“How does one mobilize their Church for mission?” This query is both a complex question, and a question that is of the upmost importance in today’s society. With 3.01 Billion unreached people in the world, the mission of the church is met with an excruciating urgency. Lostness and darkness surround the church from every side. Whether it is the lost or the unreached internationally or the lost within the borders of the church’s home country, the church needs to effectively be on mission. In order for an effective mission mobilization strategy to succeed the congregation must first further define the question that is being asked. Upon examination the question can be broken into three different portions that need to be further elaborated on.
…show more content…
Initially this requires a church to focus on worship. This is not the general form of worship through song, but it is the authentic, holistic worship of living for the glory of God. Whatever the church does, they should strive to worship. Further than that, they should strive to get others to worship. According to John Piper “Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.” Part of the church’s mission includes going to the people who do not worship God and bringing them to Christ. “The church participates in the mission of Christ to reconcile all things to God and to one another through Christ”. That could mean going into the church’s city and evangelizing to the lost there. Local ministries are extremely important and they can make a huge impact. That could also mean going out to the rest of the country or to other countries to evangelize. These things are a vital part of the mission of the church. With so much lostness in the world, the church needs to evangelize. It was even set up as a commandment from Christ. “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19) he demanded. Often the church looks at this as a specific commandment for specific people, but that is not the case. As Hudson Taylor puts it, "The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed." With all of …show more content…
A pandemic that has plagued the church from the start is “Christians” living a nominal lifestyle. Often a congregation is full of nominal Christians who do not care about the mission of the church. This has been a big issue from the beginning. In fact, it was such a tremendous problem that Jesus even taught on it when he was on the earth saying, “that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matt. 7:22-23). Jesus knew that the church would be filled with people who identify as Christians. It would be full of people who went to the service that was held every Sunday, but had no regard for the great commission. People that did not have true faith in God. A missional congregation cannot be one that is built on this kind of a congregation. This congregation may attend the church services every Sunday, but when you ask them to go, they will shut off. This problem can be treated with preaching that makes people uncomfortable, preaching that is challenging, and preaching that is biblically based. David Platt was right when he said “[The Church is] settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to [themselves] when the central message of Christianity is actually
Initially this requires a church to focus on worship. This is not the general form of worship through song, but it is the authentic, holistic worship of living for the glory of God. Whatever the church does, they should strive to worship. Further than that, they should strive to get others to worship. According to John Piper “Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.” Part of the church’s mission includes going to the people who do not worship God and bringing them to Christ. “The church participates in the mission of Christ to reconcile all things to God and to one another through Christ”. That could mean going into the church’s city and evangelizing to the lost there. Local ministries are extremely important and they can make a huge impact. That could also mean going out to the rest of the country or to other countries to evangelize. These things are a vital part of the mission of the church. With so much lostness in the world, the church needs to evangelize. It was even set up as a commandment from Christ. “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19) he demanded. Often the church looks at this as a specific commandment for specific people, but that is not the case. As Hudson Taylor puts it, "The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed." With all of …show more content…
A pandemic that has plagued the church from the start is “Christians” living a nominal lifestyle. Often a congregation is full of nominal Christians who do not care about the mission of the church. This has been a big issue from the beginning. In fact, it was such a tremendous problem that Jesus even taught on it when he was on the earth saying, “that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matt. 7:22-23). Jesus knew that the church would be filled with people who identify as Christians. It would be full of people who went to the service that was held every Sunday, but had no regard for the great commission. People that did not have true faith in God. A missional congregation cannot be one that is built on this kind of a congregation. This congregation may attend the church services every Sunday, but when you ask them to go, they will shut off. This problem can be treated with preaching that makes people uncomfortable, preaching that is challenging, and preaching that is biblically based. David Platt was right when he said “[The Church is] settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to [themselves] when the central message of Christianity is actually