The Church's Greatest Passion

The Distinctive's of a Mission Focussed Church

Last time I spoke we discussed the idea of God's greatest passion. This week we will look at what should be the church's greatest passion and what that church should look and feel like: what are the distinct characteristics of a missional church?

Our passion should be the same as our Father's. Think about how true this is in the natural. If you have a dad mad about a football club it is likely that the son will feel the the same passion. Families have been split when a child supports another team!  It is a natural part of development to imitate those most influential in our lives.  Likewise with Jesus and His Father:-

John 5:19: Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."

Jesus copied what His Father was doing. He is dependant upon the Father for His every action. He does nothing independently of the Father.

In the same way we can do nothing independently of the Son:

John 15:5: 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

In John 15 (the Vine passage) Jesus makes it clear He is dependant on the Father and we are dependant on Jesus. This is a DNA statement about how we are in God.

If reaching the lost is truly the greatest passion of the Father, and therefore the passion of the Son who came and died for sinners, surely it follows it would be our greatest passion too?

So what are the innate qualities of the church family that has a passion for the lost?

Reliance on the Inspired Scriptures
2 Tim. 3:14-17:  14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (See also Acts 2:42).

The authority of all missionary work is founded in the truth that God has a clear word to communicate to the world.

The Bible is seen as the final authority in all matters, not a church's preference or the whim of the leaders or the people. It's about Jesus proclaimed through the Bible (Luke 24:44).

It might seem that this is obvious, but we cannot assume that it is the reality!

The Bible is the one thing that stops a church fragmenting into pieces.

Reality of the Gospel Revealed in Every Person's Life

1 Corinthians 15:1-4: 15 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
(See also Gal. 6:14)

Church is a place where we, like the Corinthians, are reminded of the gospel in which we have believed.

The gospel is transformational. It changes us as we encounter Jesus whom the gospel proclaims!

The Christian life is a process of renewing every dimension of our life—spiritual, psychological, corporate, social—by thinking, hoping, and living out the implications of the Gospel. The Gospel is to be applied to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, working, and behaving.

The unsaved understand the gospel by looking at the lives of the people of God!

We are saved from the consequences of sin. More than this we are saved from a life of self-serving, self-promotion, preference and convenience. We are saved for purpose! To bear fruit, fruit that will last:
John 15:16:  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

Replicates the Early Church
Acts 2:42-47: 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The church of today should have the common markers of the Early Church:
Teaching of the Word of God
Fellowship, the koinonia (joint participation).
prayer,
Communion
baptism as a response to the Gospel (John 4:23-24).

These are all acts of worship. Worship is the central act by which the community corporately celebrates with joy and thanksgiving both God’s presence and promised future.
These acts of worship were never seen as an exclusive club, but we're welcoming and inviting to the not-yet-saved; they accessible. In fact God added to them every day those getting saved!

Responsibility to Reach their Community
Matthew 4:19 ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’
John 20:21: Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’
(Acts 16:20; 17:6; see also Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8).

The missional church is more than a gathering of people with a missions program (considering itself “mission’s minded”) or that has a financial commitment to mission works or a missions committee.

The missional church is vested in God’s mission to a specific place, people, and a particular time in history.

Our biggest issue surrounds contextualisation. That's a big posh word for communicating the gospel in our culture that makes sense to the culture of the day. We find it easier to shrink back than to explain why we believe what we do.

You would be amazed at how far reaching your witness goes. Circles of influence.

Refreshed by the Holy Spirit
Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
(See also Luke 4:1,14, 18).

The life of Jesus was empowered, led, and directed by the Holy Spirit.

To be dependant upon the Holy Spirit means to live like Jesus as opposed to some strange mystical experience.

Jesus gave the Great Commission, as we commonly know it, and He included the prerequisite of Spirit-empowerment to accomplish it.

There is no short cut, no program, no quaint slogan or methodology that can replace the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to witness.

He is the fuel. He is the comforter. He is the empowered. He is the enabler. He is the equipper.

Relationships Show Sacrificial Love
John 15: 12-17: 12 My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: love each other.
(See also: Matt. 5:13-16; 1 John 4:19-21).

God is looking for a people, not a set of individuals.  This makes the gospel counter cultural in the way it is lived out. Individualism is the cry of today - be yourself, get to the top, personalise your life. But God is looking to build a community of loving people who serve one another, I've one another and are encouraging one another.

This should not lead us into isolation but into Serving God in Our World (our mission statement). God is seeking to see His purposes and mission accomplished through His people.

Wrapping this Up:
So what is lacking in our church (if anything) in your opinion? Are all the ingredients in place for us to be truly mission all?
If there is an area of lack is it something you can change?
Ask God to use you in reaching out to your community.
(Indebted to Scott Thomas and his article 10 Characteristics of A Missional Church, available from http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/145792-10-characteristics-of-a-missional-church.html).