What is the Mission of the Church?

Kevin DeYoung’s message “Rethinking the Mission of the Church” is the best I’ve heard on this topic, which is why I asked him to deliver it at the recent Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference.

Kevin provides sharp theological discernment on this topic. In the conclusion of his message, Kevin said,

So what is the mission of the church?

The mission of the church is 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 Christ now and in eternity to the glory of God the Father.

In other words, the mission of the church is not equal to everything God is doing in the world, nor is it everything we do in obedience to Christ. The mission of the church is the Great Commission. As Andreas Köstenberger says, “The church ought to be focused in the understanding of its mission. Its activities should be constrained by what helps others to come to believe that the Messiah, the Son of God, is Jesus.”*

Very well said!

Download and listen to the message here.

It is also worth noting that Kevin and Greg Gilbert are writing a much-anticipated book on this topic, What Is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission (Crossway). It will be out sometime next year.

* Andreas Köstenberger, The Missions of Jesus and the Disciples according to the Fourth Gospel (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 219.
Posted by C.J. Mahaney