The Mission of the Church

It is crucial that the church of Jesus remember its precise mission and calling when facing challenges of epic proportions. It is tempting, especially in times like these, for the church to react out of human impulse rather than respond with the presence of Christ. The eternally unchanging mission of the church is to bring the healing presence of Jesus to a broken world. This is done through an unwavering faithfulness to Jesus.

Christianity, more than anything else, is a commitment to a person. More than a set of beliefs or doctrines, more than the regular practice of rituals, being a Christian means faithfulness to the person of Jesus Christ and his mission to redeem a broken and hurting world. There is very little that is automated, formulaic, or mechanical about the Christian faith.

Christianity is a living and dynamic relationship between Jesus, the king and redeemer the world, and his covenant people. This means that when the church faces various issues or problems that arise with the changes of culture and context, the number one priority must remain faithfulness to Jesus. This also means that as the body of Christ, Christians embody Christ’s response to the problems of the world. 

The call for Christians to be faithful to Jesus means manifesting the healing presence of Jesus in the midst of confusion, pain, difficulty, and struggle. Jesus was not an escapist. Rather, he walked boldly and willingly into the midst of the most troubling problem of humanity (death) and redeemed it.

This means that the church’s responsibility in facing the deeply flawed human existence, is to be Jesus; to manifest a healing and redeeming presence.

Jesus faced varying degrees of challenge during his ministry. He faced everything from a wedding party running out of wine (a relative minor issue), to the death of his dear friend Lazarus. More than all of the problems he faced was being villianized and condemned to death by both his own people and political authorities of his day. Something I’ve noticed about the various problems that he faced is that the greater problem he faced, the greater the opportunity was to redeem and inspire both faith and faithfulness. At the same time, the greater the miracle, the more problems it created for him. Healing folks here and there got folks excited; forgiving sins got him in trouble.

This means that as the church responds like Jesus to the varying problems that we face, there will be both positive and negative reactions from those around us. Even with the varying degrees of reactions, what must never change is our commitment to carrying out the saying mission of Jesus to the world. That is our calling. That is our mission.