Varsity Christian Fellowship - Mission

At Varsity Christian Fellowship cell group on Wednesday, I led a session exploring the concept of mission based on a handout provided by the Varsity Christian Fellowship. The command by Jesus for Christians to evangelize is quite evidently identifiable from the passage in Matthew 28:16-20 about the Great Commission – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing 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”. But the purpose of this session that we were going through is to explore the meaning, significance, and characteristics of this mission. Is it simply just to convert people to Christianity? We went through various passages in the bible as provided in the handout and tried to elucidate the notion of mission with respect to God, humanity, Israel, and Jesus, and then try to draw the links to how that would affect our understanding of mission.

So the first part of the study session dealt with the question of what is God’s mission. We quickly went through the book of Genesis describing the creation story, the fall of man, God’s covenant with Abram (Genesis 12:1-3), the extension of the covenant to the Gentiles (Galatians 3:8), the worthiness of God to be honoured (Revelation 4:11), and the creation of the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1). So what is God’s mission throughout the existence of history? As the Christian dogma goes, things were initially perfect after the creation, but then mankind fell due to the sin of Adam and Eve and was separated from God, and the subsequent chain of event is God’s endeavor to bring fallen mankind back to himself. This is done by penance for sins, which separates God from mankind, and is fulfilled by Jesus death on the cross which satisfies God’s justice by dying to pay for the sins of the elect. This atonement for sins is only bestowed on those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and savior.

Next, we dealt with the question of humanity’s mission. So we went through Genesis 1:28 about God blessing Adam and Eve and telling them to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground”, and to work and take care of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). The question in the handout was, “In light of God being the Creator, discuss what are the implications in the outworking of our faith towards i) Creation ii) Work/Studies iii)Ourselves made in His own image iv) Humanity made in his own image. In Christian lingo, we call this the creation mandate for mankind.

So how does this reckoning of the above pronounced roles and duties of humanity by God affect my understanding of the mission to evangelize and convert non-believers? If I may try to draw a link here, I would guess that not all human beings actually identify with this notion of the creation mandate in their lives. So for instance, they may not see themselves as having any responsibility towards their fellow human beings or towards nature, and pursue their own self-interest at the expense of neglecting or abusing others or the environment. On the other extreme side of the spectrum, there may be those who oppose this hierarchy of mankind towards nature and the animal kingdom, and place animals on equal footings with themselves. What comes to my mind are the likes of radical animal rights activists and environmentalists who vehemently oppose any interference by humans on animals to the point of absurdity. And either of these approaches towards nature are misguided according to the Christian perspective. So a possible purpose in the mission to convert non-believers then is to help them adopt the correct perspective and approach towards mankind and nature as espoused in the creation mandate?

I suppose there may be more purposes to mission than just to convert people to Christianity and restore them to God, but also to influence people to adopt Christian approaches and perspective to practical issues in the world, such as environmentalism.

The next part of the study examined the mission with regards to Israel. We went through the passages featuring the series of covenants that God made with Israel. It says in the handout, “For Israel, being in a covenant with God involved more than just having privileges of being a “great nation” and “receiving blessings. It also entailed responsibility and commitment towards God’s requirements. Holiness was required of Israel (Lev 19:2). We went through the passages regarding the laws (Leviticus 19, Leviticus 25, Isaiah 43:10-12). And then the question was “What was Israel’s role in God’s mission?” The answer that I got at the Central Bible Studies session was that God wanted Israel to be a kingdom of priest and a holy nation so as to reflect God’s nature to the world. Now, how does that relate to God’s mission to restore creation back to himself? It seems like the form of mission for the Israelites is quite different from that of the Great commission. It does not seem to feature evangelism in the similar sense of going out to non-believers and preaching the gospel. It was more like “witnessing”, or setting itself up as an example. As how this is described in Psalms 67:4, “May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.”

I suppose one aspect of mission includes witnessing, that is, showing an example as a Christian. And being just and fair, as well as compassionate towards one another in society is a good way to be an example. Jesus does give a commandment on how to witness in John 13:34-35. ““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” And that is certainly what attracts me to Christianity, that believers show unconditional love, care, and concern for one another, that is pure and unfettered by self-interest. Although in practice, I would say that Christians can fall short of this standard. But nevertheless, I think it is an admirable ideal that comes from Christianity, and would certainly make the world a better place if human beings learn to be caring and considerate for others in society. This goes beyond just words of encouragement, but ensuring the well-being and provision of others in society, such as caring for the orphans and the widows in their distress (James 1:27). I suppose non-religious people who are attracted to this ideal but who do not believe or want to believe in God affirm this value in the moral philosophy called humanism which acknowledges the value and interest of human beings, albeit in a manner that might not be consistent with Christian doctrines by overvaluing the agency of human beings.

In the next part of the study, which was about Jesus’ mission, we read through Luke 4:16-19. Jesus was saying in that passage that the he had come to fulfill the Isaiah prophecy to “preach the gospel to the poor…heal the broken heated….preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” I suppose it is both a fulfillment of prophecy to indicate Jesus as the Messiah, as well as a description of Jesus’ humanitarian mission along with his mission to die on the cross.

I am wondering though how humanitarianism fits in with the mission of restoring mankind back to God. I would think it more as a separate commandment for Christians.

The handout ends off with a reflection quote taken from a book “Revisiting the ‘Whole Gospel’: Toward a Biblical Model of Holistic Mission in the 21^st Centry” by Jean Paul Heldt

“There is no longer a need to qualify mission as “holistic”, nor to distinguish between “mission” and “holistic mission”. Mission is, by definition, “holistic,” and therefore “holistic mission” is de facto, mission.

Proclamation alone, apart from any social concern, may be perceived as a distortion, a truncated version of the true gospel, a parody and travesty of the good news, lacking relevance for the real problems of real people living in the real world. On the other end of the spectrum, exclusive focus on transformation and advocacy may just result in social and humanitarian activism, void of any spiritual dimension.

Both approaches are unbiblical; they deny the wholeness of human nature of human beings created in the image of God. Since we are created “whole”, and since the Fall affects our total humanity in all its dimensions, then redemption, restoration, and mission can, by definition, only be “holistic”.

I can quite readily intuitively agree that mission should comprise of a ‘holistic’ approach, which includes more than just evangelism.