What Matters Most?
‘Integral mission’ is defined as ‘the task of bringing the whole of life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ’ and includes the affirmation that there is no biblical dichotomy between evangelistic and social responsibility in bringing Christ’s peace to the poor and oppressed. This was further clarified at the 2001 meeting of the Micah Network in Oxford as ‘the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel,’ emphasizing that it is not simply the issue of evangelism and social involvement being done alongside each other but rather that ‘our proclamation has social consequences as we call people to love and repentance in all areas of life’ and that ‘our social involvement has evangelistic consequences as we bear witness to the transforming grace of Jesus Christ.’
It is important however that the social consequences of faith in Jesus are distinguished from the message of faith.
Jesus’ concern
Jesus faced the conflict of so many people wanting to come for physical healing that he felt he could not fulfil his main purpose. He was told,
“‘Everyone is looking for you!’ Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ So he travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.”
He continued his healing and exorcism activities both to care for people and to demonstrate that he was God’s Messiah, but gospel proclamation always remained his priority.
Part of the training Jesus gave his inner band of twelve disciples was to send them out on a mission trip.
“ . . . he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Luke 9:2
A little later he sent out seventy two others. As the number of his followers after his resurrection amounted to one hundred and twenty, this must have represented a large proportion of the men. They were to go into every town that Jesus was approaching, to prepare them for his arrival. He told them,
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you like lambs among wolves.” Luke 9:2
Their task in bringing in this harvest was first to make friends with people who were willing to listen to them, then care for them but the ultimate purpose was to ensure that they heard God’s message.
“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’” Luke 10:9
To be a Christian must involve the totality of the way we live. Jesus emphasised,
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise you Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
‘Good deeds’ are the result the gospel has on his people. But these deeds are there to influence people for Christ. The emphasis of this section of the Sermon on the Mount is that God’s chosen people are chosen to influence others for God. How can others know why we live as we do if we do not share with them the message about Jesus? Our light is ultimately our message about Jesus.
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” Matthew 5:14-15
Jesus wants all his people to be involved in sharing the gospel with others. Didn’t he say,
“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” Luke 11:23
Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples make clear that proclaiming the gospel is the church’s greatest priority and this task of evangelism must continue through the generations.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’” Mathew 28:18
Paul’s concern
The apostles understood that this obedience required Christians to tell others the message that ‘Jesus is Lord’ and that he is the Saviour of all who turn to him. Paul wrote,
“How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Romans 10:14
Paul wrote to the troubled church in Corinth about this role of all Christians,
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them, And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf; Be reconciled to God. God mad him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
Many mission hospitals have been established with the purpose of caring for people so that they could have the opportunity of hearing the news about Jesus. The great London Hospitals such as Guy’s, St. Thomas’, and St Bartholomew’s were all established by Christians for this purpose. They appointed chaplains to ensure that patients heard this message. Many overseas mission hospitals were similarly established with this same intention. Yet too often, over the years the gospel intentions can so easily get forgotten or just given lip service to.
The same can happen to churches. They may have started as gospel teaching centres but can so easily become just centres for social care. Look what has happened to organisations such as Christian Aid, Oxfam, YMCA and many others - they started with the highest of intentions but then forgot the gospel basis.
On Paul’s second missionary journey,
“Paul and his companions travelled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.” Acts 16:6
Although they did care for the sick and made collections for the poor in Jerusalem the prime aim of this band was clearly Gospel proclamation. When they arrived in Troas,
“Paul had a vision of a man in Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” Acts 16:9
Paul was clear what this meant. The essential help they really needed was not social care, food banks or wells for water!
“After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Acts 16:10
There can be no greater aid that we can give people than to introduce them to the Lord Jesus.
Peter’s concern
Peter also emphasised the importance of how Christians live as representatives of the Lord Jesus. As he was facing probable execution in Rome, he wrote emphasising what he had heard Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount,
“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:12
We are being watched but how easy it is for us to gain the glory from the way we live. Peter has already explained what his summary description, ‘Live such good lives,’ means.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
Sharing the gospel is mentioned first, quickly followed by the need for holiness,
“Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” 1 Peter 2:11
Just before this Peter has explained why people fail to become God’s people,
“They stumble because they disobey the message - . . .” 1 Peter 2:8
Again it is the verbal or written message shared by Christians that is fundamental, this is the news that all people must hear. Peter finished his first section by stressing this,
“‘The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands for ever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:25
How easy it is for our churches, Christian organisations and ourselves to lose this priority. We can so easily mistake the good things we do for others as the gospel.
Some years ago I was taking a mission in Ramsgate and one afternoon went for a stroll along the seafront. Also out on a stroll were a group of about thirty nuns, members of Mother Theresa’s ‘Sisters of Mercy.’ We started to talk and I asked them how they would describe the Christian gospel. One nun replied by quoting from the parable of the Sheep and Goats that Jesus told. The sheep and goats were separated, the sheep for heaven and the goats for hell.
“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.” Matthew 25:34-36
This nun mistakenly thought that these activities of Christians were the gospel and that people who do them will go to heaven. That is not Christ’s message. Jesus explained,
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.” Matthew 25:40
Throughout the Bible the phrase ‘Christ’s brothers’ always refers to fellow Christians, male and female. A real evidence that we have been adopted by Christ is seen in how we live. Christians receive the inheritance of heaven as a free gift when we submit to the rule of Jesus Christ – it is not earned at all. This inheritance is a free gift. However the evidence that Christ is in us is that we will love Christ, love his word, love holiness and love his people.
I asked the nun whether the life and death of Jesus was not the gospel. At this point a senior nun intervened and rightly explained to us all,
“The gospel is surely the news about Jesus and who he is, that he is God who came to this world to die for our sin so we can become acceptable to God. The good news is that those who turn to him as their Lord and Saviour are forgiven all their sin. How we live is a reflection of this faith.”
When thinking about this question I received an email from Roger Carswell which reminded me that Jesus himself summarised what the essential gospel is by quoting the last thing Jesus said to his disciples, after his resurrection, at the end of Luke’s gospel.
“Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.’” Luke 24:45-47
These four points are the emphasis of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament and should be the emphasis of our church’s teaching and preaching,
1. God’s chosen king will enter his world, suffer and die.
2. He will rise from death on the third day.
3. People must make a decision to repent and return to the state of his being their Lord.
4. Forgiveness of sin is the greatest need and is available to all who turn to Christ.
A study of the sermons in Acts confirms that this was the message of the apostles. Peter’s first sermon at Pentecost had an opening to connect with his listeners, then explained that Jesus was the Messiah the Scriptures talked about, then emphasised the need for a new start with God through repentance with the great benefit that those who do turn to Christ will be forgiven their sins against God and will receive the Spirit of God to enable them to live his way. Go through the other sermons in Acts and they all have the same essential message.
Paul was insistent that the gospel is the message about the universal Lordship of Jesus, yet it is a message that has life changing consequences. It is a message that is heard through our ears and is passed on through our voices. He wrote,
“This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which, I Paul have become a servant.” Colossians 1:23
A problem with the idea of ‘integral mission’ is that, with time, people can come to think that the gospel is the love that Christians show others and forget that it is a message about Jesus who alone can save us and so enable us to spend eternity with him.
BVP
September 2022
