Imperishable Inheritance

As we as the Body of Christ continue to be disobedient to the purpose of God's desire to fulfill the great nation promised to Abraham there is a great need to define the task set before us. This is my thesis to defend what missions was always meant to be. It's not new, nor is it extra-Biblical, it will sound uncomfortable because it's completely aberrant to what most of you have grown up learning about "missions."

"Missions" As From "The Great Commission"

We must establish where we get "missions" from before we can define it. If I tell you where we get this word from most would correctly state that it came from the Great Commission; but the problem is rooted in the understanding of what the Great Commission is. Let's start where Abraham is promised a great nation by Yahweh.

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
Genesis 12:1-3 (emphasis added)

I'm not going to re-state a Biblical basis for missions, but if you're interested in the whole thing it can be accessed online. I bring up the great nation to show that God's plan in redemption circles around fulfilling this promise through Abraham's seed (Gen 22) which Paul tells us is Christ (Gal 3:8-9). Jesus command to go make disciples of all nations (ethnos) or ethnic groups is specific not general much like His command in Acts 1:8. Jesus' view is on the day when someone from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be around His throne worshiping Him to the praise and honor of His Father (Rev 5:9, 7:9).

From Our Insufficient View of God's Purposes in Redemption

We as the Body of Christ continue to perpetuate the lie that God draws a circle around His Son and tells all who want to come in the circle. We view God not as going out and bring His elect to Himself, but we view God as hoping all will come to repentance (based largely on incorrect exegesis of 1 Tim 2:4 and 2 Pet 3:9). When we have a correct view in the scope of Christ's atoning work we then can understand that He purchased this great nation (Eph 5:25).

And they [the redeemed] sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
Revelation 5:9 (emphasis added)

Jesus' Eschatological Focus on Reaching All Nations

When is Jesus coming back? His disciples wandered the same, and He gives the answer that He's only coming back when all the nations are reached (Mat 24:14). Is this something we should just glance over, or is it something that we should understand that Jesus Himself put His second return around? Clearly, Jesus' had His eyes on all the nations.

When we evaluate all these things it is clear that we should view Christ's command as that to reach all the nations. Therefore, the equation is simple not incredibly complex: If we have reached a people group then we move onto the next group. God is not about gathering as many as He possibly can, He has a elected amount from everyone of the people groups in His creation; and we must also have a same perspective in reaching the unreached.

The Definition of Missions

The only definition of missions that aptly fits all the Biblical evidence is this: Missions is the reaching of the unreached. When we continue to buy the lie that some are called to stay and some to go then we will continue to live in blatant disobedience of God's calling on our lives.

Lastly, of importance is Paul's own focus on what it means to be in ministry. He boldly proclaims that he doesn't want to be where Christ is already named as to build on another man's foundation (Rom 15:20). Does Paul understand something that most of us don't concerning the role of missions?

The Challenge

I challenge any and all followers of Christ to defend a position that they have a reason to stay here in America or any other country while not reaching the unreached, but before I let you go I should say a few things. Yes, God does give different gifts, but the question is what should we see the gifts being used for? Well if God's purposes are for the nations then God gives us gifts to accomplish His global purposes.

The problem is that to many 'Christians' love this world to much. Many of the professing Christians wouldn't have made the cut to follow Christ during His earthly ministry by his own command.

And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God."
Luke 9:59-60