the Missionless church and the churchless mission
In our generation, the meanings of the terms ‘Mission’ and ‘Church’ are perceived so differently than from the time of the first church.
We have ended up coining terms like Australian Mission, Marathi Mission, Mukti Mission, Mission compound, mission campus, mission school and on and on. Similarly, the term ‘church’ is often used to point to a place of gathering, a building or a structure.
‘Mission’ and ‘Church’ are terms that need urgent redefining.
In the article Back to the Mission I have attempted to define what truly mission means. And in the article Never Go To Church Again, I have also explained what the church is. In a nutshell, the church is the community of disciples, not a particular structure or building. The mission is about forming these communities of disciples and bringing them to maturity by Biblical means.
The Purpose of Church and Mission
The purpose of the mission is to form new Christian communities we call ‘Church’. And the purpose of the church is to fulfil the mission, the Great Commission.
David Hesselgrave, a professor of mission, who also served as a missionary in Japan for 12 years, writes, “neither a missionless church nor a churchless mission is in accordance with the plan of God.”
Church and Mission in The New Testament
The New Testament reveals how mission and church went hand-in-hand.
Paul and Barnabas were sent out as missionaries to fulfill the Great Commission (Acts 13 & 14). Missionaries neither went out on their own nor did other agencies sent them out. It was the CHURCH who sent the missionaries.
The authority to send rested with the church and not with the individuals or any other agencies. They carried out the mission faithfully. As a result, many churches were planted.
When thousands came to Christ by Peter’s preaching they were not left to go on their own but they were formed into a community (they were all together – Acts 2:42 – 47). When Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel, those who believed were gathered together and formed into a community, a church, and then they, the churches, were committed to the Lord (Acts 14:21 – 23).
And later, some individuals from the same churches (like Timothy) were sent out on the mission with the apostles as the members of apostolic team; these teams were to carry on the mission.
Thus, in the New Testament, there were no real churches without a mission and there was no real mission or missionaries without churches. Mission always resulted in planting churches and the churches were truly carrying out their mission.
Your Church and Mission Today
Today as church leaders, we need to give serious thought to our churches and our missions.
Are our churches truly involved in the mission and fulfilling it? Or have our churches become missionless, just sustaining the activities?
If we have mission programs, are they resulting into more church planting or are we only running activities – social activities that consequently make our mission churchless?
We may or may not have thought about this matter before.
But now is the time to reconsider our churches and our missions. Pray, plan and strategise so that our churches can indeed carry out the mission given by our Lord and that our missions can result into new Christian communities, new churches.
