This week I had the privilege of attending the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, Kentucky. I enjoyed spending the week with theologically like-minded brothers and sisters. Attending a theological conference usually brings out the "Tweeter" in me and this week was no exception. I tweeted alot! (Everyone on my Facebook Newsfeed would give an AMEN to this point.) Must of my tweets were harmless, however, I did get under the skin of a few individuals because of the theological nature of my tweets. I was accused of hurting my mission. When I asked the individual what he believed my mission was he informed me that it was, "to win as many souls to Christ as possible, regardless of whether you believe they are preordained or are freely choosing to follow Him." This is good if not a great mission, however, I do not believe evangelism is our sole mission. I believe our sole mission is to glorify God and the ways we glorify God is through Enjoying God, Church Membership, Theology, Evangelism, and Discipleship. Allow me to explain...
If you look at a tire you will notice at the center of the tire there is a hub and branching off from the hub are several spokes. With the image of the tire in our minds we may observe that the hub is central and the spokes are secondary. The spokes branch off from the hub and are NOT the central part of the tire. The hub in the Christian life or the center of our mission is to bring glory to God.
GLORIFY GOD:
The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Paul tells us that whether we eat or drink we should do it all for the glory of God. Everyone who exists, exists to bring glory to God. The hub or our sole mission is to bring glory to God!
There are several ways in which we bring glory to God and these are the spokes on the tires...
ENJOYING GOD:
One way we bring glory to God is by enjoying God. Enjoying God involves a radical faith in God's supremacy in all things (Ps 46:1-3), and a belief that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him (Ps 100:1-3, Jn 4:14). Abundant joy comes to those who pursue all that God is for them in Jesus (1 Pet 1:3-10). We are called to hunger and thirst for God and as the deer pants for water so our soul should long for God. We bring glory to God when we enjoy God!
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP:
Church membership is a vital part in bringing glory to God. The church is God's plan to push back the darkness and establish His Kingdom on Earth. Christians are called to take part in a covenant commitment with a church in order to be edified and sanctified through life on life with other believers. The church is the bride of Christ. Christ served, loved, and died for His bride, the church, therefore, we should serve, love, and die for Christ's bride, the church. We bring glory to God when we covenant together with other believers in church membership.
THEOLOGY:
Correct doctrine or theology is a vital part in bringing glory to God. The study of theology should ALWAYS lead to worship. When you read through Romans, notice all of the Doxology (praises to God) which follow after weighty theological issues. If you don't know theology than you don't know God. For example if I told you I knew John Piper but than told you John Piper was a 200 pound African American you would understand that I do not know John Piper or at least I do not know the famous preacher John Piper. Wrong theology leads to wrong worship which leads to a wrong view of God. We must think through what we believe and ground what we believe in the Bible. We glorify God with our mind and we do this by thinking through complex theological doctrine.
EVANGELISM:
God is glorified through the saving of souls. God has chosen to save souls through the preaching of His Word and the primary way preaching takes place is through the mouths of men. Sharing our faith is an important aspect of our mission. We should preach the Bible at all times and ALWAYS use words. We should also be involved in planting churches both in the States and abroad, as well as partnering with missionaries, para-church organizations, etc. Evangelism is a great means of fulfilling our mission, but evangelism by itself is NOT our sole mission. Our sole mission is to glorify God and God is glorified when we share our faith and engage in evangelism.
DISCIPLESHIP:
God is glorified through the discipling of believers. When God saves an individual, they know nothing about God or the Bible, therefore, we must come alongside him or her and teach them about Christianity. Discipleship is a life on life process in which a spiritually mature believer pours his/her life into a spiritually immature believer. This results in mature disciples bringing glory to God.
In conclusion, we must remember that our primary mission is to bring glory to God. We bring glory to God through enjoying God, church membership, theology, evangelism, and discipleship! We run into problems when we elevate one spoke over another, all spokes are equally important and feed into the hub, therefore, let us glorify God with our lives!
GLORIFY GOD:
The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Paul tells us that whether we eat or drink we should do it all for the glory of God. Everyone who exists, exists to bring glory to God. The hub or our sole mission is to bring glory to God!
There are several ways in which we bring glory to God and these are the spokes on the tires...
ENJOYING GOD:
One way we bring glory to God is by enjoying God. Enjoying God involves a radical faith in God's supremacy in all things (Ps 46:1-3), and a belief that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him (Ps 100:1-3, Jn 4:14). Abundant joy comes to those who pursue all that God is for them in Jesus (1 Pet 1:3-10). We are called to hunger and thirst for God and as the deer pants for water so our soul should long for God. We bring glory to God when we enjoy God!
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP:
Church membership is a vital part in bringing glory to God. The church is God's plan to push back the darkness and establish His Kingdom on Earth. Christians are called to take part in a covenant commitment with a church in order to be edified and sanctified through life on life with other believers. The church is the bride of Christ. Christ served, loved, and died for His bride, the church, therefore, we should serve, love, and die for Christ's bride, the church. We bring glory to God when we covenant together with other believers in church membership.
THEOLOGY:
Correct doctrine or theology is a vital part in bringing glory to God. The study of theology should ALWAYS lead to worship. When you read through Romans, notice all of the Doxology (praises to God) which follow after weighty theological issues. If you don't know theology than you don't know God. For example if I told you I knew John Piper but than told you John Piper was a 200 pound African American you would understand that I do not know John Piper or at least I do not know the famous preacher John Piper. Wrong theology leads to wrong worship which leads to a wrong view of God. We must think through what we believe and ground what we believe in the Bible. We glorify God with our mind and we do this by thinking through complex theological doctrine.
EVANGELISM:
God is glorified through the saving of souls. God has chosen to save souls through the preaching of His Word and the primary way preaching takes place is through the mouths of men. Sharing our faith is an important aspect of our mission. We should preach the Bible at all times and ALWAYS use words. We should also be involved in planting churches both in the States and abroad, as well as partnering with missionaries, para-church organizations, etc. Evangelism is a great means of fulfilling our mission, but evangelism by itself is NOT our sole mission. Our sole mission is to glorify God and God is glorified when we share our faith and engage in evangelism.
DISCIPLESHIP:
God is glorified through the discipling of believers. When God saves an individual, they know nothing about God or the Bible, therefore, we must come alongside him or her and teach them about Christianity. Discipleship is a life on life process in which a spiritually mature believer pours his/her life into a spiritually immature believer. This results in mature disciples bringing glory to God.
In conclusion, we must remember that our primary mission is to bring glory to God. We bring glory to God through enjoying God, church membership, theology, evangelism, and discipleship! We run into problems when we elevate one spoke over another, all spokes are equally important and feed into the hub, therefore, let us glorify God with our lives!
Hey T...sorry I missed this yesterday (not like it's the first nor the last time that'll happen!). I really like this post--especially coming from you, a guy whose evangelistic fervor is great! I believe you're right on with including every one of these areas as crucial to our mission of glorifying God. And, I think the person who took umbrage at your comment was more concerned about a disparaging remark directed at free will than the state of your mission. But of course, that is only my opinion.
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