Branches of Service: Missions

What do you think of when you hear the word mission?  Perhaps right away your mind goes to movies like the Mission: Impossible series with the famous words “your mission, should you choose to accept it”, where the heroes of the story go on to accept a seemingly impossible task.  Against all difficulties, in the end the bad guys lose, the good guys win, and what seemed impossible turned out to actually be possible!

God has a mission (or purpose) in this world.  It is to rescue people like you and me from sin, Satan, and death.  Most of the story of his rescue is already finished.  Jesus was born, lived, died, and is resurrected.  Part of what still needs to happen involves you.  His message needs to be told and followed in each and every generation.  Including this generation.  To help you think about these things, here are six things to consider.   

1.     Why is this important?  Those who hear, believe, and follow God’s message (the gospel) will enjoy incredibly good things in this life and all of eternity.  Those who do not hear, do not believe, and do not follow this message suffer terrible things.  They live without God. And worse.  They die without God.  They spend all of eternity with Satan, demons, and all the other humans who reject God.

2.     Whose job is it?  God gives his message and mission to the church.   The “great commission” of Jesus is well known.  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Although some people have different roles in various places and times (think apostles, pastors, evangelists), all of us have a role to play.  This could be directly by “speaking of the hope that is in you” (sharing the gospel), but also in creating healthy church communities.  After all, hearing, believing, and being converted, are first steps.  What follows is to form or join a church.  While all church members serve the mission of God, in our generation there are few young men and young women thinking about serving God as their full-time life work.  Would you consider praying about it? 

3.     Where do I go to do missions?  Sometimes we think of missions as going somewhere else in the world to help people who are poorer than us, and need shelter, healthcare, education, etc.  While helping in these ways are excellent things to do, they only serve the mission of God if they are also bringing the message of God!  After all, well educated, healthy-bodied, adequately-clothed people will still end up in one of two eternal places!

4.     What still needs to be done?  A lot!!  How many people in the cities and towns where you live have not heard, or do not understand this message of God?  How many new believers have you seen baptized in your church?  Now think about other countries where many go to school, get their hair cut, go to family reunions and family funerals and never hear the name of Jesus.  Radio stations and YouTube channels that bring the message of God are blocked.  What will happen to the souls of these people?

5.     If all this is so important, why don’t more of us “choose to accept”, or at least think more seriously about our role in all of this?  Perhaps because our own personal “mission” may seem more important to us than God’s mission.  Maybe we are too comfortable enjoying hanging out with friends and family. Maybe we think that the mission is just for someone else to accept.  Maybe we are lazy.  Maybe we don’t really care about other people’s souls.  Being honest, mission work is not easy.  But it never was about being easy.  It wasn’t easy for God to send his son to be killed.  It wasn’t easy for Jesus to be on this planet, and he even asked God if he really had to drink from the cup of the suffering God had planned for him!  And yet he did it, for the JOY that was set before him, the joy of actually saving people from Satan.  That is the wonderful joy you will experience when you participate in the mission of God!

6.     All of this leads me to my final point.  You.  What can you do now?  Begin by believing God’s message yourself.  Then ask him to use you with your life.  Plug into your church.  Help friends follow Christ well.  Pray with them and for them.  Develop the gifts he has given you. Study hard.  Make prayer lists of names of non-Christians at school or work.  Invite them into your home, and to your church!  Plan trips or events at home, or in other countries, where bringing God’s message is the central activity. Say yes to opportunities that God gives you, even if you find it scary!  The mission is his. He will help you.  “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24) God’s impossible mission is possible.  The bad guys will lose. God will win. And you have a part to play!

(Wilf Bout)