The Mission of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association

 

The home page of our Web site states our mission succinctly: "Our mission is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God and make disciples from among those whom God calls."

This obviously comes from Jesus' commission to the disciples: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).

And this clearly ties in with Christ's end time prophecy: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).

Christ showed by the training of those He selected to lead His Church, by His prophecies, and by His example that He intended His Church to preach this specific message to a worldwide audience.

The unambiguousness of His reference to the gospel of the Kingdom fixes the theme for what the true Church should declare. The gospel ["good news"] of the Kingdom wasn't a new idea, but rather the principal theme of the message from God to humankind. It is a marvelously hopeful message, which projects a vision of a transformed world in which all nations will enjoy prosperity and safety under a truly perfect government. Impossible? Yes, in the hands of men. But the gospel tells how the world we know will be transformed.

You will learn much more of this good news in our writings.

Jesus said other things that indicated His anticipation of a growing number of disciples, the natural consequence of preaching the gospel. For example, Luke tells us Christ said, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields" (Luke 10:2).

People today commonly speak of "mission creep," referring to how the principle mission can expand beyond its originally intended parameters. We strive to stick with the mission Jesus set for the Church, avoiding "mission creep" into approaches or methods He did not intend. That is, He did not teach His disciples to pressure people to accept the gospel.

For example, notice His declaration in John 6:44, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." God did not "draw" [call to conversion] everyone to whom Jesus preached. In addition, Christ said that the Kingdom message was like the seeds of a crop that a farmer sows. The farmer doesn't try to "force" seeds to grow. He plants. He waters. Then He tends the plants that grow.

Therefore, our mission does not include attempting to convert people. We "announce" the message with authority, as Jesus did. Then, we respond to those who want to receive more information, guidance and spiritual care.