Bible Study

A Direction of Mission

Published on: 31 October 2023

Folks have many different perceptions of what mission involves, how it’s done and even what it is. Many people see it as the domain of someone standing on the proverbial orange box, proclaiming in loud voice the repentance of sins. Others see it as a series of friendly bridge-builders, over which it may one day be possible to give an invitation to come to church. I wonder, what is your view of mission?

There are a number of statements that Jesus made, notwithstanding, circumstances He faced which I find are useful references when we consider mission. Some of these are, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” (John.5:17 NASB); “Let’s go on to the neighbouring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.” (Mark.1:38 CSB); “And, because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” (Mark.6:5 NLT).

When we look into the Gospel accounts we discover, without doubt, a continuity of mission. Yet whilst there is no abatement of mission there is movement. When we follow this movement, it is not that we are given to look into a series of good ideas which have been duly put into action but rather that there is a powerful work of the Holy Spirit in action. If those involved were to become comfortable in one place then stagnation could easily set in.

One reason for this is that it is much easier to reach folks if they have been untouched by the Gospel than it is to reach people who have been established for a long time but not yet saved. Consider, for a moment, the example I gave above from Mark.6:5. Unbelief was a cause of resistance to the Gospel. Familiarity was a cause for their unbelief. Those folks only knew Jesus as the son of Mary (Mark.6:3). Their thinking was limited to purely human reason. Further to that, Jesus makes us aware of a certain condition pertaining to reason but not to inspiration; Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” (Mark.6:4 NIV).

A breakthrough in these circumstances can be a long time coming. Once folks dig their heels in, it will certainly take a miracle to move them. In fact the Scripture says, “And He marvelled because of their unbelief. And He went round about the villages, teaching” (Mark.6:6 KJV). Those people were left behind! Indeed, it has often been said that it is better to move on than to proclaim the Gospel to people who are dead of hearing.

Not all of us can be constantly moving around. So, doesn’t that mean that some folks need to be released into mission (Luke.10:1-12)? What do we do if one church does not have the resources to do that? How about we covenant together for the purpose of mission in order to resource those folks released into that work? Sounds more than a good idea to me. That way they could keep going and leave the dead of hearing behind wherever they may be. That’s what the Lord did. That’s what the apostles did. Just a good idea or, a direction from Scripture?

Roger Stone