Quotes from What Is the Mission of the Church?
What Is The Mission Of The Church
Kevin Deyoung & Greg Gilbert
(My highlights quotes)
Because mission is not a biblical word like covenant or justification or gospel, determining its meaning for believers is particularly difficult. Read more at location 158
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“What is the mission of the church?” depends, to a large degree, on what is meant by “mission.” One could make a case that glorifying God and enjoying him forever is the mission of the church, because that is our chief end as redeemed believers. Someone else might argue that loving God and loving neighbor is the best description of our mission, because those are the greatest commandments. And someone else might borrow from the nineteenth-century hymn and argue that trust and obey is the essence of our mission, because that is the great call of the gospel message. In one sense we would be foolish to argue with any of these answers. If mission is simply a synonym for living a faithful Christian life, then there are dozens of ways to answer the question, “What is the mission of the church?” Read more at location 165
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But where to start with a definition? In his influential book Transforming Mission, David Bosch rightly argues, “Since the 1950s there has been a remarkable escalation in the use of the word ‘mission’ among Christians. This went hand in hand with a significant broadening of the concept, at least in certain circles.”4 It used to be that mission referred pretty narrowly to Christians sent out cross-culturally to convert non-Christians and plant churches. But now mission is understood much more broadly. Environmental stewardship is mission. Community renewal is mission. Blessing our neighbors is mission. Mission is here. Mission is there. Mission is everywhere. We are all missionaries. As Christopher Wright puts it, disagreeing with
Kevin Deyoung & Greg Gilbert
(My highlights quotes)
Because mission is not a biblical word like covenant or justification or gospel, determining its meaning for believers is particularly difficult. Read more at location 158
-------------------------------------------------
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
“What is the mission of the church?” depends, to a large degree, on what is meant by “mission.” One could make a case that glorifying God and enjoying him forever is the mission of the church, because that is our chief end as redeemed believers. Someone else might argue that loving God and loving neighbor is the best description of our mission, because those are the greatest commandments. And someone else might borrow from the nineteenth-century hymn and argue that trust and obey is the essence of our mission, because that is the great call of the gospel message. In one sense we would be foolish to argue with any of these answers. If mission is simply a synonym for living a faithful Christian life, then there are dozens of ways to answer the question, “What is the mission of the church?” Read more at location 165
-------------------------------------------------
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
But where to start with a definition? In his influential book Transforming Mission, David Bosch rightly argues, “Since the 1950s there has been a remarkable escalation in the use of the word ‘mission’ among Christians. This went hand in hand with a significant broadening of the concept, at least in certain circles.”4 It used to be that mission referred pretty narrowly to Christians sent out cross-culturally to convert non-Christians and plant churches. But now mission is understood much more broadly. Environmental stewardship is mission. Community renewal is mission. Blessing our neighbors is mission. Mission is here. Mission is there. Mission is everywhere. We are all missionaries. As Christopher Wright puts it, disagreeing with