Christmas is approaching very soon; every store is crowded with people, and their hands are holding tons of bags that are filled with gifts and decorations. People are preparing this time of holiday with festivity and glee. Last week, I asked my kindergarten Sunday school students about Christmas. Some kids said, “Christmas is when Santa comes to your house to give you a present.” Others said, “It is the time when I open my present!” When I was hearing all these “cute” responses, I knew I failed to teach them. For children who are four or five years old, maybe Christmas is all about the present and celebration. But what is Christmas? Why did Christ come down to the earth as an infant? What is the purpose of his birth and his life on the earth?
Then, it all goes back to the one word, mission. According to a dictionary, a “mission” is an important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes. For Christians, we go on missions to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, still, the word mission cannot be defined in that one phrase. It is not simply sharing the gospel, but there is more to it. In order to understand the mission, it is very critical to go back to the Old Testament. Many people do not recognize or realize this, but the Old Testament is the preparation of Jesus’s coming and more widely, the preparation of the world mission. Some believe that the Old Testament does not contain the vision of a mission, however, there is a vast purpose of a mission behind the scene.
According to Kaiser, the Old Testament has three major passages that reveal God’s divine plan of mission; the three passages include Genesis 12, Exodus 19, and Psalm 67 (Kaiser, p.12). The fall of man in Genesis 3 introduces the idea of salvation. Humanity was tainted by the sin, and the only way to be free from the condemnation of God was through His salvation. There God began His story of salvation for the humanity; in Genesis 12, God first revealed His plan for the nation. He chose Abraham to be the father of many nations.
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Abraham is important in the missional context because Abraham showed us that faith matters in the light of salvation. As a result, Gentiles and non-Jews can confess Christ as their savior if they have faith in Him. This has opened the door to the world mission; people do not have to be a Jew or practice Jewish customs in order to become a child of God, but it is faith that brings them to the kingdom of God. In Exodus 19, God’s chosen race, Israel, was given the title of a priesthood. Israel was the chosen nation; God desired them to be the salt and light that reflect God’s glory to other nations. Eventually, the Israelites had failed that particular mission, but God still fulfilled his purpose through the Gentiles. God called the Jews and Gentiles who believe in Christ to be His royal priesthood and His nation. God has given us that title because he desires us to be a witness to the people who have not heard Jesus Christ.
Psalm 67 tells the final purpose of the mission: to shine upon His name and His name will be lifted high. The Old Testament serves as an introduction to the mission. Without the introduction, we cannot go beyond the story. It is important to know where and why God began His unbelievable salvation story, and it unfolds our understanding of the world mission. Yet, there was a period of silence and darkness for the Israelites. With Israel’s sin and their hardened hearts, God’s presence had left the nation for four hundred years. Until one bright star appeared on the sky to tell the good news of the Messiah. As the New Testament began with various passages of Jesus’ birth narration and genealogy, it is very clear that God had not left them but continue His salvation for humanity. As Genesis 3 mentions, there is the one who will crush the sin and death, and that was Christ Jesus.
His life, death, and resurrection left a deep mark in many people’s hearts. When Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, He gave them the Great Commission: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 26:8-20). Many people understand this passage as the mission passage.
Christ’s ultimate mission was accomplished on the cross and through the resurrection, yet, He orders his disciples to continue the mission so that the Gentiles may also hear about the Kingdom of God. A number of Biblical scholars are debating if Jesus was only focusing on the Israelites’ salvation. Many of them have different views on Jesus’ inclusion of Gentiles in his mission. In the historical context, it is clearly depicted that Jesus’ main audience was the Jews. He lived among them and taught them his teachings. However, Jesus also interacted with non-Jews like the Samaritan woman. In his interaction with the non-Jews, He didn’t show abhorrence or indifference, but a genuine love and compassion for them as well. One beautiful comment from Bosch’s book about Jesus’ mission in the New Testament is: “What amazes one, again and again, is the inclusiveness of Jesus’ mission. It embraces both the poor and the rich, both the oppressed and the oppressor, both the sinners and the devout” and he continues and says, “His mission is one of dissolving alienation and breaking down walls of hostility” (Bosch, 201l, p.28).
Bosch concludes Jesus’ mission as an inclusion, rather than isolation. He embraced anyone and everyone with love and compassion. Christ’s mission on the earth becomes the model for all the Christians to follow and to emulate; as the early churches develop and modern church missions begin later, they will encapsulate the mission of Jesus Christ. Christ ascended into heaven; the One who performed great miracles and had love and compassion beyond words is not with us physically. But, Christ himself left His Spirit in us so that we may continue the mission of God.
We call this the Holy Spirit. There are four gospels in the New Testament, but the gospel of Luke emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit: (1) the Spirit initiates the mission, (2) the Spirit guides the mission, and (3) the Spirit functions as the catalyst for missionary breakthroughs (Bosch, 2011). What does this mean? Through the Pentecost, we know that God had empowered the disciples to make disciples of all nations- this was the start. And throughout their journey, there were many incidents that happened in Acts that were only be done by the works of the Spirit (one incidence with Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch). Lastly, the Spirit continuously opened a way for the disciples to breakthrough the moments.
Obviously, we can’t reliant on the Spirit only. There must be a balance. However, we must know that Jesus Christ is with us and empowers us through His Spirit. When we consider the world mission, we must consider the work and the power of the Spirit. In Western culture, the work of the Spirit is easily overlooked or rejected by many. Borthwick explains in his book that many Western missionaries miss the power of the Holy Spirit in their mission field due to their unbelief and indifference. The Holy Spirit is critical in the mission; we have to know that the mission cannot be accomplished without the guidance and wisdom of God. Historically, the Apocalyptic period of the primitive church had displayed how the Holy Spirit was working in the lives of the Christians. Recently I watched a movie called Paul, Apostle of Christ which depicted the early churches in Rome.
Every day, Christians were burning at the stake and eaten by wild animals at the arena. There were many martyrs who faced death because of their faith in Jesus Christ. A year ago, I wrote a church history paper on “the early church martyrs and the works of the Holy Spirit.” I truly believe that the martyrdom is connected to the works of the Holy Spirit because it made people endure the pain of persecution and death. The faith they had and the Spirit that worked in them led those Christians to find peace in tribulations. As the time passed by, the passion for Christ slowly dissipated as the church began to assimilate into the state. Around A.D. 480, the church gradually built their connection to the state, which led the church to lose its focus on the mission. Due to this situation, the monks became the “missionary” who went against the worldliness.
They isolated themselves from the secular society to devote their lives to Christ. Observing these two particular historical moments of the mission, I am thinking what motivate the current missionaries and mission organizations. I mentioned earlier that Borthwick criticized the lack of Holy Spirit filled missions in the Western culture. I do not believe the extreme Pentecostal movement of the church, however, the evidence of the Spirit must be seen in the mission because the Spirit empowers the missionaries and guides us to experience events that can be only done by the Spirit.
The early church disciples went on the missions and endeavored to spread the gospel of Christ even in the time of death and persecution. In my daily life, I often forget the work of the Holy Spirit. Simply because I do not wake up the Spirit to work in my life. In the same way, we are used to relying on our own strength and knowledge; even when we face difficult times in the mission field, we find a tangible way to solve the problem. Some of the contemporary mission programs focus on an inorganic way to present the gospel (e.g. the Four Spiritual Laws).
It can be a great tool to let others know about Christ, but do we desperately rely on the Spirit to work through that program? I do not think so. Furthermore, the monastic movement is a great reminder for the contemporary missionaries to refocus their attention and hearts to Christ. The trigger point of monasticism was when the church began to commit its focus on the state. The church lost its missional purpose and goal, and the monks, who could not stand its corruption, isolated themselves to devote their hearts to Christ. The world that we live in at this time is filled with temptations and distractions. Christians have the “vaccine” called Jesus Christ, but unfortunately, many believers get destroyed by the sinful world.
Missionaries are not much different from other Christians; maybe they are more prone to destruction and temptation because they are in a vulnerable environment. The contemporary churches and pastors are falling apart too. As an example, I’ve been hearing the news about corrupted Korean pastors who embezzled the church money. The churches are becoming more secular and astray from Christ. The monasticism tells Christians that we need to take courage to isolate (not necessarily physical) ourselves from the secularity and worldliness, but refocus on the mission of God. In a Hellenistic period of time, the Byzantine church’s missional focus was the church. They believed that the church was an important way to bring the people to God.
By reflecting this history of mission, the church is also a way to bring the gospel to the people. But with the corruption of the church, the mission can be difficult to accomplish. The church is also the body of Christ. It is not the building or the structure that we worship God, but it is the place where God dwells. We go to the people and to the nations as the church of Christ, but people see Christ through the church. Therefore, the Holy Spirit and the monastic movement in the history of the mission have significant values, and they teach the contemporary mission to rely on the power of the Spirit and to devote our hearts to Christ alone. The theology and the history of the mission have introduced the mission strategies that we can apply in the contemporary missions. Apostle Paul, a great preacher and a missionary of the century, introduces Christians to some of the influential strategies of the mission.
In Goheen and Bosch’s writing, they explain that the center of Paul’s mission was a preaching. He believed that the preaching, or the proclamation, of the gospel, is so critical to let the people know who was Jesus and what He had done on earth and in people’s lives. Secondly, Paul preached and cultivated churches in important cities. For example, the church of Rome was strategically selected city because Rome was a city where many people were passing by. Paul desired to train the Roman Christians so that they could become solid missionaries in the city.
Paul’s third strategy was he, not only shared the gospel to the individuals, but also he aimed the extended families. Paul knew that he could not be with them forever, therefore, those extended families could be the “missionaries” to their neighbors. Furthermore, those extended families and neighbors could build the house churches in the community to serve them.
Lastly, Paul always worked with the team and the colleagues. They were not his helpers, but his co-missionaries. How can we apply Paul’s mission theology in the contemporary missional context? Many missionaries already had applied these strategies in their mission field. Some churches in the U.S. have implemented the concept of a house church in the city mission. The purpose is to raise the “normal, regular” church members to the church leaders to serve the community with the missional mind. Paul’s last strategy is also very applicable in the contemporary mission; nowadays, many missionaries are sent by their churches or work with the mission organizations.
One of the questions that contemporary missionaries face is how do we work with the mission organizations and agencies without invading the boundaries? How can the missionaries and the agencies work collaboratively? These questions are rooted in Paul’s mission theology and strategy. There is no single mission that can be done alone; missionaries need the Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and the co-missionaries and teams to do the missio-dei. A “mission is the ultimate mandate for the church and for the disciples of Christ” (Goheen, 2014). It is no longer focused on the individual’s salvation, but rather, bring more people to the Kingdom of God. The Psalmist mentioned in his writing that, we desire to shine the name of God and give glory to the true God. We want more people to know Him and His love, and ultimately give the worship and praise to Him.
A mission is important. God has given us the salvation through Jesus Christ so that we can be part of His family. But it is not about us, but it is about Him alone. Yet, a mission has been destroyed, lost its purpose, alternated, and reevaluated over the history. Through history, many believers lost their lives to proclaim the gospel, the church faced the Great Schism because of the different theologies and practices, and ultimately led people to the reformation. In conclusion, a mission is God Himself. From the creation to the end of the earth, God continues His mission to bring more people to His arms. We have to remember that we are mere instruments of His great work.
