Explaining Mission [antikvár]

1 Will You Be Lonely in Heaven? "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." (Daniel 12:3) The Lord Jesus Himself clearly commanded His Church to give itself without reservation to the consuming task of world mission. "Go," He said, "and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). These words, traditionally known as the Great Commission, have often been neglected in the late twentieth century. Today the challenge to reach the peoples of every nation and every tongue with the Good News about Jesus is greater than at any other time in the history of the Church. Yet we find ourselves less committed and less convinced of the priority of world mission than perhaps we have ever been. We need to return to the words of Jesus and obey them. If one hundred Christians from around the world today were asked to define the central task of the Church, what answers would they give? I suspect that there would be almost as many answers as there were people giving them! But Christians in the not-so-distant past had a much greater clarity on this matter. When the heart of God for mission was more clearly recognised some years ago, the students of an Anglican theological college in the UK were so keen to obey the central command of Jesus to world mission that the college principal had to plead with them that some should stay behind, because they were also needed to care for the lost in the UK (which abounded then as they do now). Our values have changed. 7