Summary: Is Your Theology of Mission the Same as God's?

You have a ‘theology of Mission’ whether you know it or not. All of your missionary strategies reflect this theology. In fact, much of your life may be a reflection of this theology. It drives your passion (or lack thereof), your motives, strategies, methods, use of money and resources, time usage, etc.

Bob goes to church every time the doors are open. He hears about missions frequently, but doesn’t feel motivated to get involved. In fact, it isn’t any more exciting than the “Feed the Children” type commercials that are always played while he tries to eat.

What’s his problem? A bad theology of Mission. You see, as far as Bob can tell, missions is carried out for man, not God.

Carl would like to be more involved in missions, but it seems much too difficult. Lost people are so hard. The work is too complicated. He doesn’t feel equipped for such a task.

What’s wrong? His theology of Mission is off. He sees the Mission as something he must carry out. It is his Mission instead of God’s. But God is doing the work. He wants to do it through Carl.

Dean is a supporter of missions. One day he goes on the Joshua Project website and is shocked to see that there are still 6,500 people groups that are unreached, with little or no access to the Gospel.

He can’t figure out why, since we’ve been doing this ‘missions thing’ so long. The answer is this: we have been using a defective theology of Mission. Our theology ignored a major goal of God’s Mission: reaching every people group. He wants to obtain worshippers from every group of people, not just a random bunch of people.

These are just a few examples of how our theology of Mission can affect us. Look at your own life now. What kind of theology of Mission does it reflect?

Over the past month I have attempted to lay a theological foundation for our involvement in God’s Mission. I wanted to summarize them here.

Who’s Mission Is It?

The Mission is God’s. It is bigger than individuals and churches. Missions is the movement of God through churches. The church is not reaching out to the nations, as much as God is reaching out through her. What does this do for us? It replaces our passion with His, our resources with His, our vision with His, our power with His, our agenda with His. We are tools. He is the actor.

The Purpose of the Mission of God

Our focus in missions is usually on the people being reached. As important as that is, it is secondary. Our Mission should be the same as God’s. The Mission of God is to get glory to Himself by redeeming to Himself a people out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation who will worship Him in loving obedience throughout eternity. Is seeing God glorified among the nations our primary purpose? If not, our Mission motives are skewed, and our passion will be lacking.

The Object of Mission

Who is God trying to reach? It is more than just a random bunch of people. It is people from every people group. He is trying to reach (through His churches) every person and every people. If we are ignoring whole people groups (as we are) in the pursuit of a random bunch of people, we are forsaking one of the primary objects of God’s Mission (and failing to reach a maximum number of people in the process).

The Mission is God’s, we are mere tools. His Mission is to get glory to Himself by redeeming the maximum number of people from every group of people on the planet. That is God’s theology of Mission. What is yours?

Much of the future of this blog will be an application of these truths.

The Object of Mission (Part 2)

In the first post of this discussion, we saw that God doesn't just seek a multitude of individuals, He seeks a variety of individuals from every people group to worship Him (Rev. 5:9, 7:9). The lesson in the previous post was essentially this: Since Babel, God describes the objects of His Mission largely in terms of distinct groups of people who have been separated by Him linguistically, ethnically, and geographically. Therefore, this object should be a major focus of our Mission strategy today.

Before we continue with this people group approach to the Mission, I wanted to offer a little balance to the approach (which I will try to do often).

While I do not want to discourage you from reading his book (all of you should), I do want to draw your attention to a statement made by Charles Keen (whom I have the greatest respect for) in "Thinking Outside the Box." His statement is representative of the beliefs (stated or implied) by many in the movement to reach unreached people groups.

"God's design is diversity. For years many of us have practiced a commitment and desire that the multitudes, or numbers, was the motive. Numbers are not the issue with God. He wants to be worshipped by a diversity of peoples. This may mean less rather than more. He desires some from all tribes, language, and peoples." (pg. 25, emphasis mine)

Biblically, we can say without reservation that God seeks (and will obtain) worship from the diversity of the world's peoples. However, to say that "numbers are not the issue with God" and that "this may mean less rather than more," has no Biblical basis. This is ignoring another significant object of God's Mission, namely, every person.

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9 (emphasis mine in all verses)

"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." 1 Tim 2:4

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 (the context reveals that He is speaking of all the individual whosoever's in the world)

So, the objects of God's Mission are not only every group of people in their diversity, but also every person in his individuality. In other words, God seeks every person among every people.

Brother Keen is correct when he points out that we have long ignored many people groups because of our focus on individuals. However, he is wrong to imply that there is some theological tension between the objects of every individual and every people group. These purposes of God are not mutually exclusive, but inclusive. God purposes that every people group worship Him, and also that a maximum number of individuals worship him. Numbers are the issue with God, as well as diversity (which Brother Keen implies on pg. 15).

The question isn't a theological one (does God want to reach people or peoples?). That is settled in Scripture. The question is a strategic obedience one (will we align our strategy and resource deployment with God's dual goal?). That needs to be settled by us.

So, here is where we are now. The objects of God's Mission are every person and every people. We have long focused merely on individuals, ignoring the diverse peoples who do not yet have the Gospel. We must align our Mission strategy with the Missionary Goal of God: the glory of God expressed in the worship of a maximum amount of people from every group of people.

Discussion toward such a strategy will be posted next week. Till then, browse the unreached peoples on Joshua Project and think of what you could do to reach them.

The Object of Mission (Part 1)

The Mission is God's. He is the One on Mission through His churches. The primary purpose of the Mission is to see God glorified as He ought to be, by everyone. These were covered in two previous posts. I don't think that those are hard for Independent Fundamental Baptists to accept. However, this one may be different for some.

Think of this sentence: God is seeking whom? 'God' is the subject. 'Is reaching' is the verbal part of the sentence. 'Whom'? Who is the object? Who is the person or group that God is primarily trying to reach?

Your answer to this question could have a significant impact on Mission strategy. If the object is a maximum number of individuals, there is a certain strategy needed. However, a different strategy altogether may be needed if the objects are people from every group of people. And we could go on.

Our primary concern is what the Bible says about it. So, let's take a (very brief) look. . . .

Is God concerned with a maximum number of individuals being saved or with people groups being discipled? I think you will see in this series that the answer is both. But the way the Scriptures speak of these may change the way we view Mission strategy.

If you search the Scriptures for God's heart for the world of men and how He views us, you may be surprised at how much He speaks of families, nations, tongues, and people in a collective sense as opposed to people in an individual sense.

A key event in Old Testament history is the tower of Babel incident. "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech" (Gen 11:1). After an exhibition of their pride, God chose to confound their language (11:7) and scatter them "upon the face of all the earth" (11:8). Thus are born (by an act of God) the peoples of the earth with their various languages and ethnicities, and eventually cultures.

The very next major event spoken of in Scripture 'sets the tone' for the Mission of God until its closure in Revelation. After all of these distinct peoples have been formed, God demonstrates His love and pursuit of them by separating Abram from them in order to redeem them all to Himself. "In thee," God tells Abram, "shall all families of the earth be blessed" (12:1). In other places God uses words such as "nations" (18:18) and "kindreds" (Acts 3:25) to describe the objects of His Mission through Abram. In essence, God is telling Abram that it is His desire to bring salvation to all of these distinct groups of people that He just made.

When God puts His Mission in the hands of His church, He again uses the same language. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations" (Matt 28:19). Then, when describing the end result of His Mission, God uses these same words,

as His people "sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev 5:9)

and as "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb" and worshipped God (Rev 7:9).

While I will not go into Hebrew and Greek here, or into a complete explanation of all that is revealed (everyone exhale), thus far it is clear that God does seek the distinct groups of people of the earth in their distinctness. He doesn't just seek a multitude of individuals, He seeks a variety of individuals to worship Him. It seems that God largely views the world in terms of peoples in their variety, not just as one large mass of humanity. Therefore, the objects of His Mission are largely described in terms of diverse peoples, rather than mankind as a unified mass.

As churches on Mission, it is clear that we also view the objects of missions in terms of distinct groups. However, these distinct groups are generally defined in terms of geo-political boundaries (the French, the Pakistanis, the Chinese). There are several problems that have arisen because of this focus. One of these problems is theological and another is strategic. Theologically, God clearly views them in smaller units. Strategically, this geo-political view of people has caused us to ignore some people entirely, giving them no access to the Gospel.

For the purpose of this post, you need to realize that since Babel, God describes the objects of His Mission largely in terms of distinct groups of people who have been separated by Him linguistically, ethnically, and geographically.

So, should we just seek to reach a few people from every group or should we seek the maximum number of people, even though we may not reach every group? How does God's view of the world affect our mission and strategy? What are the dangers of a people group focus in missions? These are all questions that I will try to answer in various posts over the next few weeks.

For now, think of this: do you desire for people of every distinct group of people to worship God? Is this evident in how you arrange the affairs of your life?

See Part 2.

The Purpose of the Mission of God

Our motivation for doing things deeply affects the way we do them, and the passion with which we do them. This is no less true for missions. Why do we go? Why do we give? Why do we stretch ourselves so? Why do some of us do little, or nothing?

Like with the first major question on this blog, my answer to these questions have changed over the past few years. The impression that I always received through preaching and teaching was that the primary motivating factor behind the Mission was that most of the world was lost and hell-bound. This is certainly a major motivating factor, but I am convinced it should not be our primary motivating factor.

There are many reasons that we sometimes get involved in the Mission, some biblical, some not. We get involved because we have compassion for people (Jude 22). Sometimes a feeling of debt may prompt our involvement as it did Paul (Rom 1:14-15). Perhaps pride sometimes motivates us to convince others of the truth of the Gospel (just to prove we are right). A sense of adventure has often been an underlying motivation for missionaries going to 'frontier' lands.

While there are many legitimate motivations for missions (like the first two above), let me suggest that they are not to be our primary motivations. Above all else, we go "for his name" (Rom 1:5).

Bible believers have long recognized that the end of all things is the glory and pleasure of God. Broadly, to glorify God is to draw attention to God as He has revealed Himself to be; to lift up His Worthy Name in worship and praise (and to get others to do it). Everything in existence and every action is to have that end.

• All things were created by Him and for Him (Rom 11:36; Col 1:16).
• He calls people and acts in history for His Name's sake (Ex 9:16, 14:4; Isa 63:14, etc.)
• "The praise of his glory" is the end of all aspects of salvation (Eph 1:6, 12, 14).

It is easy to tell what His goal is for human history by looking at how things turn out in the end. In the end, all of the redeemed, yea all of creation, are worshipping the Lord with an intensity never before witnessed (Rev 4:8-11; 5:8-14, 7:9-12). This is the glory He seeks and deserves. This is the end of all things. This is the end of missions.

Paul was driven by his debt and by compassion. But what drove Him the most (just look at his references to the glory of God in his letters), what drives God the most, and what should drive us the most is the glory of God among the nations. "For His Name" we go forth.

What does this do for our passion and willingness to sacrifice? I hope it increases them. It is one thing to sacrifice when only the good of man is at stake. It is another thing altogether to sacrifice when the glory of God is at stake. As Charles Keen has written, we must realize that the winner or loser in missions is not primarily man (though he loses much). The primary winner or loser in missions is God. Though He is certain to 'win' in the end, it is our responsibility to let Him use us in His Mission to see His Name glorified among all peoples of the earth.

The Mission of God is to get glory to Himself by redeeming to Himself a people out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation who will worship Him in loving obedience throughout eternity.

It is His Mission. The churches are His tools. It is our Saviour God's glory at stake. What motivates us? Are you motivated enough?

It will change the dynamics of your involvement in His Mission if you will grasp what it is all about. For "He is worthy of our children. He is worthy of our dollars. He is worthy of our suffering." (Keen)

Whose Mission is it?

My answer to this question is different now than it once was.

In Independent Baptist churches and schools it is not uncommon to hear short rants on this topic. "Jesus wasn't giving the mission to the apostles as individuals! It wasn't given to some universal invisible Church! He was giving it to a local church!!" To these I say a hearty, "Amen!"

However, those are answers to a different question. I am not asking about the means of the Mission, but the Source and Owner of the Mission. Think of this:

A boy is ill. The doctor concocts a medicine to make the child well. He pours it into a spoon and feeds it to the boy. The boy recovers.

Who or what carried out the task of making the child well again?Was it the spoon? No doubt, the spoon was the instrument used to get the medicine to the boy, but it was passive in the task. It was the doctor's task from beginning to end.

Likewise, it is the Lord Himself who is on Mission. He has made provision for the healing of the nations. He supplies the power for the Mission. He seeks, He finds, He saves. It is the Mission of God. It has been His mission since before the foundation of the world.

He was on Mission in the Garden, clothing the two sinners. He was on Mission through Noah, calling all the world to its only hope of salvation. He was on Mission as He drew Israel out of Egypt, displaying His saving power to the nations.

God is still on Mission now, but He has chosen a different spoon: the local church.

Whose Mission is it? God's.

The Mission is bigger than individuals and churches. It was here before us. It will continue when we are gone. Missions is not primarily an action of churches. It is the movement of God. The church is not reaching out to the nations, as much as God is reaching out through her. It has always been about the missionary God, not the missionary churches.

This doesn't change the responsibility of the church in the Mission, but it does change our understanding of what is happening. It replaces our passion with His, our resources with His, our vision with His, our power with His, our agenda with His.

How small our view of the Mission often is! How we strive so, energized by our own meager passion for the nations, formulating our own plans, going forth in our own power. How much more passion would we have if only we would realize what we are (tools) and Who is doing the

work (God).

You can do the work of missions all you like. I will have nothing of it. I will let God work out His own Mission through me. For the Mission is not an act of man, it is the action of God Himself.

Lord, let me be a mere spoon - propelled by Your hand, bearing Your medicine, submitted to Your Mission, energized by Your passion for the nations.