All Christians are Missionaries.
Make no mistake about it, Christians are sent.
Jesus prays to his Father in John 17v18, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” In Jesus, we are not only “not of this world,” but also sent right back into it on redemptive mission.
But what is our mission?
We know that in a overall sense, our purpose is to know God, walk with God and partner with God...but as we go to enter into the chaos of this world, what is our mission?
Jesus says, “As you sent me...so I have sent them”. So what was Jesus’ mission?
Matthew 15v24 (see also Luke 4v43)
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
Luke 4v18-19
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
Similarly, we see Jesus send the disciples to do the same:
Matthew 25v34-40
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
The mission, for both Jesus and his disciples, was to display the kingdom of God and, in doing so, invite each individual in the world to be redeemed and restored into the kingdom of God.
The mission is and was to:
Guide the lost. To look for those who lack truth, direction and wisdom and to offer the opportunity to wrestle with God’s counsel as a way of illuminating the path.
Provide for the poor. To find those who lack basic needs and meet those needs with hospitality as guided and empowered by God.
Mend the broken. To seek out those whose minds, bodies and general relationships don’t function the way they were intended. Our goal is to partner with God in bringing God’s will and reign into the lives of those who are experiencing brokenness.
Free the oppressed. To find those who are being physically or spiritually held down and offer freedom in accordance with Christ.
The mission of Jesus ultimately culminates in the commission of Christ to go and make disciples. We engage chaos through the modes of mission listed above, but in doing so we recognize that love of neighbor, in its most powerful expression, is to care for the eternal well-being of another person. Making disciples is about partnering with God to influence the spirit of a person.
So this is our mission:
To guide the lost
To provide for the poor
To mend the broken
To free the oppressed
And all with the desire to disciple someone to know, walk and partner with God for all of eternity.