What is the Mission of the Church?

Blog post by Justin Nash

If we were to ask a group of church leaders, “What is the mission of the church?” we would likely get a variety of answers based on the core values that each person holds dear. Core values drive the mission and ministry of most churches. For instance, the following chart lists some possible core values and the resulting mission:

Core Value

Pastoral Care
Scripture
Evangelism
Worship
Family

Resulting Mission

Caring for people
Teaching the Bible
Evangelizing lost people
Worshiping God
Ministering to families

These are all good things, even vital things, but are they the main thing? Is the mission of our churches the mission Jesus gave us? Do our core values align with the core values Jesus gave to his church? Do our ministries focus on the mission he gave his church?

What is a Mission?

A mission asks, “What collectively as an organized institution must we be about as God’s people if we are to faithfully accomplish his purposes for us in the world?” The mission of the church can be thought of in two senses, a broad sense and a narrow sense. The broad sense deals with the mission of the universal church. What is the mission Jesus gave to his church at all times and in all places? The narrow sense deals with how the broad mission expresses itself in a particular local church. How does our church accomplish the broad mission in our local context?

The Mission of Jesus?

The first place to consider this is by examining the question, “What was the nature of Jesus’s ministry?” What becomes clear from Scripture is that while Jesus ministered to bodies as well as souls, within this holistic ministry, he made preaching his priority. For instance, read Mark 1:38. What was Jesus’ primary reason for coming out into public ministry and moving from town to town? “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” Jesus came primarily to preach.

What was the purpose of Jesus’ Spirit-anointed ministry (Luke 4:18-19)? Note how many times “proclaim” occurs in these three verses. Mark 1:15; 2:17, declare that he came to call sinners to repentance and faith.

Although Jesus frequently attended to the physical needs of those around him, there is not a single example of Jesus going into a town with the purpose of healing or casting out demons. The Son of Man never ventured out on a healing or exorcism tour. His stated purpose was to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10) by preaching and teaching.

Of course, it must be noted that Jesus wasn’t only a preacher. He also came as to give his life as a sacrifice to redeem sinners (Mark 10:45). But since Jesus has already made this sacrifice once for all (Hebrews 9:12, 26), redeeming people is outside of the church’s mission.

If Jesus’ ministry was primarily preaching, what does that suggest for our churches? Of course, he did good works, but those good works were complementary to his preaching. The good works weren’t primary, the preaching was.

The Mission of the Early Church

What about the early church? What the focus of their ministry? Kevin DeYoung offers the following synopsis:

“The mission given to the disciples was not one of cultural transformation — though that would often come as a result of their message — but a mission of gospel proclamation. To be sure, God’s cosmic mission is bigger than the Great Commission, but it is telling that while the church is not commanded to participate with God in the renewal of all things — which would, presumably, include not only re-creation abut also fiery judgment — we are often told to bear witness to the one who will do all these things. In short, while the disciples were never told to be avatars of Christ, it is everywhere stated, either explicitly or implicitly, that they were to be ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20).”¹

The Great Commission is the Mission

All four Gospels (plus Acts) include some version of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20; Mark 13:10; 16:15; Luke 24:44-49; John 20:21; Acts 1:8). The mission Jesus gave his church is the Great Commission.

But what is the Great Commission? Many Christians don’t seem to know. A recent Barna survey last year revealed that 51% of US churchgoers do NOT know what the Great Commission is. Twenty-five percent have heard of it but can’t recall what it means. Six percent aren’t sure what it means. Amazingly, only 17% of US churchgoers have heard of the Great Commission and know what it means!

Matthew 28:19-20 is the most well-known version of the Great Commission – this is the one most people think of when they think of the Great Commission:

“¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So, what is THE command in this passage? (MAKE DISCIPLES). In short, this is the church’s mission, to make disciples! Matthew offers a simple formula to make disciple – Go, Baptize, Teach. While we are going, we are to proclaim the gospel, baptize believers and teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded.

As one writer puts it, “The mission of the church is to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship the Lord and obey his commands now and in eternity to the glory of God the Father.”²

Fulfilling the Mission

According to Scripture then, the church’s mission is to proclaim, preserve and display the gospel. But how is this mission fulfilled in our local churches? The ministry of 9Marks offers a helpful framework – the church is to proclaim the gospel, preserve the gospel and display the gospel.³

First, a church should proclaim the gospel. “Jesus charged the apostles with proclaiming the gospel to all nations (Matt. 28:18-20), and he established the church to carry out that task. Preaching the gospel is central to the church’s mission (2 Tim. 2:15, 4:2).”

Second, a church must preserve the gospel. “Paul calls the church a pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). The church is charged with the task of preserving the true gospel throughout the ages (1 Tim. 1:3-4; 2 Tim. 1:13; Tit. 1:9). It does this through faithfully preaching the gospel, refuting false teaching and maintaining doctrinal and moral purity among its members.”

Finally, a church must display the gospel. “Paul says that through the church God makes known his wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Eph. 3:10). Through the holy lives of its members and its unity-in-diversity (1 Cor. 12:12-26), the church is called to be a vivid, living color display of the gospel it preaches.”

Conclusion

In the end, whatever kind of ministry occurs in a local church, the primary ministry should be the preaching and teaching of the gospel and the whole counsel of Scripture. The foremost job of our churches is to make followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ ministry was primarily proclamatory. So was the ministry of the early church. Therefore, the preaching and teaching of the Word of God for the purpose of making disciples should be our primary mission as well.