Do We Read the Bible Correctly? The Message and the Mission Are Connected

When I was in seminary at Golden Gate back in the late 90's, I was highly impacted by the teachings of Dr. Thom Wolf. He, along with Dr. Stanley Nelson, my systematic theology professor, gave me a lens through which to interpret Scripture. I began to see the Bible as a whole, not just a random collection of books, sayings, and unrelated chapters. I began to see that the Bible was about the mission of God through the sending of God's Son, Jesus Christ, to rescue the human race from sin and death for God's own glory and because of His redeeming love for us. As I began to read the Bible as an unfolding message of God's wooing and rescue of the human race with Jesus as the Hinge of History, all of the side doctrines that had created so much confusion began to slide into place. Jesus is central. He was sent by God and He redeems us and calls us to Himself, gathers us together, and then sends us out with His power to proclaim His salvation. His gospel is our message. The gospel is the Gospel of the Kingdom announcing God's reign and rule through the person and work of Jesus. He is calling people everywhere to Himself through the proclamation of the gospel. Jesus is our focus.  His mission is the mission and purpose of the church.

One of the passages that Bro. Thom unfolded for us was Luke 24:45-49.  It says,

45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

The Message:  The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.

The Mission:  Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations.

The Message and the Mission are connected. One flows from the other. We have wrongly separated the two and have said that we need to accept the message and then maybe if you become spiritual enough and receive a special "call," then you can take part in the mission. Wrong. When you receive the gospel, you receive a redemptive spiritual virus that is meant to be spread to others. I really wonder if those who have no desire to share the gospel or see others come to Christ have really encountered what the gospel is about. As Bro. Thom used to say, "the gospel that has come to you must now go through you."  If we are just sitting on the gospel, then we don't really understand it. It is like people who claim to receive grace yet they continue to sin. If you really understood grace, then you would not continue to sin. Grace provides forgiveness AND it brings change in our lives.

Recently, David Phillips reviewed Christopher Wright's book, The Mission of God. In his review, he quotes Wright and says,

In Chapter one of this book, Christopher Wright begins to lay out the search for a missional hermeneutic. We need to move past the search for a biblical basis of missions, but to see the Bible through a missional lens.

Drawing from Luke 24, Wright begins to express his basis for a missional hermeneutic. He believes that beyond a messianic centering of the Old Testament there is a missional thrust as well. Luke 24:45-47 states:

45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (ESV)

In this, “He seems to be saying that the whole of scripture (which we know as the Old Testament) finds its focus and fulfillment both in the life and death and resurrection of Israel’s Messiah, and in the mission to all nations, which flows from that event.” Thus the proper way for disciples of Christ to read the Bible is both messianically and missionally.

In doing this, we need to move past trying to express a “Biblical Foundation for Missions.” We need to see the Bible not as containing several verses about being on mission (ie Matthew 28:19-20), but to see everything through a messianic and missional framework.

Yes, Jesus is my personal Savior and I am to know Him personally. But, He also came as the Savior of the World to seek and save the lost. If I have believe His message, I am also to be caught up in that mission. There was never meant to be a dichotomy between what Jesus said and what He did. In the same way, there is to be no separation between the message of the gospel and the mission of bringing that gospel to the world. Why have we created such a distinction? Why have we unduly separated what God has joined together?  How can we say that we are being faithful to Christ and that we are walking with God if we are not taking part in His mission to bring salvation to the ends of the earth?  We cannot, and the fact that we have created a faith that gives us the option shows how we have effectively shelved the implications of the gospel and have replaced it with a message of personal piety and satisfaction.

Michael Frost expounds upon the idea of the missional nature of the church.  He says that mission is the organizing principle of the church. If we see the church through the lens of mission and we organize ourselves around the purpose of lifting up Jesus in a lost culture, then we are seeing the church rightly and we are reading the Bible as we should.  The entire Bible is the record of God in search of man to call a people to Himself. God is a sent God, a missional God. It is His nature and His character. God sent His Son, and the Father and Son now send us. Spirituality is tied to our "sentness." Please take a few minutes to watch this. I hope to do a further review on this message and will repost it again later.

May we open our hearts and read the Bible rightly.

Comments

[Keith Price]

Alan:

I took the time...and thanks. It was a treasure hidden in a dark cavern.

Keith