throughout the rest of the church. My point is, periodical involvement in a missions program is not enough.

As John Piper states in Let the Nations Be Glad!, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” GOING on mission is a means, not the final objective. GATHERING worshipers of the Father is the chief aim of the Church because it’s the utmost priority of our God.

If you grasp a proper vision of God’s desire for mankind – that every human being would lovingly and willingly respond to Him in worship (surrender, gratitude, reverence, praise, etc.) and entrust their soul’s salvation to Him alone – then you will have a proper understanding of missions. God desires His creation to worship Him, so the Church must LIVE the MISSION of bringing others to Him in worship together.

WHAT IS OUR MISSION (HOW DO WE GATHER WORSHIPERS)?

Enlightening others to the nature and character of God, informing them of the human condition (born dead in sin) and its consequences, explaining Christ as the only means to salvation, illustrating the new life birthed in you by the Holy Spirit, baptizing those who receive salvation, instilling in them the truths of God’s Word, teaching them how to study the scriptures, helping them discover their spiritual gifts, challenging them to spiritually reproduce themselves, and charging them to maintain a mindset of sacrifice and worship to the glory of their Creator and heavenly Father.