Church: Core Task (II)

TROWEL & SWORD

Resources - Leadership

November 2000

SWORD - DEFENDING

Church: Core Task (I)

David Groenenboom

In understanding the basic purposes of the church today, the best place to start is with the Word, and with what we see Jesus doing. No doubt, Jesus does many things: teaching, miracles, praying, healing, rebuking. How are we to find our way through the New Testament data in order to arrive at the central thrust of His mission? Answer: we take note of Jesus’ defining statements concerning His ministry.

The central reality of Jesus’ mission is that he came to do the Father’s will, and that He would lose none of all the people the Father had given Him (John 6:38,39; see also 10:27-30). Jesus’ mission is redemptive in its very essence, which explains the centrality of the Cross and resurrection in the New Testament.

In John 5:24 Jesus reveals that His work involves bringing people from death to life and freeing them from condemnation. When Jesus began his ministry in the Synagogue in Nazareth, he declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:16-19). Consequently, everyone who follows Jesus is liberated from darkness and brought into the marvelous light of His Kingdom (John 8:12; 1 Pet 2:9). Jesus commissions His people to disciple the nations through the gospel (Matt 28:16-20). Christ’s people, in turn, call others out of darkness into Kingdom light as they bear witness to the Lord who has rescued them (Acts 26:18). Clearly, the most basic task of the Church is to follow in the steps of the Saviour. The words of their mouth and the witness of their lives must be focussed on calling people to Jesus.

All this is very easy to say. The bigger question is this: are we doing it? Is this true of your life? Is this true of your congregation? Is it true, at the most fundamental level, of the CRCA? Are we about the work of the Son?

Having worked as a minister for 15 years I know there are many other concerns on the agenda of the local church. Church Education. Visiting. Pastoring the ill and the lonely. Leading session. Writing sermons. Administration. It’s all part of the territory, or so it seems. And when it comes to Classis and Synod, there are reports to consider, overtures to deal with, denominational cogs to oil, and sometimes replace. My question is, however, what is most important? If there was one area which should be stressed above all, what should it be? There is little doubt that doing the work of the Son, heeding His call to lead people in darkness to His light through the Gospel is the most central task we are called to.

The fact that we find it sometimes hard to keep in focus is not a new thing. The Lord experienced many times when people wanted Him to concentrate on things other than His central mission. If we take a quick triple jump through John 6, we observe people wanting to make Him King (6:15); wanting Him to give them mere normal food (6:26); seeking Him for signs and wonders (6:30); wanting teaching that was easy to accept and which didn’t ‘rock the boat’ (6:60); and desiring Him to seek more popularity (7:3-5). Far from just being challenges to His personal goals, these things represented temptations that would have diverted Jesus from His true mission. And what a ghastly result that would have been! Certainly, many things are urgent, but very few are truly important. The question we need to ask is, what could be more important than for the people who live next door to you to hear about the rescue Jesus has won in the Cross? What could be more critical for them to have a new attitude of faith toward Him? Is there anything more important that doing the work of the Son? And is this your congregation’s highest priority?

The basic question we should be asking in our homes, at our Session meetings, when we are reviewing worship, when we’re planning for next year is this: how will/is this activity advance the work of the Son? How will this make us more effective in calling people from darkness to light in the Gospel?

There is no more important task than this. When you say the same, your comfort is that at least in that one instance, you follow in the steps of the great Fisher of men.

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