The Mission we have been given by Christ is the same Mission He carried out while on the earth. In Luke 19:10 He established His purpose on earth:
“10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
For some this passage alone over simplifies the “Mission” Christ gave the church. In Truth this passage is not simple and is the essence of God’s work among mankind since the Garden of Eden where man first fell in sin. From that time to this God has sent: Prophets, Priest’s, Kings, common men, established the church and it’s leadership, pastor’s, evangelists, apostles, teachers, His very Son, The Holy Spirit all to do what this passage states.
This mission should be the great joy of the church and the family of God. Instead we sometimes see that it is the dividing point for some church family members. Take a look at a recent response to our proclamation of this mission on our website by an anonymous individual who claims to be a Christian:
I checked out the website. Even though I’ve been dissolusioned by my past experiences at church, I still was taught basic truths and Christian Biblical foundation to live by. I was confused by your mission statement. You say it is Luke 19:10 where Jesus had just talked to Zaccheaus who was a tax collector and people considered him a sinner and people wondered why Jesus associated with sinners and he said he came to save those that are lost. I don’t understand how that is a mission statement. I mean, every church does that. I mean, in Acts Jesus told the disciples to wait for him to give them the Holy Spirit. During that time they didn’t go out and save anyone. They focused on prayer and fellowshipping and eating with each other while waiting.
Then your website says Jesus summed up the 10 commandments in 2 statements, Love God First, Love people second. That’s not a very good summary at all. Jesus never said that. That sounds so harsh…not loving at all. To put people in a numerical order of importance sounds like what you are saying. I mean, he picked out Zaccheaus to save him…but Zaccheaus didn’t love Jesus first. He was interested in who Jesus was, that was why he was in the tree. Just having Jesus address him personally he felt God’s love and before even having Jesus to his house to believe in him, he said he would give back all the taxes and more he had wrongly taken from people. Matthew 22:35-40 says Jesus said to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, that this is the 1st and greatest commandment. And the second is to love your neighbor as yourself, that all the law and the prophets hang on these 2 commandments. That basically if we do these 2 things, they are the foundation to accomplishing all the other commandments and saving the lost will happen when we love the Lord like that and treat others like we want to be treated. To “love people second” isn’t what Jesus said. Loving your neighbor as yourself isn’t loving people second.
So how can a church’s sole mission statement be based on one verse and a very poor summary of what Jesus really said?”
Why is the mission outlined in Luke 19:10 so difficult to live out? As stated above by the anonymous writer: “I don’t understand how that is a mission statement. I mean, every church does that.” Later the writer states: “in Acts Jesus told the disciples to wait for him to give them the Holy Spirit. During that time they didn’t go out and save anyone. They focused on prayer and fellowshipping and eating with each other while waiting.”
As I read the response from our writer it is curious to me why anyone, especially a Christian could find fault in the clarity of mission expressed in Luke 19:10. Jesus is the Head of the church and it seem reasonable that whatever was central and important to Him on earth must also be central and important to us who follow Him. Is it too difficult to see that the preparation of the disciples and early church in Acts 1 and 2 was about the “mission” which encompasses the rest of Acts and the New Testament?
The answer to the question at the beginning of the previous paragraph is: ACCEPTING AND GETTING INVOLVED IN THE MISSION JESUS GAVE HIS FOLLOWERS IS WHERE HEARING THE WORD AND DOING THE WORD MEET. In other words, many who claim to follow Christ in mission can show you their Biblical notations but they cannot show you their fruit. Nothing is more revealing than a fruitless tree.
Seeking to build on the argument the writer launches into a brief on the two “greatest commandments” and wants to focus on how our website/church may be confusing the issue. In reality it is nothing but a smoke screen, an attempt to divert attention away from another fruitless tree. An attempt to explain why there is no fruit, it must be the fault of bad teaching in the church or poor examples of spiritual leadership, better yet we need to just water the tree more and give it more food and someday it will just naturally start producing more fruit. Not true. We must engage in the Mission Christ has given to us. We must GO, SEEK, LOVE, REACH OUT to all who do not know Him.
