Saturday 23 March 2013

Mission - getting them in isn't enough!

This has been one of those weeks that just has lasted for ever and yet gone by in a flash; one of those where you have done much and still managed to leave undone the things that you wanted to do! (an experience I'm sure we all share from time to time).

There have been so many highlights ranging from ALPHA course through to doing school assemblies through to engagement with people at the other end of the age range; mingling, and celebrating, with fellow believers and giving thanks for them to wondering whether, despite their labels, they are even saved!

I cannot believe that anyone who is in the Christian family can fail to be 'missional'; that ability and desire to see others come into knowledge of Jesus, the Christ, and through that knowledge to come into relationship with the Father through Him - and yet I do. For truly the, 'I'm not an evangelistic,' cries of some to the 'maintenance and parochially-minded' lack of real endeavour others I bump into almost cause my fingers to crack and my chest to tighten. 'How can we not be 'mission-minded'?

How can we ignore the calls of Jesus as written in Matthew 28:

'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.'

How can we fail to see that people coming into the building is great, but it's not salvation, for salvation is this:

‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 

‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ 
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? 
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?
As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’


I mentioned this passage (Romans 10) to someone last week as I tried to explain that increasing the church's 'footfall' (the number of feet on the ground: visitors) is great but 'getting them in' is only part of the job, we need to engage with the people who come in and be there for them when they come with needs.

How can they believe unless they hear and how can they hear unless we tell them?

And of course, we're not all sent, are we? We're not all called to look like Jesus, to love those caught in error, to bind up the brokenhearted, comfort those who mourn, heal the afflicted and all that stuff are we?

Oh no, it appears that we are - so what are we going to do?

16 comments:

UKViewer said...

You ask the question "So what are we going to do?"

You indicate that we have clear direction to go and to make disciples and to teach them, but my question is how do we reach those who don't want to be made disciples and have no interest in hearing the Gospel?

Do we just leave things as they are, adopt survival mode and hunker down in our Cliche and bunkers (Churches) and hope that the world goes away?

My question is why is the Church so reluctant to use those who offer to work in this field?

I've had a call to serve, to work in communities, bringing the Gospel to others through my actions, life and example. How that can be worked out practically is still a work in progress. It surprises me that if I can identify this call, as have others among my family, friends and congregation, including my previous incumbent and a Diocesan Panel, why does the Church have such difficulty in agreeing.

Why are obstacles placed in my path, which delays them in finding ways to equip me and to allow me to work in the way that I feel called to, but am hampered from by the very institution which is suffering decline.

I have met others in a similar position, who frustrated by the lack of empowering options available, go off to another denomination or give up completely and become disillusioned, and leave completely.

I'm often told that the Church moves slowly, or, that it's in God's time, not ours - which to me is a cop out, a lack of imagination and a form of institutional amnesia about how the early church faced these challenges and grew despite persecution (and we are not being persecuted in the UK).

Until as a church we get serious about recognising and empowering vocations to all forms of ministry, than we will continue to go backwards in decline, rather than forwards in growth, which is Jesus' explicit direction to us.

Anonymous said...

You're going to do exactly the opposite of what He told you to do, you antinomian heretics.

Vic Van Den Bergh said...

Ha ha ha - excellent comment from Anon - will respond more fully to yours E

Thanks

V

Steven Carr said...

'How can we ignore the calls of Jesus as written in Matthew 28:

'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...'

Surely it is easy to ignore the calls of Jesus.

Not one person in the NT was ever baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Steven Carr said...

'How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?'

This is an interesting passage, making clear that the reason Paul thinks Jews did not accept Jesus was that they had never heard of him.

The standard response is to ignore the context and claim Paul is only speaking of Jews outside Jerusalem.

But no such distinction can be found in the text.

Vic Van Den Bergh said...

Indeed not - but the didache makes me think that that was not the case in the early church and as Paul was speaking of those who hadn't heard (outside of Jerusalem) so too was I - The principle is set - believe coms from Hear - Hear comes from Tell - Tell comes from sent.

And we might just extrapolate that sent is back to Matt 28.

Bazinga!

Thanks for engagement - always nice to have a new voice :-)

Vic Van Den Bergh said...

I have to say that, contextually, Ro 10. 14 - 1 is the basis for Paul's (and in fact all) mission in that the message of Jesus is first for the Jew and then for the Gentile (good parallel with the encounter with the Samaritan woman with the recognition that 'even the dogs can eat from the children's table'.

The message in Romans was, of course, for the Jews outside of Jerusalem and for those Gentiles too (having left Jerusalem to the other guys that is).

Today's situation is that (Mercer's Trust research some ten year past plus others) we live in a time when many have not heard and do not understand the message or ministry of Christ (or that of the body which so clumsily bears His name at times) and we find ourselves.

So surely we find ourselves speaking of (and modelling too I would hope) Jesus to those who are both near and far off; it is in this that we find ourselves not only able to draw parallels from Paul but also to realise that the dynamics that were his are ours also.

One of the greatest imperatives I find here is the getting up and doing it ourselves, for Paul doesn't talk of others going for him and neither should we.

Thanks again for the challenge - there are times when brevity might challenge but there ins't perhaps the lack of rigour that one might expect (I hope).

Pax

Steven Carr said...

'The message in Romans was, of course, for the Jews outside of Jerusalem and for those Gentiles too '

No, it isn't.

In Roman 9-11, Paul is talking about all Jews.

But please provide one single verse where Paul talks about Jews outside of Jerusalem.

Vic Van Den Bergh said...

G'duh!

If the message was for the Jews in Jerusalem and outside of `Jerusalem doesn't that add up to ALL the Jews?

Let's see

Jews in Jerusalem + Jews outside Jerusalem = ALL JEWS.

And if Paul was doing the rounds and others were looking after Jerusalem, them

That means ALL the Jews are included

And Paul is doing the travelling
Whilst the others
Are staying home.

Now that's simple (or so I thought)

Are we playing the pedant here I wonder (if so a round of applause because you're doing fine).

But you are getting me to stop and think (and I think the dots joined make the same point you're having a go at)

So Thanks :-)

Vic Van Den Bergh said...

ps. I don't think I need to (or can but we both know that now don't we ;-) ) do an explicit in/out verse but as he speaks about ALL Jews and deals with those where he is (which is of course NOT Jerusalem) then it becomes just a little bit obvious.

has a supervisor like you - made life fun and added a bit of sparkle to the otherwise dull writing bits :-)

Thanks again :-)

Vic Van Den Bergh said...

Rereading: Think I may have lost an 'also' in the edit when talking about the Jews (inside and outside) but that's life I guess. The whole still joins up (if you have the ears, eyes and bits behind and between them) :-)

Good stuff - need to go and print service sheets and stuff.

Pax (and play nicely please)

Steven Carr said...

'If the message was for the Jews in Jerusalem and outside of `Jerusalem doesn't that add up to ALL the Jews?'

Correct.

And Paul makes the obviously rhetorical point that you can't expect Jews to believe in Jesus, because until Christians had been sent (by God, of course, not Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:28) )- they had never heard of Jesus.

Steven Carr said...

'And Paul is doing the travelling
Whilst the others
Are staying home.'

Ah, that must be because Jesus told them to travel to all nations.


'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations...'

A clear command to stay in Jerusalem....

The trouble is , the New Testament was written by individuals, who never managed to get the story straight.

And as we see with 'Matthew' and 'Lukes' rewriting of earlier Gospel(s), they had no objections to rewriting history.

If a group of people rewrite history, you can usually see where the cracks in the storyline are.

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Vic Van Den Bergh said...


True (they also reappear when papered over).

In all, an interesting take on things - joining your comments together make for something that's now quite obvious :-)