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WHAT IS THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH?
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Retail Price:
$15.99
Price: $11.67
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Publisher:
Crossway
ISBN:
9781433526909
Item #:
11322
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Binding:
Paperback
Chapters:
Page Count:
288
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By Kevin Deyoung and Greg Gilbert
About What Is the Mission of the Church?
Christians today define mission more broadly and variably than ever before. Are we, as the body of Christ, headed in the same direction or are we on divergent missions?
Some argue that the mission of the Church is to confront injustice and alleviate suffering, doing more to express God’s love for the world. Others are concerned that the church is in danger of losing its God-centeredness and thereby emphasize the proclamation of the gospel. It appears as though misunderstanding of mission persists.
Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert believe there is a lot that evangelicals can agree on if only we employ the right categories and build our theology of mission from the same biblical building blocks. Explaining key concepts like kingdom, gospel, and social justice, DeYoung and Gilbert help us to get on the same page—united by a common cause—and launch us forward into the true mission of the church.
Endorsements
“In what appears to be a growing tension over what the mission of the church encompasses, DeYoung and Gilbert bring a remarkably balanced book that can correct, restore, and help regardless of which way you lean or land on all things ‘missional.’ I found the chapters on social justice and our motivation in good works to be especially helpful. Whether you are actively engaging the people around you with the gospel and serving the least of these or you are hesitant of anything ‘missional,’ this book will help you rest in God’s plan to reconcile all things to himself in Christ.”
-Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor, The Village Church, Highland Village, Texas; author, The Explicit Gospel
“Christ is the greatest message in the world, and delivering it is the greatest mission. But are we losing our focus? Are we being distracted, sometimes even by good things? Zealous Christians disagree sharply today over the church’s proper ministry and mission. Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert bring us back to first things in an age of mission creep and distraction. Offering balanced wisdom, this book will give us not only encouragement but discomfort exactly where we all need it. It’s the kind of biblical sanity we need at this moment.”
-Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California
“Among the many books that have recently appeared on mission, this is the best one if you are looking for sensible definitions, clear thinking, readable writing, and the ability to handle the Bible in more than proof-texting ways. I pray that God will use it to bring many to a renewed grasp of what the gospel is and how that gospel relates, on the one hand, to biblical theology and, on the other, to what we are called to do.”
-D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
“DeYoung and Gilbert have put us in their debt with their clear, biblical, theological, and pastoral exposition of the mission of God’s people. That mission, which they rightly understand within the story line of the whole Bible, is summarized in the Great Commission and involves gospel proclamation and disciple making. This superb book will encourage its readers ‘to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship and obey Jesus’s commands now and in eternity, to the glory of God the Father.’”
-Peter T. O'Brien, Senior Research Fellow in New Testament, Moore Theological College, Australia
“A very timely and eminently engaging book for all those who care deeply about the church’s mission in our day. Again and again, I found myself nodding in agreement as the authors made a key point from Scripture or noted the missional relevance of a given biblical passage. I highly recommend this book, not just as food for thought, but more importantly, as a call to obedient, biblically informed action.”
-Andreas J. Kostenberger, Senior Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology, Director of Ph.D. Studies, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert have written an important book on an important topic. Fair, keenly observant, startlingly honest, this book is replete with careful exegetical work. Verses are not merely cited; they are considered in context. The length of an idea is considered, all the way from its expression in the local church back to its source in Scripture. The result is a book that is nuanced and clear, useful and enjoyable to read, and that is no small gift from two young pastor-theologians who have already become reliable voices. Open this book and you’ll want to open your Bible and open your mind on everything from justice to capitalism, from mercy to love.”
-Mark Dever, Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington DC; President, 9Marks
“DeYoung and Gilbert clear the fog that has settled over the nature of the church’s mission. Their tone is gracious, the style is accessible, but most importantly this book is marked by fidelity to biblical revelation and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The authors have succeeded in what they exhort us to do: they have kept the main thing as the main thing.”
-Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“DeYoung and Gilbert provide clarity to some of the most complex contemporary issues facing the church. Focusing us squarely on the redemptive nature of the gospel, they ultimately point us not only to the church’s mission, but to practical ways to understand and live it. The result is a book that will be of great help to pastors, missiologists, theologians, and practitioners.”
-M. David Sills, Faye Stone Professor of Christian Missions and Cultural Anthropology, Director of the Doctor of Missiology Program and Great Commission Ministries, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Every generation is tempted to augment or diminish, even nuance or redefine the mission of the church. Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert have provided a biblical corrective and protection for our generation in What is the Mission of the Church? With a gracious and kind spirit, this book reclaims the ecclesiastical concepts of mission, purpose, social justice, and the Great Commission from those who have redefined these words with a dictionary other than Scripture. Pastors should read this book with their elders, deacons, and leadership teams to wrestle with answers to the most pressing questions about the church in our day.”
-Rick Holland, Senior Pastor, Mission Road Bible Church, Prairie Village, Kansas
More Endorsements
Specifications
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 288
ISBN-10: 1-4335-2690-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-4335-2690-9
Size: 5.5 in x 8.5 in
Weight: 11.7 ounces
Published: September 30, 2011
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Publication Date:
2011
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In the lead article on the Kingdom misunderstood parts one and two, we have been suggesting that while the church is at the heart of the kingdom but is not as broad and wide as the kingdom, it has a unique role to play in making kingdom disciples. Sadly, not many churches have clearly come to grips with their mission within the kingdom. This causes the church to lose its focus, to become derailed, and extremely confused and frustrated regarding its role. Then there are those who believe that the church’s mission is determined by man and not God.
There are those who genuinely believe that the church’s primary role is to seek to have a social transforming role, or to become the champions for social justice, or the place where all energies and resources should be directed at what we call mercy ministries. What is the church and what is the church supposed to be and what is it to do? In working with church leaders over the years, particularly in strategic planning, it has not been unusual to find many of those churches struggling with those kinds of issues. What is our mission? We cannot do everything so what should we be doing? Those are often heard questions at those times.
Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert have tackled the assignment to come to grips with and define the church mission. DeYoung should be no stranger to you. He has written and we have reviewed some of his writings such as: Just Do Something, Why We Are Not Emergent, Why We Love the Church.
As the previous book by Gary Gilley suggests, so does this book--- the church has and continues to be losing its focus or objective. It is being knocked of course, distracted, using its resources for some good things but things that are not necessarily what God has primarily assigned to the church. They write, “We’ve been arguing in this book that the mission of the church is best defined not by a charge to engage the world’s social structures in an effort to build the kingdom or join God in his work of remaking the world, but rather by the Great Commission that Jesus gave to his followers, just before his ascension—that is, verbal witness to him and the making of disciples.” In other words the primary mission of the church is through proclamation and teaching of the Word to make disciples. The church’s role is not changing culture but to preach and teach the Word of God to the end of making people to be more and more like Jesus.
The marks of the true church are not seen in the starting of hospitals, or running shelters for the homeless, or picketing or lobbying for social justice. While those may be things that Christians should do and support, that does not equate with defining the mission of the church. Proclamation, witness, and disciple making best define the church’s mission. Those must have priority and if some of the other things suggested above are included in the church’s life, referring to the institutional church, they must be justified as supporting its primary mission of disciplemaking.
That is what we are attempting to say in the lead article in this issue. God’s one kingdom with the church at the heart of it, is only effective as each part does its work. If Christians are to promote things like social justice, feeding the homeless, providing for the needy, they do so in the name of Christ, not the institutional church. They write, “if you think the church’s mission is to build a better, more just world, then of course the church must be involved, in some way or another, in increasing the social, economic, and political well-being of its city’s citizens…” but they go on to say, “If that is what you believe (regarding the church’s mission) then you’re actually defaulting on the mission if you are not doing things that work toward that goal.”
The real challenge comes is being willing to ask and answer these questions: what is the church’s mission? What will best further that mission? Is social transformation of the world the church’s assignment? Are there some good things that the church could do but maybe should not in light of its mission?
The challenge for church leadership, to use their words, is to keep the main thing the church’s main thing, and what is that? Making disciples, preaching Christ and him crucified, equipping the saints for their work in ministry both in and out of the church. D. A. Carson echoes my thoughts clearly, “This is the best one (referring to the church’s mission) if you are looking for sensible definitions, clear thinking, readable writing, and the ability to handle the Bible in more than proof-texting easy.”
Not only would this book be an excellent read for pastors and church leaders, its ten chapter layout would lend itself to a good book to read, study, and discuss with the adults in the church. It is really a book about Christian living as well as one that helps define and clarify the church’s mission. The truth is we cannot do every good thing that could be done and we want to do what God wants us to do and to do it well.
~Charles Dunahoo
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