Update

The next series "The Mission of a Church Planter" will be delayed a few days due to an unexpected trip.  

The Mission of the Church, Part 3

“WE ARE ALL WITNESSES”            - Nike

Two years ago, Nike began this little slogan to market LeBron James and his shoes.  They just want to sell as many shoes as possible. The climatic commercial showed James going up for a dunk against the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs.  It was an unbelievable moment.  The Cleveland Cavs were down 3games to 1 in a best of 7 series.  The winner goes to the finals.  Cleveland came back to force game 7 at Detroit.  James’ game 7 was stuff of legends, as captured in this one dunk.  He soared past defenders and above the rim with his head a good 8 inches higher than it.  He slammed the ball through with such ferocity that it broke the collective souls of the Pistons and their fans.  Everyone knew, in that moment of the fourth quarter, that Cleveland just pulled off the remarkable.  And there’s the commercial, a slow, deliberate look at that one play.  All the colors surrounding James as he soared higher and higher were faded.  Only the color on his jersey was prominent.  The music in the background was the hum of a gospel choir, matching the deliberate replay of this dunk.  At the end, in appropriate simple font, was this: we are all witnesses.

As a long-suffering fan of professional sport teams from Cleveland, OH, this was truly a remarkable, memorable moment.  I remember just staring at my television in total disbelief, thinking “this is what winning feels like?”  Well, fortunately, for my sanctification of course, the San Antonio Spurs quickly brought back to mind the fangled notion of losing as they eventually swept the over-matched Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.  Yet, it is nice to recall the moment; to remember what it was like to come back from the brink of sports death and pull off a stunning victory in stunning fashion over a hated rival.  I was a witness indeed.

Witness. Merriam-Webster defines ‘witness’ as the following: attestation of a fact or event; one that gives evidence.  We have considered the mission of the Church in a three-fold manner.  The Church is to worship God, to actively give glory to God through the means of grace and through its work.  The work of the Church is to keep before all the people of the Church this primary task of glorifying God.  It is work because we can so quickly forget what we are to be on mission for.  That leads us to the last angle of the gem, the witness of the Church. To put it succinctly:

The Worship of the Church is Godward

The Work of the Church is Inward

The Witness of the Church is Outward

Acts 1:8, a familiar passage to many, makes it plain to all who read it.  Jesus speaking to his disciples says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The Greek word is also familiar to us, it is the word “martyres” from the word “martys”.  It is where we get our word, “martyr”.  Like the M-W definition, it means, “as one who declares facts directly known to him from first-hand knowledge or from first-hand experience.”  Christ was charging his disciples to declare the facts of his life, death and resurrection and how they relate to the plan of redemption from their first-hand knowledge and experience.  They were to be his witnesses and while this charge in a sense was unique to them (we do not have the luxury of first-hand knowledge and experience of Christ’s life on earth), we do see something normative for the Church as a whole emerge from it. 

The role of the Church in the culture around it is to be a witness and I want to position that this role is two-fold.  First, the witness of the Church to a watching god-less culture is in the content of its message.  The Church’s responsibility is to declare and expound on what the Scriptures teach about God, man, Christ, sin, death, salvation and everything in between.  Its content is not to shift with the times, relating in every fashionable way, but to remain constant and clear.  Peter’s sermon in Acts 4 speaks of this constant, clear content: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  And Paul echoes this when he tells the Corinthians that he, “decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).  The can be no question to the content of the Church’s witness, just as there can be no question to the content of witness’s declaration in a court room.  When the content becomes shaded with doubts or inconsistencies, then the witness’s testimony is disregarded by the jury.  This is no doubt true in the issue of the Church and the culture.  Most of our western culture has put the Church on “ignore” because of a wildly inconsistent content that has spewed from its doors and pulpits.  Many pastors and churches have not followed in Peter and Paul’s example in keeping the content of their witness constant and clear.  For this, there is much work ahead for the Church to regain an ear from the culture, but it will also depend on the other side of the Church’s witness.

The content must certainly be centralized on Christ, but the character of the Church must represent the life-changing work of the Holy Spirit.  The evidence for this is also in Acts 1:8.  Jesus said the Holy Spirit would come and empower.  The work of God is not a one-time thing, it is continuous as the Holy Spirit convicts, comforts and empowers the Church for worship, work and witness.  This is not to suggest that the Church is to be perfect, but simply to say that the Church is to be a place of on-going, Christ-honoring, Holy Spirit-brought change.  (I’ll steer clear of any change you can believe in jokes.  Just know they are sitting there to be had.) The witness of the Church is not to be one broken pastor after another.  Sin and catastrophic failings in the pastors and leaders of the Church has caused generations of harm in the witness of the Church in our culture.  It has to stop.  Political posturing of the Church also has to stop.  God is not a Republican or a Democrat if you looked at how the Church voted in the recently election.  These issues do not help the character of the Church one bit.  What does? A God-honoring, Christ-central message; a selfless going above and beyond care for the members of the Church; and an authentic care for those in their communities outside of the Church’s walls.  This authentic care is seen in sacrificial service but with the purpose to declare the first-hand knowledge and experience of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.  There are many churches that have taken to the sacrificial service to their communities, in fact, I would say there is a growing movement occurring.  But, sadly, what is largely absent from this outward character is the consistent, clear content of their witness. 

It takes both to be a witness.  We hope to have both, hand in hand, when we arrive in Bakersfield.  Hopefully, you share the same goals in the churches you attend that way we can say, “WE ARE ALL WITNESSES.” 

The Mission of the Church, Part 2

It is no surprise to say that a significant aspect of the mission of the Church is to worship God.  And while it is principally at the heart of all that the Church does, there is specific work for the church.

Turning to the third chapter of Ephesians will shed some light on the work of the Church.

Ephesians 3:7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Paul is speaking of “big picture” stuff again. The purpose of the Church is to reveal the mystery of Christ; that is the mystery of God mission of glory.  Last week we saw how the mission of God to be glorified culminates in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.  In the course of history, whether in heaven or on earth, this progression of redemptive history was always covered with mystery; as if awaiting for someone to come along to make sense of the Old Testament’s promises and foreshadowing of a Messiah.  Jesus Christ comes and Paul points to him as the answer, as the mystery made known.

The work of the Church is to be the vehicle of making this known in the world. It is through the Church that the mission of God, specifically the culmination of his mission in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, is made known.  Certainly, the Church itself will do this “work”, that is the Church will engage in the worship of God, but it will also actively work at making this known within its context.  This is slightly different than its witness, which will be the focus on Friday.  The Church is to be at work, within and throughout, teaching, educating, compelling and spurring people on to join in the mission of God.  This is for new and mature believers; for young and old; for singles and families; for rich and poor; for worship services and service projects.  The work of the Church is to keep before the people of God the mission of God, that way they will be intent to keep before the world this great mission in its witness. 

The Mission of the Church, Part 1

If the mission of God is his glory, then, in not-so-shocking terms, this is also the mission of the Church.  Just to be clear, The Church is the community of people redeemed by Jesus Christ. God the Father sent, God the Son accomplished and God the Spirit applied the plan of redemption to a specific people.  This, of course, demonstrates the activity of the Trinity in the fulfillment of redemption.

Yet, there is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the Church.  The Holy Spirit is always at work enabling the Church to exalt Christ as the Lord and Savior.  As the corporate body of Christ gathers together and as it scatters through the various communities, states, and nations, the prevailing mission is to bring glory to Christ as the Great Redeemer and Lord of all.  This is the mission of the Church.  Just like looking at one gem from many angles, so can one look at the one mission of the Church.  The process of this mission can be viewed in three different angles: worship, work and witness.  The Church is to be about the worship of Christ, the work of Christ and the witness of Christ.  This week we will look at all three, with today’s focus on worship.

The clarion passage that speaks of the worship of God is from the lips of Jesus Christ as found in John’s gospel.  Jesus is conversing with a Samaritan woman at a well in the town of Sychar in Samaria.  The woman and Jesus have a dialogue that shift to focus around the proper place of worship.  There is a long-standing context behind this discussion as the Jews and Samaritans had an embattled history over which mountain was “the mountain”.  Needless to say, Jesus shatters this squabble and gives us a clear understanding of the place of worship in the mission of the Church.  Note John 4:21-24:

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

At the heart of the worship of the Church is the centrality of God.  Or conversely, where God, (as understood in the OT and NT) is at the center of a Church, there is worship.  The mission of the Church must begin and end with God and if God is about his glory, then so should the Church.  Jesus makes this clear to the Samaritan women (and to us). So, as the Church goes out and engages in the culture around it, this one thing must be crystal clear: God is at the center of its worship.  Before the work and witness of the Church can carry their weight, this one angle of the gem must be found with the right cut and clarity. 

When God is worshipped, then the work of the Church and its witness will help round out its mission in this world.

The Mission of God, Part 3

“This is gonna take cracker-jack timing.”                       Jack Burton

A couple days late but never too late I guess. Fortunately, the plan of redemption came about at the right exact time. God, in ages past, planned within himself to bring this plan of redemption from the counsel of his will into the time and space of the world.  He did this through the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

Why did God the Son have to come and accomplish this redemption? Bursting into the creation of the Triune God came the horrifying act and consequences of sin.  Through Adam, sin entered into the world.  Note, that this sin not only is inherent in every one of us, but it has also entered into all of creation.  Romans 8:20-23 shows the pervasive effect of sin:

^{“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”}

Christ came to redeem or reconcile that which was once right with God to become right with God again.  In the New Testament, there are two corresponding passages that demonstrate both the cosmic redemption and the specific redemption: Ephesians 1:7-10 and Colossians 1:19-20

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Colossians 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

In these two passages, both the cosmic redemption, (all of creation will be redeemed) and the specific redemption, (a personal redemption of God’s people), are shown.  At the right time, God came down to earth in the Son to redeem all of his creation and all of his people.

This captures, in both fullness and essence, the mission of God. Perfect relationship exists in the Trinity.  Out of this relationship comes the goodness of God in creation.  This creation speaks back to God the glory due his name.  Yet, sin enters the creation through man and the man Christ Jesus, God in the flesh comes to redeem that which is fallen.  All this from the beginning to the day of eternity is for the glory of God.  Creation speaks of God’s work and God’s work alone.  Redemption speaks of God’s work and God’s work alone. Glory will go to God and God alone.

Nothing seems more fitting than to close this week out with the benediction found at the end of Jude.  It sums this up better than I could.

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

The Mission of God, Part 2

“creatio ex nihilio—creation out of nothing"

Before the beginning was the Trinity and the Trinity alone.  There was perfect glory in this Three-in-One.  Nothing apart from the Trinity was needed to make the glory of God perfect.  So, why creation; why did God create all of “this” out of nothing? 

As Monday showed, the answer comes back to “glory.”  Creation of the universe was a totally free act of God.  Wayne Grudem notes that “it was not a necessary act but something God chose to do.” In this divine choice, God was displaying his excellencies, the qualities that demonstrate his worth.  There are many verses that point to this but two in particular for you to look at:

Revelation 4:11 says, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”  In this verse we learn that (1) God created all things, (2) God demonstrated all his attributes through creation, (3) God is worthy of all glory.

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”  What we know from this is that creation has a job. Its duty is to declare something very specific about God: his glory.  From this verse and Rev 4:11 we can put the framework of creation’s purpose and how it fits with the mission of God.  God, the perfect Three-in-One, created everything in such a way that it declares and proclaims his great worth.  He didn't need to, he wanted to.

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit planned in eternity past to burst into the nothing, creation.  Their counsel determined to create and their purpose of this creation is that the worth of God would be on display for his glory.  This is “big picture” stuff.  When we look to creation we are to get a glimpse of the excellencies of God and return to him praise and glory.  It should orient our life in the “here and now” to the bigger, grander story of an eternal God who is worthy of all glory, honor and power.

Creation, however, leads to something more specific in the mission of God: redemption. Friday, in some small part, we will look at how the mission of God is perfectly captured in the eternal plan of redemption. 

The Mission of God, Part 1

“What does God need with a starship?”            Capt. James T. Kirk

What is the mission of God?  Why does God do the things he does? What is the purpose behind all of “this”, with “this” being life, existence, eternity?

Before swimming through the deep waters of those answers, it is imperative that I explain why I ask this question of the mission of God.  Follow the logic train, here:

            If God exists, then that means all of “this” is his.

            If all of “this” is his, then he must have a plan for it.

            If he has a plan for it, then we should seek to be about it.

Of course, the objector has all sorts of red-flags to the above statements but I will say that if God doesn’t own all of “this” or if God doesn’t have a plan for all “this,” then why would we call him God? In fact, he would not be God at all; he would be something less than God. Furthermore, nothing in “this” is outside of God. There are no accidents with God because an accident assumes that something happened outside of God’s control and permission and if anything were to happen outside of God’s control and permission then he would not be God. Positionally, God has to be over all and relationally God has to be limitless. There can be no limits or needs with God.  Capt. Kirk correctly points this out for us.  The moment we allow for limitations or needs with God is the moment God is no longer God. He is less than God and no God at all.

So, if God exists, then “this” is all his and if “this” is all his, then what is his mission with it? Romans 11:36 sums it up perfectly for us: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”  There is your answer; glory.  All of “this” is for God’s glory and God is on a mission to be glorified. This occurs in two key moments of time and space: creation and redemption.

Later this week we will look at how creation and redemption are significant parts of God’s mission to be glorified but first we must get a clearer (if possible!) picture of what this means by going back to the beginning…well, actually, before the beginning, before there was anything at all. We have to go back to when it was just God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  We can say that the mission of God is to be glorified because that is precisely what we see in the Trinity.

The Trinity is certainly a complex issue to try to explain and by no means can I explain it away in some pithy blog entry.  We can, however, say several things about it.  The Trinity is three persons. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are each fully God and yet somehow, in some strange economy, there is just one God.  How? I don’t know.  True? Yes, the Scriptures make this clear throughout both the Old and New Testament.  (For a more substantial work on this see Herman Bavinck’s “The Doctrine of God.”) 

This is what we commonly say about the Trinity and all of it vitally important.  In fact, Bavinck succinctly stated it this way: “The doctrine of the Trinity is the very heart of Christianity.” It is the heart of Christianity because in the Trinity we see a perfect, loving relationship that eternally glorifies God.  What is seen in the Trinity is what we see in the mission of God.  God is at work to bring about a perfect, loving relationship with his creation which in turn will bring about the eternal glorification of him who created all of “this.”  To throw more brain twisting fuel on the fire, God needs nothing, not one thing, outside of himself to be glorified.  He is perfectly glorified within himself.  Complicated, I know.  But thankfully we can rest in the fact that God is without limitation, God is without need and God is perfect in his Triune being. How and why do we fit into all of this? Well, that’s for later in the week.

 

Now, your mind could be swimming, in large part because I am human and God is God, and I the human am trying to articulate the relationship of the Triune God. Yet, the bottom line is that within the Trinity there is perfection.  There is perfection in love.  There is perfection in relationship and community.  There is perfection in will and this perfection brings to the one God perfect glory.  From eternity past to eternity future, God was and will be perfectly glorified. This is what God is about.  This is his mission.  Creation and redemption are about this and later this week we will look at how they fit into it.

Make no mistake and do not be put off by what we with human eyes would deem to be overly ego-centric, God is about his glory.  This is his mission and ultimately it is ours. The truth that the Trinity is about the perfect glorification of God sets the table for what we, his people, his church, are to be about.  Doctrine informs our practice. God’s glory informs our work. 

An Apology and An Update

Well, it seems that I have skipped posting in February altogether. For this, I apologize.
The past month was productively spent preparing our home for hitting the market.  One small job reveals another and so on and so forth. Many of you know this adventure.

On Tuesday, our home will hit the market.  

On the support-raising front we are about to hit our mark.  Some families and a church in Bakersfield have surprised us with their giving.  We of course give glory to God but are very thankful for the commitment of his people.  

To the many of you who have contributed to us an in any way, we say thank you.

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Now, what's ahead for us in the coming months? We are trusting God that he will sovereignly orchestrate the sell of our home, the purchase of one in Bakersfield and a 2600 mile move.  We hope that this will happen at the end of April or the beginning of May.  That is very exciting!

What's next for this blog?  Well, I have three series in store in the coming weeks that will be related to what we hope to do in our church planting efforts in Bakersfield. Each series will have three parts.  Look for posts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Here are the series:

Series 1: The Mission of God (Starting March 16th)

Series 2: The Mission of the Church (Starting March 23rd)

Series 3: The Mission of a Church-Planter (Starting March 30th)

That is all for now. Pray that God would be glorified.