Walls' Latin-American Mission

The Horizontal and External Mission of the Church

Having seen the Biblical-Theological foundation for the church’s mission, I now launch into the three-fold mission of the church. As I have stated, the church fulfills this redemptive-historical goal by completing three distinct, yet related tasks. J.H. Bavinck also recognizes the connection of these three tasks with God’s redemptive-historical plan when he says, “These three purposes are not distinct and separate, but they are in fact three aspects of a single purpose of God: the coming and extension of the kingdom of God,” which includes “the extension of the church over the whole earth.” DeYoung and Gilbert also helpfully summarize the church’s three-fold mission in their book, appropriately entitled What is the Mission of the Church? 

The mission of the church is to go into the world and make disciples by [1.] declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and [2.] gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship the Lord and obey his commands now and in eternity [3.] to the glory of God the Father. 

The first task that the church has been given in order to fulfill this divine purpose is the evangelization of the lost: what we have termed the ‘horizontal and external’ mission of the church. This is our task and responsibility towards those outside of the place of God’s special presence—the church. This is most clearly declared in the GC of Matthew 28:18-20. This passage is what is typically thought of when we think about the ‘mission of the church’. An essential part of our mission is the proclamation of the Gospel. Edmund Clowney states it succinctly: “Jesus came to gather, and to call gatherers, disciples who would gather with him.” Our mission is to join Christ in calling sinners to repentance—seeking and saving the lost (Luke 17:10). 

This is how we expand the frontiers of this temple-kingdom, we preach the good news of Christ who has inaugurated this kingdom by accomplishing our redemption and opening up the way into the presence of God through His own body. This is our mission until God’s people from “all nations” are brought into this temple-kingdom (Mat. 24:19), until the walls of this special place encompass the whole world. And, with great joy we confess that this commission is backed by the special authority of Christ our redeemer who has all authority, and it is accompanied with the promise of His special presence until its completion and consummation.  

The Horizontal and Internal Mission of the Church

A part of this commission that is very often overlooked by modern missionaries is the call to “make disciples”. This task of making disciples is the overarching goal that includes the two horizontal tasks of the church’s mission: evangelization and edification. The GC does not merely call us to make Christians of all nations or to make converts of all nations, but to make disciples. Jeffrey Johnson even states that “[t]o separate missions from the church is to misunderstand the great commission.” The task of making disciples is briefly defined by DeYoung and Gilbert as “to win people to Christ and build them up in Christ.” 

Therefore, our ‘horizontal and internal’ task is to nurture and edify the disciples of Christ; this is our duty towards those that are already taking part in the inaugurated temple-kingdom. The Apostle Paul beautifully demonstrates this task in Ephesians 4:11-16:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 

The Lord Jesus was not content to merely provide the means for the salvation of His people, but He provided also for the edification and sanctification of His people. He provided special gifts that would help the body of Christ to ever be growing in three particular things: unity, truth, and holiness. In this passage we see that Christ has entrusted the church with the gifts necessary in order to help believers (1.) grow in unity together, (2.) to advance in the knowledge of the Son of God, and (3.) to mature in the stature of the fullness of Christ, that is, Christ-likeness. Likewise, He has given to us as individuals particular gifts and skills by which we can help edify the church. For this reason Paul calls for everything to be done unto edification (Rom 14:19, 15:2). Our task in the church is not primarily to receive something as an individual, it is, however, to in some way put the needs of our brothers above ourselves and edify and encourage them to continue growing in truth and holiness. 

In addition to being an instrument in the sanctification of the people of God, the church is also to help prepare its members to be active in personal evangelism in their homes and in their work places. As the members grow in unity, purity, and truth, they will be better equipped to bear witness to the work of our Redeemer to their family members, neighbors, coworkers, and classmates. The church is like the military training camp from which believers are sent to go and conquer the enemies and expand the borders of their kingdom. 

It is not enough to merely get people converted, we are to help them grow in Christ and we are to establish them in biblically-structured local churches in order to continue facilitating their growth in the unity of the faith, in the knowledge of the Son, and in personal holiness and Christ-likeness. This is in agreement with the affirmation of Lesslie Newbigin: 

His task as a missionary is clear, limited, and—literally—fundamental. He is sent to lay the foundation stone of the church, and that stone is Christ. The result of his work, in other words, will be a community that acknowledges Jesus Christ as the supreme Lord of life. When this community exists, the missionary has done the work for which he was sent.

The Connection between the Two Horizontal Tasks

This connection between the external and internal aspects of the church’s horizontal mission helps us in understanding the nature of the church as both institution and organism. As an institution the church is established and immobile. It is fixed and founded upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets and the Lord Jesus Himself is the chief cornerstone. In this regard the church has a necessary structure, order, and authority which helps edify and nurture the people of God. As an organism, however, the church is constantly moving, growing, and expanding. Like Adam was to do in the original garden-temple in Eden, we are likewise to expand the influence and reach of our local church outside of her four walls. 

Ephesians 2:19-22 demonstrates this beautifully: 

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

We are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets; we are established and fixed—unmovable. We have come unto that mountain that cannot be shaken (Heb. 12:22-28), but yet by Christ’s power we are growing into a holy temple in the Lord. As an institution the church has a fixed foundation and structure, but as an organism it is constantly growing and expanding by the power of the Spirit. In this regard, the church is like a tree; it is firmly planted and cannot be moved, but underneath the surface and up among the branches it is constantly reaching further down, further up, and further out. To borrow a simile from John Frame, the church, being the representation of God’s temple-kingdom on the earth, is like a military outpost; it is fixed and established with bulwarks and defenses, but it is also constantly making pushes outward in order to expand the influence and the territory of the king it represents. 

The Vertical Mission of the Church

The final task, which we will call the church’s ‘vertical mission’, is in no way separated from the other two, rather it is the very foundation of the other two—it is the very foundation of all we do as a church and as an individual Christian. Therefore, John Piper was spot on when he said, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.”

After having described his calling to preach the Gospel and relating a prayer for the Ephesian Cristians, Paul jumps into a doxology where he says, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph 3:20–21). Paul prays that God would receive glory in the church. This is the great purpose of all things; this is even the purpose behind why God does all that He does (Isa 48:11). In our evangelism our desire ought to be that “men would praise the Lord for His goodness and His wondrous works to the children of men” (Ps. 107:8). We join with the psalmist and say, “Let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy” (Ps. 67:3b-4a). In every aspect of the worship service we ought to seek to exalt Christ and hold Him up before the eyes of our fellow believers so that through seeing Christ they might be the more conformed into His image, and before the eyes of the lost so that through seeing Christ as the brazen serpent highly lifted up they would look and live. “The ultimate aim of the church and the goal of missions is the glory of God.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, Edmund Clowney summarizes these three tasks well: “[t]he church serves God directly in worship…, but it also ministers to believers in nurture, and to the world in witness. Each activity is part of Christ’s charge; each needs the other.” These three tasks constitute the means by which we, the church, can fulfill God’s great plan of filling the whole world with His special presence among His chosen people. As we attend church week after week may we constantly have these three aspects in mind: constantly seeking to share the Gospel and call sinners to Christ, always using our gifts in order to edify the church and nurture our fellow believers, and in every moment doing all that we do for the glory and honor of our great God that has redeemed us and will one day dwell in our midst in sweet, intimate communion for all of eternity.

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Bavinck, J. H. An Introduction to the Science of Missions. Translated by David H. Freeman. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 1960.155;

Frame. Salvation Belongs to the Lord. 253.

DeYoung and Gilbert. What is the Mission of the Church? 62.

Clowney, Edmund P. The Church. Edited by Gerald Bray. Contours of Christian Theology. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995. 159.

Johnson, Jeffrey. The Church: Why Bother? The Nature, Purpose, & Functions of the Local Church. Conway, AR: Free Grace Press, 2015. 164.

Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission, Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), 128.

Piper, John. Let the Nations be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions. Third Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010.