Stepping Forward in Missions
Last week we announced our church’s exciting next step in missions. But before we talk about where we are going, we need to acknowledge where we’ve been. Over the last five years, we have put our mission program on hold, so we can return to the Bible and understand what God wants for any mission endeavor.
In this pursuit, we developed our purpose statement for Biblical missions. In this statement we make our purpose for clear in the opening sentence, writing,
“Our purpose for missions is the local and global spread of the Gospel message to establish lifelong followers of Christ in biblically sound and doctrinally aligned churches…(see full statement here.)"
Over the next few weeks, we want to highlight the fundamental aspects of this statement and the entire document. Today, we will talk about the foundation of everything. Mission exists for Worship!
Worship & Missions
Now, that might not sound altogether surprising. For, everything exists for worship God’s glory (1 Cor 10:31; Col 3:17). But, over the years, many missions programs have drifted away from this simple premise. For, many act like disoriented tour guides—they have gotten themselves lost trying to save the lost. In For His Name, David Doran, writes about this reality, stating,
“The Student Volunteer Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries provides a powerful reminder of what happens when missions shifts its focus from God to man. The Movement began sincerely. Students at American universities organized an impressive missions effort. But what began with a focus on reaching people with the gospel ended with a handful of non-profits, focused solely on physical needs, such as the YMCA.”
But, such a loss of focus is not just a past reality. You can see it today in the modern church. We witness the slide in a variety of different ways, but there is one simple test.
Simply, ask: How do you measure mission success?
Many measure success through…
- How many missionaries the church supports
- How many baptisms the missionaries have performed
- How much money the church gives to missions
- How many short-term missions trips the church has taken
- How charismatic (or interesting) the church’s missionaries are
- How many members are on the missionary committee
- And many other ways…
But, the only correct answer for mission success is how well the church’s mission program seeks to glorifying God. Is our primary focus on worshipping God?
The Priority of Worship
We see worship as the core of missions, even in the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:16–20, we read,
But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and 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 commanded you…”
Did you see it? In verse 17, they saw Him and they worshipped Him. Before Jesus sends them out with authority, they worship Him. Before He gives them His ultimate mission, they worship Him. Before they make disciples, baptize, or teach (or whatever else!), the worship Him. This is important in many ways.
First, worship of Christ precedes (and supersedes) mission. Worship comes first. This means mission is simply an endeavor to seek more worship and worshippers. You find this truth in our missions statement:
“The ultimate purpose and plan for Missions is not simply more Missions. Thus, Missions is not the end result of Missions, but true Worship. We desire God is glorified through more worship, in more places, by more people.”
Missions is all about God-glorifying worship.
Again, while such a commitment may seem obvious, this is unusual in the modern church. Many operate from the principle of know, grow, go. It’s a catchy motto (and not all bad). But, its basic premise is the pinnacle of the Christian life is going! Here we find a subtle error. They change “missions as worship” into “mission is worship.” Yet, the pinnacle of all Christian life is worship, not missions.
In his book “Let the Nations Be Glad!” John Piper says it this way: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”
Mission is only one aspect of worship, more importantly missions must operate under the principles of God-honoring worship. This is a powerful and challenging sentiment, which leads to our second observation.
The Focus of Worship
Second, Worship implies obedience. We don’t worship and then hear what God wants and think: “No, this is all wrong. I can do this in a better way!” That’s not worship. Instead, we worship and obey. Yet, even in Matthew 28:17, we find some were doubtful and they don’t worship—“but some were doubtful.” They don’t fully understand who Jesus is, so they don’t worship. Now, we can imagine these same people will not understand what Jesus wants, so they fail to miss the purpose of missions—worship for God’s glory.
You could say it this way: Mission is not about you (or what you want and think). Instead, it’s about God (or what He wants and thinks). Or, as Piper states, “God is ultimate, not man.” When we forget this, we put ourselves and our methods above God. We start counting missions success by dollars, numbers, short-term trips, committees, or red pins on the world map. But, it’s not about any of that. Simply, missions is about doing God’s will in His way for His worship. In short, we must obey His commands for missions, if we want worship Him properly.
Missions for God’s Glory So, as we come to missions, we must remember it all starts with true worship. God’s glory should dictate everything we do (Rom 11:34-36; Col 1:16; 1 Cor 10:31). We see this motivated the missions of Jesus (John 4:23–24), Paul (2 Cor 4:15; Rom 15:4-13; 1 Cor 10:31; 2 Cor 4:15; Eph 3:20-21; Phil 4:20; Col 3:17), and should motivate us too (Ps 67; 1 Pet 2:9-12; Col 3:16-17; 2 Cor 4:15). This is an important realization as we talk about God’s will and way for missions in the coming weeks.