22 June 2025

THE MISSION MANDATE OF CHRISTIANS

(Biblical & Spiritual Exhortations: BSE 17)

While we are praying for the missionaries and encouraging them with various means, that does not exempt us from non-involvement in Missions. We have been given a mandate by our Lord in the Great Commission. The Lord Jesus commanded the Church, which consists of all true believers, thus: “Go therefore into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). This command is not optional but imperative; which means every Christian must obey because Jesus is Lord. We cannot say Jesus is Lord and not obey Him: “Why do you call Me “Lord, Lord” and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). Many of us are guilty of this rebuke; and if so, we need to repent.

Notice the command is to “Go”. That means we need to get up and start telling people about the Good News of Jesus – that He loves all sinners and died for their sins to save them from eternal damnation. The word “preach” simply means “to broadcast, to tell, to witness” . We do not need to be pastors or evangelists to share the Gospel. All we need to do is to share our testimony. The man called Legion was delivered of at least two thousand demons, and was told by Jesus: “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19).

Today, we have an advantage which Legion did not have. We have the Holy Spirit living in us. Christ tells us that He has given us the Holy Spirit to enable us to witness for Him: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8). So we are without excuse not to preach the Gospel and share our testimony.

The scope of the Great Commission is to “go into all the world”. In Acts 1:8 we are commanded to start where we are – in our “Jerusalem”. That means our family and those around us that we interact with daily - our neighbors, our relatives, our school or workplace.The objective is to reach “every creature” or person nearest to us, and then to every person in the whole world in our generation. This is missions. The great Evangelist D L Moody once said, “The Christian has only one business in this world, and that is to win souls” for Heaven. Why? Because “Every heart with Christ is a missionary; and every heart without Christ is a mission field”! May God grant us this vision and give us grace to obey it. Every person in every nation and in each succeeding generation must hear the Good News that Christ can save them from sin and the judgment of Hell and give them eternal life and hope in Heaven.

Apart from personally sharing Christ and the Gospel with people, we need also as a Church to be involved in the missionary enterprise. We need to support missionary work and missionaries who have obeyed God’s call to go into the Unreached Places of the world to reach the unevangelized and the Unreached Peoples. Their success and survival depend on our prayers and support. Let us not fail them!

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