Embracing The Church as The Sent
Many people who hear the word 'missions' will only think of supporting cross-cultural missionaries, mission boards, and international organizations. However, mission also includes what we do in our own neighborhoods. Although such contributions to cross-cultural missions and missionaries are excellent works, churches often forget their role within the local community and the specific context in which they operate. As the church thinks of itself as on a mission, it loses consciousness of why God sent the church into its context, cultural and community setting. In other words, the church is unable to remember its true identity and divine calling as a missionary of God by supporting the missions and missionaries.
The word mission originates from the Latin words mitto (to send) and missio (sending). Therefore, the meaning of mission is “to send and be sent.”[i] Our God has revealed Himself as a missionary God through His being, nature, and actions throughout the Bible and history. God leads the mission by sending the Son and the Spirit into this world to fulfill His purpose for us. Moreover, God wants us to be involved in His mission, as Jesus said that “As Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). This helps us to understand that the Triune God is both the sender and the sent.[ii] Moreover, we, as a church, must recognize that God has sent us into the community and the context where we are to continue the unfinished task of mission, which belongs to God.
Because of that, David J. Bosch said that “Here the church is not the sender but the one sent. Its mission is not secondary to its being; the church exists in being sent and in building up itself for the sake of its mission.”[iii] Therefore, we also need to learn to see the church as sent people, meaning the church is a missionary community. As the church is in God’s sending mission, the church must live out missional motives to spread its essence from one church community to another. By emphasizing support mission organizations and sending missionaries to distant lands, the church should not forget to reach the lost in the community that God sent us.[iv]
David J. Bosch asserted that if the church, God’s sent people, is missionally motivated, it will genuinely worship God, who is a missionary by His nature and has a mission.[v] John R Franke also says that “if mission is part of God’s very nature, then only a missional church can fully, truly worship such a God.”[vi] Therefore, the life of church worship will welcome outsiders; moreover, it will teach its members to understand their calling in society, not only seeking pastoral care. Additionally, the church motivates its members to get involved in evangelism and social service beyond the boundaries of the church.[vii] However, “a church that refuses the call to mission is failing to be faithful to the God it worships, in the same way as a church that refuses the command to love.”[viii]
In summary, the church is unclear about its role in God’s mission due to its supporting activities in the missions. The church also believes they are the sender in the mission, forgetting that it is being sent by God within the community and context where it belongs. This is one of the reasons why the church fails to be a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the community and context it belongs to. Thus, the church is not only working to support missions and missionaries, but also gets involved fully in the mission. Our God is the author of the mission and has sent us to be involved in sending His love to every community, culture, and context.
[i] John R. Franke, Missional Theology: An Introduction (Baker Academic, 2020), 10.
[ii] Franke, Missional Theology, 10.
[iii] David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, 20th Anniversary ed. edition (Orbis Books, 2011), 381.
[iv] Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church (Brazos Press, 2006), 129.
[v] Bosch, Transforming Mission, 382.
[vi] Franke, Missional Theology, 10.
[vii] Bosch, Transforming Mission, 382.
[viii] Franke, Missional Theology, 10.
The word mission originates from the Latin words mitto (to send) and missio (sending). Therefore, the meaning of mission is “to send and be sent.”[i] Our God has revealed Himself as a missionary God through His being, nature, and actions throughout the Bible and history. God leads the mission by sending the Son and the Spirit into this world to fulfill His purpose for us. Moreover, God wants us to be involved in His mission, as Jesus said that “As Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). This helps us to understand that the Triune God is both the sender and the sent.[ii] Moreover, we, as a church, must recognize that God has sent us into the community and the context where we are to continue the unfinished task of mission, which belongs to God.
Because of that, David J. Bosch said that “Here the church is not the sender but the one sent. Its mission is not secondary to its being; the church exists in being sent and in building up itself for the sake of its mission.”[iii] Therefore, we also need to learn to see the church as sent people, meaning the church is a missionary community. As the church is in God’s sending mission, the church must live out missional motives to spread its essence from one church community to another. By emphasizing support mission organizations and sending missionaries to distant lands, the church should not forget to reach the lost in the community that God sent us.[iv]
David J. Bosch asserted that if the church, God’s sent people, is missionally motivated, it will genuinely worship God, who is a missionary by His nature and has a mission.[v] John R Franke also says that “if mission is part of God’s very nature, then only a missional church can fully, truly worship such a God.”[vi] Therefore, the life of church worship will welcome outsiders; moreover, it will teach its members to understand their calling in society, not only seeking pastoral care. Additionally, the church motivates its members to get involved in evangelism and social service beyond the boundaries of the church.[vii] However, “a church that refuses the call to mission is failing to be faithful to the God it worships, in the same way as a church that refuses the command to love.”[viii]
In summary, the church is unclear about its role in God’s mission due to its supporting activities in the missions. The church also believes they are the sender in the mission, forgetting that it is being sent by God within the community and context where it belongs. This is one of the reasons why the church fails to be a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the community and context it belongs to. Thus, the church is not only working to support missions and missionaries, but also gets involved fully in the mission. Our God is the author of the mission and has sent us to be involved in sending His love to every community, culture, and context.
[i] John R. Franke, Missional Theology: An Introduction (Baker Academic, 2020), 10.
[ii] Franke, Missional Theology, 10.
[iii] David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, 20th Anniversary ed. edition (Orbis Books, 2011), 381.
[iv] Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church (Brazos Press, 2006), 129.
[v] Bosch, Transforming Mission, 382.
[vi] Franke, Missional Theology, 10.
[vii] Bosch, Transforming Mission, 382.
[viii] Franke, Missional Theology, 10.
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