Foundational Doctrines: The Church's (O)Mission"

There is a great deal of confusion today when it comes to the real mission of the church. Churches are involved in countless numbers of programs and activities that are doing great amounts of good. However, we are often distracted by all these “good” things from the real mission of the church. While involved in all types of “community outreach programs” the church has often been guilty of the “Great Omission” rather than the “Great Commission.”

1. The real mission of the church is to “make disciples.” Jesus gave the clear “mission statement” for his followers when he said, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). The command in these verses is to “make disciples.” This is something that every Christian is commanded to do “while we are going” about our daily lives, encountering others “as we go.” The process of “making a disciple” involves baptizing them and teaching them Jesus’ commands. Christians and churches should not become distracted from the real mission of “making disciples.”

2. Disciples of Jesus are “made” to disciple others. Jesus commanded his first disciples to “follow” him and he would “MAKE” them to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). The very definition of being a true disciple of Jesus means that Jesus “made” you for the purpose of making more disciples. Therefore, if you are not trying to make other disciples, then you are not a true disciple of Christ yourself. Jesus commands you to “make disciples.” It is a command; it is not optional. It is true that we all have different talents as we work in the body of Christ (cf. Romans 12:4-8). Some people are better equipped to evangelize than others. In a similar way, the human body is full of various cells that are designed for different functions (i.e. brain cells, stem cells, white blood cells, etc.). Some cells are especially equipped for reproduction (reproductive cells: eggs, sperm). However, every cell by virtue of being a cell (by definition) divides. In the same way, while some Christians may be more talented toward evangelism, all disciples by definition are required to divide and make more disciples.

3. “Making a disciple” means teaching someone the process of being spiritually reborn so that the inner character of Jesus himself is spiritually formed inside of that person. This involves baptism but is not limited to it. Jesus did not send us out to go and baptize people. He sends us out to “make disciples” by teaching the gospel (of which baptism, although essential, is only a part). This is what Paul was stressing when he wrote, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 1:17a). The aim of our teaching should be to teach others until “Christ is formed” in them (Galatians 4:19).

4. When we teach someone to become a disciple, we trust in the power of God, not our own ability, to transform them. The power of the gospel is found in God’s righteous work through Christ’s saving acts. The power is not found in our ability to teach eloquently (1 Cor. 1:17b). God entrusts us with the “ministry” and “message” of reconciliation and God “makes his appeal” to people’s hearts through our teaching (2 Cor. 5:18-21). We “plant” and “water” and God gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:7).

The Bible says that the church is the bride and Christ is the bridegroom (Eph. 5:31-32; Rev. 19:7). The natural result of intimacy between a bride and a groom is reproduction. Disciples were “made” for this mission.