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Matthew 28:18–20
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Every organization has a mission that defines its purpose and gives shape to its activities. This is no less true of the church, and any study of the doctrine of the church must consider its mission. God’s Word clearly defines the mission of the new covenant church, and one of the best short statements of this mission is found in today’s passage.
Just before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave the Apostles and those who would come after them a mission with marching orders. The job of the church, He said, is to make disciples of the nations, to create by the Holy Spirit’s power a body of learners who sit at the feet of Jesus and grow in the grace and knowledge of Him. Not only is the church to make disciples, but it is to baptize them. The church is to administer the initiatory sacrament that incorporates people into the visible church and, by extension, to lead the people in the worship of God and the other sacrament that Christ gave us—the Lord’s Supper. Sacraments, after all, are tied to worship and administered in that context. Finally, the church is to teach the nations all that Christ has commanded. This is the ongoing discipleship work of the church. So the church’s mission is to make disciples, which means preaching the gospel and encouraging people to trust in and follow Jesus; to worship, which means administering the sacraments and gathering for corporate praise of our Lord; and to teach, which means instructing people in the deep things of God’s Word and how to put it into practice (Matt. 28:18–20).
Our Lord Jesus Christ, then, has given a specific task to the church that it alone can accomplish; He has not given it other duties. The church’s mission is not to write public policy, enforce justice with the sword, or opine on every issue, public or private. This does not mean that the church must be silent on civic issues, for as Dr. R.C. Sproul frequently reminded us, the church has a responsibility to be the conscience of the state and to call it to protect life and property when it fails to do so. The point is that the church must be careful in how it does this. It must not overstep its bounds or allow itself to take on the job of the state or of other institutions such as the family. This is because the work of the state and other institutions is not the work of the church. The church is not competent to fulfill the mission that God has given to other institutions, and when it seeks to do so, it cannot fulfill its own mission.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Church history is filled with accounts of individual churches and entire denominations that got caught up in missions that our Savior did not give to the church, and the consequences have been devastating. The church must center itself on its mission to make disciples, teaching them and bringing them together to worship the Lord. As we are able, let us encourage our churches to remain on the mission that Christ has given the church.
For further study
- Deut. 33:8–11
- Acts 2:42
- Ephesians 4:1–16
- Hebrews 12:28–29
The bible in a year
- Ezekiel 14–16
- Hebrews 12