Controversial Statements on Missions

As Pastor Patrick stated in the previous entry, the role of the local church in the work of world missions is crucial and vital to fulfilling the Great Commission in making disciples, not just decisions. I realize that for some people, their view of the issue of missions has been often dictated by conferences, authors, and strategies that while helpful and often insightful to the work of missions, can often fall short of what the Scriptures would say regarding the issue of missions.

I find it interesting that there are always a number of people that might find my sermons controversial. I know that I often make statements that sound blunt and strong, but I do not find them controversial. If the Scriptures are to be taken as the final authority, it is strange for me to see people disregard what is clearly said in Scripture and go with what someone else has said regarding any particular topic. This seems to follow what Romans 12:2 explicitly calls us NOT to do, that is, to be conformed to worldly thinking. Instead, we are to discern what the will of God is, and that will is to always be found first and foremost in the Scriptures.

The Great Commission is clear - the call is to make disciples of Christ. This includes the work of evangelism, which is the front end, but the point is not to simply call for decisions. The point is to see people FOLLOW Jesus in an ongoing and daily relationship. This is where I would say that missions apart from the ministry of the local church often falls short. And this was clearly confirmed during our time in Ostrava these past few weeks. The theme for the retreat was "Disciplines of a Godly Man/Woman" and we addressed basic topics under the theme of 1 Timothy 4:7-8, to be disciplined for the purpose of godliness. What we found is that even in the most basic issues, there were many questions and some animated debates over what were simple biblical truths. We addressed the issue of spiritual disciplines, the roles of men and women in marriage and parenting, witnessing in the workplace, and serving in the church. These are not typically issues that generate a lot of controversy but they did. Why? It took me a few days to realize it but what I discovered was that the very foundations of thinking were being shaken for many people and so in mid-stream I gave a message on building a biblical worldview. We discovered that in the Czech language, there is no clear understanding of this concept. One other astounding discovery was that the very concept of accountability was something that was not understood in the Czech language. So it was during a weeklong opportunity to equip and teach the church that I realized all the more that the work of missions is not limited solely to evangelism, but as Matthew 28:19-20 describe, there is to be the "teaching of all that I commanded you" that is to take place, that is, the equipping of disciples with the teachings of Jesus so that they would grow and mature in their faith so as to provide an ongoing work of representing Christ in their part of the world.

How is this controversial? It is controversial because so many Christians have been limited in their understanding of missions. There is a lack of consideration given to having a comprehensive view of the work of missions in relation to God's overall plan and in isolating the aspect of evangelism to missions, it short-circuits the flow of the Great Commission to make disciples. That is why the local church is so crucial in playing a role both in sending and in the actual work of missions at any given location. It is not enough to simply evangelize. There must be the planting of churches. There must be the equipping of churches. It is not enough to just do humanitarian work or pursue social justice. While these are all good things and can be a part of the effort to help people's lives, to diminish the priority of planting and building up churches to do the work of ministry is to be short-sighted.

I made some comments that it is not enough to just do medical assistance or build houses or to address social injustices. It is because in the end, even if you do help in these areas, if you do not address the issue of preaching the gospel comprehensively for the sake of people not only to hear and believe in Christ, but to follow Christ as disciples, then you are not actually fulfilling the Great Commission.

I think it's great that there are ministries that try to help in all these various areas. But to call it "missions" can be misleading. I think we have to be more discerning when we talk about what God defines as the work of missions. This is why 2 Timothy 2:15 calls us to handle accurately the word of truth. There is a lax and often haphazard allegiance to the Scriptures and when this is confronted, people are often confounded by what they think is an attack on established practices. But we must be wise according to the Scriptures, not just to tradition. There is much to learn from those who have done various things for the sake of God's kingdom. But sincerity and results are not the final criteria to determine what is right. We must accurately represent what the Scriptures call us to do as Christians and I hope that we at Lighthouse will be careful not to be lazy when it comes to our theological foundations that are the basis for our practice as a church.