The Mission of the Church

by Rev. Raymond Coffey

November 2007

In recent years most organizations have crafted a mission statement that reflects the purpose of the group and what it is that they are focused on in their work.  We at Fairlawn have a mission statement that expresses our understanding of the task that is entrusted to us as a church.  It reads:  The mission of Fairlawn Church is to glorify God by being a community of Christian disciples who witness to his salvation in Jesus Christ and work for the building of his kingdom.  This is an excellent statement that reflects the message of Scripture both in terms of its perspective and its priorities. Too often mission statements become either dusty relics or trite phrases that are ignored in the ongoing life of the congregation.  It is important for us to not only know this but to review it in terms of its meaning and application to what we are doing here at Fairlawn.  As we unpack this statement we find fresh impetus for our work and calling as congregation.

To Glorify God…This is the foundation upon which any ministry must be built. The framers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism put it this way in Question 1:

What is the chief end of man? A. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. In recent years John Piper has greatly served the church by reminding us, primarily through his books Desiring God and The Pleasures of God, that God seeks his glory above anything else. Passages such as Isaiah 42:8 and Ezekiel 36:22, 23 indicate that God’s glory is uppermost in his purposes and plans. Piper summarizes it best when he writes, “God’s ultimate goal therefore is to preserve and display his infinite and awesome greatness and worth, that is, his glory.”  In all that God does, whether in creation or redemption, God works to display the glory and excellency of his name. Our mission, in accordance with the revelation of God in his Word, is to glorify him in all that we do. Our responsibility is to make sure that what we do does indeed bring glory to his name. Our worship and ministry, our strategies and plans, our teaching and service are to reflect his glory.  At the end of each composition, J.S. Bach would pen these words: Soli Deo Gloria. His credo was that God alone receive glory in all that he wrote and accomplished. This is the supreme purpose of our mission, to glorify God!

To be a community of disciples…This concept is also indicative of God’s work in redemption.  God has designed from all eternity to call out a people for his name. The establishment of a covenant was always for the purpose of the formation of a community. We find this throughout the Old and New Testaments. Passages such as Deuteronomy 10:14, 15; I Samuel 12:22; II Samuel 7:23; Jeremiah 13:11 and Isaiah 63:12-14 are representative of God’s calling a people for the display of the glory of his name. The same is true in the New Testament. Multiple passages could be cited that speak of the creation of a new covenant community that exists for the glory of God’s name. The ratification of the new covenant in the death of Jesus resulted in the creation of the church, the new Israel. The apostles themselves were the foundation stones for this new temple. As the new covenant community we are the body of the Messiah, the people of his choosing. We are united to Christ and are members of his body and members of one another. Our task in light of this calling is to live as a community, not just in identity but also in concrete attitudes and actions that express the nature of our life together. Knowing one another, sharing table fellowship together, caring for one another, serving one another and loving one another, even when we are difficult to love,  are the ways in which true community is manifested. Our mission involves being and building the people of God as a community.

To witness to God’s salvation in Jesus Christ…The mission of the church finds its expression in the proclamation of the gospel. While the mission encompasses more than this, it is certainly not less than this. The verbal witness of the gospel is of course rooted in the visible witness of living out the gospel in our personal, family and communal lives. But we must never neglect the work of sharing the message concerning Christ Jesus. God has chosen the proclamation of the gospel to be the means by which people are brought to faith in Christ. (Romans 10:14, 17)  Our bearing witness by speaking the gospel is one aspect of our mission.

The scope of our witness is a vital concern in our mission. To whom do we bear witness? The answer of Scripture is this: to the ends of the earth; to all nations, to all peoples, to all languages, to all cultures, to all ethnic groups, to all tribes, to all religions, to all the world!  Our scope is universal. This is the fulfillment of God’s purpose announced to Abraham. In Genesis 12 God promised Abraham that in him and in his seed, i.e. Jesus Christ, all nations would be blessed. The final book of the Old Testament bears testimony to this promise. God speaks through his prophet Malachi and says, “My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations.”  Malachi 1:11   This theme is reiterated in the New Testament. In Acts 1:8 witness is to be given to Jesus Christ “unto the ends of the earth.”  Paul is called to bear witness to Christ’s name among all nations.  In Acts 9 we read these words concerning Paul: “This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings…I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”   (verse 15)   The final vision of this purpose is found in the Revelation of John. He sees before him “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”  This vision vindicates the mission of the church to all peoples as representatives from every linguistic, ethnic, tribal and cultural group who will be numbered among those who know the salvation of Jesus Christ. To that end we pray, we give and we go to bear witness to Christ among all people for the sake of his name.

To build his kingdom…At the heart of the gospel is the message of the kingdom of God. (Mark 1:14, 15) The life of the church is to model what it means to live under the rule/reign of Jesus Christ who is King and Lord.  An incarnational pattern for this manner of living is given us in Jesus himself.  In acts of justice, in walking with humility of spirit, and in loving and demonstrating mercy we bear witness to the kingdom of God. We are called to flesh out the reality of the kingdom in our life together as a community. This kingdom, however, is a hidden kingdom. The kingdom does not come with observation, i.e. is not seen or measured according to human expectations. Rather it is an upside-down kingdom, one in which the last will be first, those who would rule are to be servants, and those who lose their lives will find it and those who seek to save their lives will lose them. The kingdom is built in service to the last, the least and the lost. But it is being built by Christ himself and even a cup of cold water given in his name is not in vain. We are to be subversive agents of this kingdom, to use the words of Eugene Peterson, as we minister, in tangible ways, the grace of our Lord Jesus.

I trust that we will pursue this mission in the power of the Holy Spirit and with the resources God has entrusted to us. In so doing, we will be found to be faithful servants in his church as we extend his kingdom to the ends of the earth.