GOD IS A MISSIONARY GOD - PART 1

Have you read The Great Commission lately? If not, let me share it with you.

¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." New International Version

How about this version:
^16-17Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.

^18-20Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." The Message

Pay special attention to the highlighted portions of each translation. Key word -- GO

What ever made us think that the primary word in the Great Commission was come, as in, "come one, come all?" For too many churches, the model for ministry has been attractional. How do we get people to come to us? Such a model, I believe, grew out of a mindset that ignored an essential part of the nature of God. God is a missionary God.

What do we mean by that?

God expresses His nature in His missionary activity. He is a God who seeks to reconcile Himself to humanity. To have God's nature is to have a mission. The Triune God is a missionary God. Particularly as we encounter Him in the person of the incarnate Christ, His mission is not merely a function of His nature; it is a part of His essential nature. It begins in Creation, continues through the Cross, and continues in us by His resurrection.

We see God's essential nature in the person of Christ who was on a mission. He left the comfort and the position of heaven to do His work in a fallen world, a world as unlike heaven as one could imagine. He did not change the world by pronouncements from above, but by incarnational revelation and a work done in the field that was white unto harvest.

The church to truly reflect the nature of God must be a missionary church that goes into the mission field in order to be the bridge to the God who will save us all.

Jesus came to those needing him (including us). He told us to go to the people needing Him. And He promised to be with us until the end of the age.

Since Jesus is going, if the church is not --- we will be the ones left behind.