Part 3
As the Church develops a comprehensive and practical understanding of missions, this will propel Christians to act out their missional call. For example, this message of hope and salvation through Jesus Christ transforms not only Cornelius, but his entire family, and Peter as well, as stated in Acts 10. God was the underlying connection between Peter and Cornelius. God is both sending the seeker, Cornelius, and preparing the messenger, Peter the missionary, the disciple. This circle of missions is the thrust of the project; it begins with the call of the Church and then the commissioning of the church. As the Church carries the gospel to the world the Church is being transformed and then is re-commissioned.
Refocusing the mindset and view of missions requires change. In order to foster a new paradigm we must deal with the issue of change within the Church with regards to the understanding of missions. How does understanding the theology of change contributed to this process? Theology of change refers to the understanding of all aspects of change and the philosophy that is buried in this word “change”. We have to consider several aspects of change but will maintain as the foundation, what I term, the Circle of Missions. This involves looking at the community where the work of missions is carried out, the congregation where training is done and the core (people) that is doing the work of missions. Change is the agent that gets one from one quadrant to the next, form community to the core.
While there are many stories of individuals throughout Church history that have demonstrated a holistic approach to missions; our time is not void of individuals that are continuing this process. These individuals are demonstrating in practical ways the Biblical understanding of missions and the Kingdom of God. They are from different backgrounds and operate in different parts of our culture but are stirred by the Holy Spirit to carry out God’s mission. Lives are being transformed and the Kingdom is expanding. The application of Biblical missions will result in transformation, growth, and will bring glory to the name of God.
The Church must take the lead in being holistic in its approach to mission. Fulfilling the call of mission requires the Church to approach this call from a holistic point of view. The Church has done an excellent job in preparing people for the afterlife; but one of the areas in which we are lagging behind is preparing the church for end of life experiences and even traumatic experiences. In order to address these issues adequately there has to be a deliberate effort taken to look at the religious structures and spiritual practices at work in the context of the community the church is ministering. I believe issues of death and dying, euthanasia and Advance Directives as discussed by Dr. Martha Jacobs[1] in her book a Clergy Guide To End Of Life Issues is important as it relates to missions.
[1] For an informed discussion on end of life issues and information to assist the pastor in educating the church read Martha A Jacobs book, Clergy Guide to End-Of-Life Issues, (Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2010), 17.