The Mission of the Church | Matthew 28:19-20, John 20:21

Why should churches connect with their neighbors? This is a great question. This question gets at this key idea: Is it the responsibility of the church to care for its members or for the whole community? What exactly is the mission of the church? I want to look at a couple of Scriptures that deal with this issue.

Go make disciples …

The first text looks at what Jesus told his disciples to do. In the passage coined “The Great Commission” found in the Gospel of Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus says:

“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 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We will not cover all the depth of the passage here in this short post, but we will argue that the Church has a responsibility to people outside of their church. It’s evident in this passage that Jesus instructs the disciples first to “go” and then make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This gets at the heart of who God is and who He called His church to be. He is a sending God, a missionary God.

Missionary God “Missio Dei”

In a passage in the Gospel of John 20:21, Jesus explains this very idea to his disciples: 

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

This passage takes place after Jesus had risen from the dead. He was letting his disciples know that He, Jesus, was part of God’s rescue plan for the world. In the same way that God the Father sent Him, Jesus was now sending his people – the church – into the world.

One of my favorite authors who writes about the missionary nature of God is Lesslie Newbigin. He was in the formative stream of the church I am part of – the Reformed Church. In his book, “The Open Secret,” Newbigin talks about a missionary God this way:

"If God is indeed the true missionary, it was said, our business is not to promote the mission of the church, but to get out into the world, find out 'what God is doing in the world,' and join forces with him.”

This is a profound concept: We are called to join the work of God, not to create it. We can’t possibly think we have what it takes to transform the world. We must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit at work and working through us.

The Church is Philadelphia

Let me tell you a story about a Catholic priest and his parish. I was sitting in a meeting at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. The priest, Monsignor Hugh Shields, was talking passionately about his community. In my mind, he truly understood what God was asking us to do as his church. Here is my recollection of his quote:

“I don’t look at the church as who shows up on Sunday, but I look at the church as this geographic radius from 21st and Wharton to Broad and McKean …. “

He listed the neighborhood – not who shows up at his church on Sunday.

The Monsignor felt this holy obligation to this neighborhood. To care for its needs, to invite people into what was happening, to be in community and relationship with them. He wanted to care for and know the people in and around the church building. In my mind, he had a good understanding of the missionary nature of God and the church.

My call is for all of us to consider caring for the Philadelphia region as part of the churches’ responsibility. This is why Easter Outreach stretches across the whole region. Let’s take on the call of the missionary God and take responsibility for the region as the Church.

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