The ‘why’ of Christian missions
By State Convention President Travis Coleman
Pastor, FBC Prattville
In life, asking “why” is important for many reasons.
We are the Alabama Baptist State Convention meeting together. We are 193 years old. We are made up of 75 associations across our state, and we are in a cooperative relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention that is 171 years old. We are in a cooperative relationship with 3,200-plus churches in Alabama. My own church is 178 years old. What do we all have in common? We were all formed for the purpose of missions. It is the glue that holds us together — the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Some of us may have lost our enthusiasm and passion for missions. For the early Church, it was everything to them. As you read the book of Acts and the letters of the New Testament you see a zeal for missions. They were totally consumed by it.
One reason we may have lost our enthusiasm and passion for missions is because we have forgotten the “why.” I want to suggest there are three reasons why we should be enthusiastic and passionate about Christian missions.
Reconciliation mission
First, God is on a reconciliation mission. In 2 Corinthians 5:19, Paul writes, “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ.” God had a purpose in creating us but our sin totally disrupted His plan. So God set Himself on a course, on a mission, to do something about it.
In Romans 5:6–11, Paul tells us why God was on mission. Our sin caused us to be “powerless,” “ungodly,” “sinners” and “enemies.” Then Paul weaves into the description of our condition what God did for us. In verse 6, Paul said, “You see, at just the right time … Christ died for (us).” In verse 8, Paul states, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this … Christ died for us.” Again in verse 10, Paul says, “We were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son.”
God “reconciled” us.
So how did God do it?
Look at 2 Corinthians 5:19 and 21. In verse 19 it says, “God was … Himself in Christ.” In other words, God became man. This is why we celebrate Christmas with such passion. Next the God Man, Jesus, lived a sinless life (v. 21). This qualified Him to be the sacrifice without spot or blemish and fulfilled the demand for a blood sacrifice. Then verse 21 states Jesus was made sin in our place. This means He became our substitute in His death on the cross. He took all the heat, all the fire, all the suffering, all the darkness on Himself during those three hours on the cross. Then He cried, “It is finished.”
In Palmyra, Missouri, during the Civil War, 10 men in prison were chosen to die because a fellow prisoner escaped. One of the 10 chosen was William T. Humphrey. He had a wife and several children. Humphrey and his wife pled for mercy from the commander. He relented and chose Hiram Smith to take Humphrey’s place. Smith agreed to the swap because he was a single man. At Smith’s grave today there is a monument that reads, “This monument is dedicated to the memory of Hiram Smith. The hero that sleeps beneath the sod here was shot at Palmyra, Oct. 17, 1862, as a substitute for William T. Humphrey, my father.”
Tribute
What a tribute from the son to the man who died in his father’s place. Praise God for our Savior who took our place on the cross so we could live eternally.
God’s mission of reconciliation is for the whole world. Since He is on mission, we are called to be on mission with Him. This leads us to the second reason we are to engage in Christian missions.
God has entrusted us with this reconciliation ministry and message. Paul states 2 Corinthians 5:18–19, “God … gave us the ministry of reconciliation … and He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” In Paul’s letters he often speaks of this. Paul understood God had put into his hands and into our hands the ministry and message of reconciliation.
A Christian, a church, an association, a state convention or a denomination that is not wrapped up in the ministry and message of reconciliation is missing the purpose and mission of God.
Partnership with God
We need to understand that we are in partnership with God.
In 1 Corinthians 3:9 it says, “For we are laborers (partners) together with God.” The context of this passage finds Paul reminding the church at Corinth that the church, Apollos and he himself were all serving God together. There should be no division between them. So it is with us. We are in partnership with our great God. Just as we are dependent on God, He is dependent upon us. God can’t accomplish making a great church, a great association, a great state convention and a great denomination without the body of believers in a commitment of partnership with Him. He has entrusted us with this message and ministry of reconciliation.
Second, our message of reconciliation is unashamedly evangelistic. We proclaim Jesus Christ is God’s Son. He is God’s only way of salvation and reconciliation. We urge all people to repent of sin, believe on Him and make a personal commitment to Him.
Broken world
We live in a broken world. We see brokenness in marriages, in families and in nations. People are filled with anger and greed. Immorality prevails. We stand and we proclaim, “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). Every meeting, every activity, every message, every function, every program and every ministry of the church, association, state convention and denomination should focus on this ultimate declaration and demonstration of the Good News in Jesus Christ.
Our world needs the ministry of reconciliation. We need to give the “cup of cold water” to meet the needs of hurting and disadvantaged people of our world. I applaud our churches for their vast ministries that touch the lives of our needy world.
But in order to have the message of reconciliation and the mission of reconciliation we must have money.
Our partnership with God means we must give financially to support the message and ministry. It takes money and it starts in the local church when our people have a good understanding of biblical stewardship. As our members give and are led to see beyond their local ministries, then they can participate in a cooperative way with other like-minded
congregations. That is the genius of our Cooperative Program.
We are in partnership with God, but we also are in partnership as a TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More). This is why the Southern Baptist Convention, Alabama Baptist State Convention, local associations and churches have been so strong. We have taken Paul’s words seriously.
There is one more reason why we are involved in Christian missions. God has commissioned us to be His ambassadors.
Did you know Jesus was an ambassador? In John 3, He speaks to Nicodemus. In John 4, He speaks to the Samaritan woman. At the end of that same chapter He heals the son of a Gentile nobleman. An ambassador is a witness, a spokesperson for a sovereign. For Jesus, it was His heavenly Father.
Paul was an ambassador and he says we are ambassadors as well. We are to exert our influence and the power of the gospel. We have been duly authorized. Let us not disappoint our sovereign God.
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