On Mission With Christ Community
They were a really nice and very warm couple who, after visiting several times on Sunday mornings, were ready to consider making Christ Community their church home. Having relocated to Kansas City, they had thoughtful questions reflecting the priorities they were looking for in a faith community. After a couple of doctrinal inquiries, they asked this question, “How much of Christ Community’s budget is given to missions?”
While this question was well-intentioned, it is our conviction that it reflects an impoverished understanding of the church and its mission in the world. At Christ Community, we believe that 100% of our budget is missional. Although we have outreach ministry partners that are included in a separate budget line item, our focus is not solely on a “missions” approach but rather a “missional” mindset. This mindset is deeply embedded in our compelling mission to be a caring family of multiplying disciples influencing our community and world for Jesus Christ.
To gain greater understanding and clarity about Christ Community, let’s first explore what a mission’s approach encompasses.
A Missions Approach
If you have been part of a local church for some time, you have probably heard visiting missionaries share stories and pictures brought back from remote parts of the globe. Visible in church buildings as well as on church websites, there are pictures of missionaries who receive financial support, along with a global map pinpointing where they are serving. Frequently, the word “missions” is used to connote something that some very spiritual people do with awe-inspiring sacrifice by going to faraway places to reach people who need to hear about Christ. Only some are sent, while most of us stay home. This “missions” approach is framed geographically and cross-culturally and primarily includes the tasks of Bible translation, evangelism, discipleship, and church planting.
Much of the motivation for this “missions” approach is driven by the rightful realization of the peril of human eternal destination without Christ, as well as the reductionistic idea that what really only matters for eternity are people’s souls and the Bible. Souls endure, while the rest of this world is not going to last. It was all going to burn someday. Many human endeavors and work were regarded as a necessary distraction at best, a kind of futility akin to rearranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic.
In addition, a “missions” approach was fueled by a heightened eschatological urgency built around the contemporary “fulfillment” of prophecy regarding the modern nation of Israel. An updated prophetic timeline meant Jesus would soon return, intensifying the urgency to win souls before it was too late.
How are we to think of a “missions” approach for the local church? A “missions” mindset has several commendable aspects. The very nature of the local church is to be outwardly focused. Theologian Craig Van Gelder writes, “The church created by the Spirit is missionary in nature—it is called, gathered and sent into the world to participate fully in God’s mission. It is crucial for a congregation to understand its missionary nature if it is to live into all that God intends.”[1] In this missionary enterprise the church is called not merely to a local witness, but to extend its witness globally.[2] As John Wesley once put it, “The world is my parish.[3]” A “missions” approach also takes seriously the call to evangelism and the compelling need to reach all peoples in the world with the good news of Jesus. In addition, the call to follow Jesus involves sacrifice, taking up one’s cross, and embracing uncomfortable and inconvenient obedience with a view of eternity in mind. Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred for his faith, put it clearly. “When Christ calls a person, he bids them come and die.“[4]
Yet we must also emphasize that a “missions” approach has some theological and missiological weaknesses. Viewing the church’s mission primarily through geographical or cross-cultural lenses often neglects the significance of vocational and sociological stewardship, as well as the true essence of what neighborly love entails and requires. While the Great Commission’s call to make disciples is vitally important, it often overlooks the goodness of the material world and the foundational importance of the Cultural Mandate established in original creation.[5] The Great Commission is built upon the foundation of the Cultural Mandate; both are inextricably linked and foundational to the church’s comprehensive mission in the world.
In addition, although there is a good deal of emphasis on the gathered church in supporting “missions,” there is often little if any emphasis on the scattered church on mission within various vocational spheres. A “missions” approach often promotes an instrumental view of human work rather than an intrinsic one. Paid work is often seen primarily as a means to support the work of “missions” rather than, first and foremost, as an act of worship in itself—something that is spiritually formative and serves as a plausible salt and light gospel witness.[6]
Full-time Christian work is usually ascribed to only a select few followers of Jesus, such as pastors, missionaries, or parachurch workers, rather than recognizing that all followers of Jesus are in “full-time Christian work” regardless of their workplace callings. As Dorothy Sayers has rightly said, “the only Christian work is good work well done.[7]” Let’s now more fully explore our missional approach.
Our Missional Approach
A missional framework views the mission of the church through a robust, compelling, and coherent biblical theology carefully mined from the entire canon of Holy Scripture. We are people of the Book, encompassing everything from Genesis to Revelation. We take seriously the goodness of God’s created physical world and the stewardship we have been entrusted with in the Cultural Mandate to “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it and have dominion.”[8] We also embrace our creation job description to cultivate and protect God’s created world.[9]
At the core of our missional approach is Jesus’ teaching on the Great Commandment, which calls us to love God and our neighbor. The Great Commandment compels us to love our neighbors both near and far, primarily in and through the paid and unpaid work we do every day.[10] Our calling in the Great Commandment requires loving our neighbor with Christlike compassion, as well as with our economic capacity.[11]
We also take seriously Jesus’ teaching on the Great Commission calling us to make disciples of all nations, and we recognize that in order to make disciples we must first become disciples of Jesus. We invite all who embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior to respond to his Great Invitation—to take up his yoke and learn from Jesus how to live their lives like Jesus would if he were in their place. [12]
Discipleship is, first and foremost, a path of intimacy with Jesus, leading to character transformation over time. In this with God life, we understand true discipleship—empowered by the Holy Spirit—embraces the precepts, practices, and patterns of Jesus, influencing and informing all dimensions of personal and communal life.
We believe that the good news of Jesus’ kingdom and the cross must be understood together. This message is meant not only for redeemed new creation human beings but also for the renewal of all creation.[13] Our missional approach recognizes that in redemptive history we are currently in the “already-not-fully-yet” kingdom, which looks forward to and anticipates the future of a new heavens and new earth. We understand this unfolding future as having strong strands of continuity with the present material world and not the radical discontinuity of a heaven removed from our current existence.
The imagery of eschatological fire in Scripture is seen as primarily symbolic of purification and not eradication.[14] We take seriously Jesus’ words in Revelation that he is making all things new, not all new things.[15] While we believe people’s souls matter a great deal and we are called to boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus for all peoples, we also believe that every square inch of this world belongs to Christ, and all of our Father’s world matters. The Gospel, when properly understood and embraced, speaks into every nook and cranny of our lives. It is not just a select few that are sent as missionaries; rather, all of us are sent as missionaries to the world.
Theologian Craig Van Gelder insightfully captures the essence of the missional approach.
“The missional church conversation brings together two streams of understanding God’s work in the world. First, God has a mission within all of creation-the missio Dei. Second, God brought redemption to bear on all of life within creation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ–the kingdom of God. This redemptive work of God through Christ is best understood in terms of its announcement and inauguration by Jesus as the presence of the kingdom of God in the world. A missional understanding of God’s work in the world from this perspective is framed as follows: God is seeking to bring his kingdom, the redemptive reign of God in Christ, to bear on every dimension of life within all the world so that the larger creation purposes of God can be fulfilled—the missio Dei. This missional understanding has the world as its primary horizon and the church is placed at the center of the activity in relating the kingdom of God to the missio Dei. The church’s self-understanding of being missional is grounded in the work of the Spirit of God, who calls the church into existence as a gathered community, equips and prepares it, and sends it into the world to participate fully in God’s mission.”[16]
As a church, we see mission as something all apprentices of Jesus are called to embrace wherever God has called them in their various vocations and not just those who are called to be pastors, missionaries, or parachurch workers. Of course, we enthusiastically affirm these callings, but we also enthusiastically affirm many other callings as well. Every Christian is a missionary. Every Christian is on a kingdom mission with Jesus, their lives and work, an embodied answer to Jesus’ prayer, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
We believe a primary mission field is the paid and unpaid workplace. At Christ Community, we view both vocational discipleship and vocational mission as our equipping missional focus. For us, a primary work of the church is the church at work. In that sense, we are a church for Monday.
OUTREACH AT CHRIST COMMUNITY PART 2
Additional Resources
Craig Van Gelder, The ministry of the missional church, Baker
Amy Sherman—Kingdom Calling and Agents of Flourishing, IVP
Tim Keller –– Center Church
Darrell Guder, Missional Church, A Vision For The Sending Of The Church In North America, Eerdmans, 1998
Giving God our Best: God’s Design for Generosity
[1] Van Gelder, Craig, The Ministry of the Missional Church, Baker, Grand Rapids, 2007, pg. 182
[2] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” — Acts 1:8 (CSB)
[3] John Wesley
[4] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
[5] The Great Commission is given in Matthew 28:18-20.
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.” –– Matthew 28:18-20 (CSB)
The Cultural Mandate is given in Genesis 1:26-28.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So, God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God;
He created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” — Genesis 1:26-28 (CSB)
[6] In his metaphor of salt and light, Jesus highlights our works as a plausible witness to others around us. The vast majority of our good works are the paid and unpaid work we are called to do in our Monday worlds. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. — Matthew 5:13-16 (CSB)
[7] Dorothy Sayers, “Why Work?” in Creed or Chaos (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1949
[8] Genesis 1:28
[9] Genesis 2:15
[10] See Luke 10:25-37
[11] See the book, The Economics of Neighborly Love
[12] “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” — Matthew 11:28-30 (CSB)
[13] For example, in Colossians chapter 1 we read of Jesus as a cosmic redeemer of “all things”.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. — Colossians 1:15-20 (CSB)
[14] As you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. — 2 Peter 3:12-13 (CSB)
[15] Revelation 21:5
[16] Van Gelder, Craig, The Ministry of the Missional Church, Baker, Grand Rapids, 2007, pg. 85
