Comments on: What is The Great (co)Mission? http://ancienttruthmodernsound.com/the-great-comission Frank thoughts on our times from the view of the Gospel. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:22:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Frank Hart http://ancienttruthmodernsound.com/the-great-comission#comment-7864 Frank Hart Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:14:55 +0000 http://ancienttruthmodernsound.com/the-great-comission#comment-7864 Mark is the director of LINC and a friend. I value his input, and asked for it directly on this article. I will tweak the article to reflect his input. Thanks Mark. Mark is the director of LINC and a friend. I value his input, and asked for it directly on this article. I will tweak the article to reflect his input. Thanks Mark.

]]> By: Mark Junkans http://ancienttruthmodernsound.com/the-great-comission#comment-7860 Mark Junkans Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:28:08 +0000 http://ancienttruthmodernsound.com/the-great-comission#comment-7860 Frank, you've accurately shown the inseparable relationship between our worship and our mission. Worship is what we do in response to what God has done. It happens as Jesus lives His life through ours. The Sunday morning form is simply a vehicle through which God is praised and received. Whether to use ancient liturgical forms or modern forms or a fusion of both has to do more with speaking God's truth to the culture than anything else. In regards to the mission of the church, I want to challenge the thought that we need to take care of our own first. I believe it must be a both/and. If the church is apostolic in nature, then we will follow the Apostles' lead in carrying out the mission. Many followers of Christ and their churches say "we've got to get our own house in order before we reach outside of our circle." There are congregations and denominations that have been trying to get things in order for decades while the world around them is dying. Always taking care of their own, they forget their mission to the world. Taking care of the poor in the congregation must happen concurrently with caring for those outside our ranks. When a believer is taught to look after another's interests before their own, they learn to transcend their own needs and trusting in God's providence. Jesus told the 72, "don't take anything for yourselves." Who is "our own?" It is very western to categorize people as inside and outside, members and non-members, us and them. A more eastern or holistic view (now a majority of the Christian faith) is that even those loosely connected to our church (via proximity, relationships, etc) are part of our parish (we). If we are to take care of our own first, who are the "we?" If a church is planted by God in a community to bring redemption to the community, then the community must become our "we." It is sometimes only then that we fully experience the cosmic mission of God. Instead of a "come and see" attractional mission, we can have a more more going, transformational mission among our whole society. The verb for "go" in the Matthew 28 text literally translates into "as you are going." We must remember the apostolic and going part of this Great Commission. While the context of the text is one of worship, the actual mandate is to "leave here and go make disciples." Worship is not simply coming together on a Sunday morning, it is all-enveloping in our daily lives. Living out the restorative mission of God is worship as is coming together a singing Tomlin or Luther. Overall, I thought this was a great article and value your deep insight into the essence and nature or worship. My thoughts expressed here are simply my ancient truth, your truths may differ and that's ok (postmodern inference intended.) I love what you're doing. Frank, you’ve accurately shown the inseparable relationship between our worship and our mission. Worship is what we do in response to what God has done. It happens as Jesus lives His life through ours. The Sunday morning form is simply a vehicle through which God is praised and received. Whether to use ancient liturgical forms or modern forms or a fusion of both has to do more with speaking God’s truth to the culture than anything else.

In regards to the mission of the church, I want to challenge the thought that we need to take care of our own first. I believe it must be a both/and. If the church is apostolic in nature, then we will follow the Apostles’ lead in carrying out the mission. Many followers of Christ and their churches say “we’ve got to get our own house in order before we reach outside of our circle.” There are congregations and denominations that have been trying to get things in order for decades while the world around them is dying. Always taking care of their own, they forget their mission to the world. Taking care of the poor in the congregation must happen concurrently with caring for those outside our ranks. When a believer is taught to look after another’s interests before their own, they learn to transcend their own needs and trusting in God’s providence. Jesus told the 72, “don’t take anything for yourselves.”

Who is “our own?” It is very western to categorize people as inside and outside, members and non-members, us and them. A more eastern or holistic view (now a majority of the Christian faith) is that even those loosely connected to our church (via proximity, relationships, etc) are part of our parish (we). If we are to take care of our own first, who are the “we?” If a church is planted by God in a community to bring redemption to the community, then the community must become our “we.” It is sometimes only then that we fully experience the cosmic mission of God. Instead of a “come and see” attractional mission, we can have a more more going, transformational mission among our whole society.

The verb for “go” in the Matthew 28 text literally translates into “as you are going.” We must remember the apostolic and going part of this Great Commission. While the context of the text is one of worship, the actual mandate is to “leave here and go make disciples.” Worship is not simply coming together on a Sunday morning, it is all-enveloping in our daily lives. Living out the restorative mission of God is worship as is coming together a singing Tomlin or Luther.

Overall, I thought this was a great article and value your deep insight into the essence and nature or worship. My thoughts expressed here are simply my ancient truth, your truths may differ and that’s ok (postmodern inference intended.) I love what you’re doing.

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