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Chapter 18 - The mission of the church

The ‘great commission’ (so often appropriated by Christians today) was given to the nation of Israel to make disciples of all nations. With the kingdom held in abeyance, one may rightly ask what Christians are suppose to be doing today. In spite of church history and tradition, there is no biblical direction to form institutional collectives or achieve group objectives.

If one were to formulate some guiding principle for Christians, one could consider reconciliation.

The process of God reconciling the world to himself by Christ involves us. We can think of reconciliation as similar to restoration. Those of us who have been made ‘new creations’ in Christ have a role to play. The bible describes our configuration as the ‘body’ of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. Our actions need to be at the direction of the head of the body (Christ) and led by the Holy Spirit.

The work we have largely involves seeking our own maturity as well as seeking the edification (building up) of fellow Christians. As we mature, we become more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we grieve and quench his work less.

The basics of the Christian life are described by Paul in Colossians.

1. ‘Walk’ by faith.

2. Being ‘rooted’.

3. Being ‘built up’ ‘in him’.

4. Being ‘established’.

5. ‘Abounding’ in what we have been ‘taught’.

6. Being ‘thankful’.

7. Being vigilant.

The call for Christians is different than one might be familiar with. In the last century men were incited to join military endeavors, factory workers to greater productivity, and citizens to purchase war bonds all to archive national objectives. Even today ‘social justice warriors’ seek to mobilize everyone to solve social ills.

The Christian is called not to either individual or collective achievement. Rather he is called to continue to grow in Christ-likeness. Whatever works are done are just as he is led by the Holy Spirit that lives in him.

Most of the failures and resulting confusion about Christianity can be found in not following what is laid out in Colossians. Whether it be crusades, religious wars, worldly entanglements, carnality, hypocrisy, or even blasphemy, too often Christians have allowed themselves to be ‘spoiled’ by those who would bring the name of Christ into disrepute.

Section Two - How Christianity Became Such a Mess

Basically Satan guided Christianity into a system configuration whose collective momentum would allow him and his agents to set its direction. The ultimate purpose in this hijacking was to use Western Civilization to develop the material tools he would need in his attempt to rule the whole world more directly.

By making Christianity a system, Satan could guide men of ambition and vanity, many of whom were not even Christian, to rise to levels of control and use their position to direct the system. To keep Christians compliant he had to insure that they were diverted from knowing what real Christianity was supposed to be.

It is sad how easily we were seduced by our laziness to see Christianity as a spectator sport. Our vanity seduced us into smug contempt for others. Our anxiety was relieved by seeing Christianity simply as securing a ticket to heaven. Christianity as a system run by ‘experts’ creates a social momentum. However, such a system also produces a generational momentum and becomes integrated into a culture.

Part of clarifying Christianity is to present it as it was supposed to have been. Further clarification comes from sifting through the centuries of self-inflicted and external damage and corruption. It is by understanding how Christianity came to be usurped as well as how it continues to be that we can begin to understand what God wanted us to know.

Information about Christianity and the Christian life.