Family on Mission - Part 2
Adrian Thornton

At the core of Family on Mission, is the very nature of God, who is both relational and missional. As Father, Son, and Spirit, God exists in perfect relationship, yet God is also a sending God: The Father sends the Son, the Son sends the Spirit, and the Spirit sends the church.

Jesus’ life models this perfectly. He loved His disciples with the love of the Father (family), yet He came “to seek and save the lost” (mission).

The parable of the lost sheep is a good example that tells us about a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one. The shepherd cares about the ninety-nine, but he’s not satisfied while one is still lost.

Are we content with the ninety-nine? Are we satisfied with who is already here? Or are we still moved by the reality that there are people around us (neighbours, friends, and family) who don’t yet know Christ?

The word mission isn’t a word specifically used by the authors of the Bible. However, it simply describes what God is doing. Mission (originating from the Latin word missio) means to be sent. 

Now sent is a Bible word. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

In the early to mid 1900’s, Christian theologians were trying to understand this concept better because mission had become more of an agenda or program of the church and lost what it really meant.

‘The church doesn’t do mission, it is the mission of God’ was their conclusion. The Father sent the Son to defeat the destructive power of sin through death on a cross and inaugurate the Kingdom of God through the resurrection. The mission is a course correction for a broken world to be made new again.

We are disciples of a Kingdom mission Jesus is leading. Making disciples is more than just saving souls.

The church is sent with the power of the Holy Spirit, the authority of the Son, and the love of the Father to continue the renewing work of new creation in a first creation world broken by sin.

From Eden to new creation, God’s plan has always been for heaven and earth to dwell together so that people can live in perfect harmony with Him and each other. The church is the mission, sent as the body of Christ to continue this work.

The challenge for us is to refuse satisfaction with the status quo and to be moved by the reality that there are still people who do not yet know, worship, or walk with God.

So let’s be a family that loves deeply and a people sent boldly, committed to God’s mission of restoring the world through Christ.