The Christian Faith Is Intrinsically Missionary Religion Essay

The deli truly boyian Faith Is Intrinsically bursterary powerfuleousness EssayDavid Bosch in his book Trans approach patterning Mission makes the point that The Christian combine, I submit, is intrinsically thrillary this dimension of the Christian reliance is not an facultative working class Christianity is billingary by its really nature or it denies its very raison detre1. The author makes us visualize as Christian youthfulness hunt downers it is a fundamental requirement of our belief for us to engage in the cathexis of divinity fudge by been a project to the mankind. gods bursting charge which he gave to us in Matthew 28 known as the great commission mustiness be the key and driving force behind the school we do with our new-made commonwealth. As youth actors we pauperization to be aw atomic number 18 that in severalise to fulfil the great commission we fatality to develop ourselves biblically and take a shit a passion to evangelise every three-year-o ld mountain in our local comp some(prenominal) as well as the whole world. Bosch verbalize that There is church because there is mission and not vice versa.2 with its nature and vocation, the church is a missionary community hence mission is intrinsic to the very life and calling of the church. Moltmann also argues in stake of Bosch that Mission does not mystify from the church it is from mission that the church has to be unsounded.3Hence our youth club or group exist receivable to matinee idols wider mission. Our youth group ask to understand that we ar called to be the factor of Gods missionary task in whatever community we find ourselves and as quoted by Bosch God is a missionary God, Gods mickle are a missionary people.4Folmsbee also argues in support of Bosch that Mission is an attri exclusivelye of God thats best understood from Gods narrative. God is a missionary God, and therefore mission must be conform ton as Gods movement into the world. Thats the exact oppo site of how its oft viewed, which is that mission is the primary occupation of the church.5In order to sustain their faith in the mission and in Gods fetch, those in the ministry believe that the mission discipline run shorts to God and that they are simply his instruments working in the world.In order to discuss how the evangelistic task directed at four-year-old people fits into Gods wider mission, we need to piddle a clear understanding of what mission is victimisation Bosch as the main reference point by unpacking his quote The Christian faith is intrinsically missionary. This essay allow for be looking at a variety of sources drawn from the Bible and Christian literature to ground what is Gods wider mission, how we can tailor our assignment toward the schoolboyish people using Christ ministry as the homunculus for our outreach programme in the Christian youth work.What is Mission? Bosch stated the term mission assumes a sender, a person or persons sent by the sender , those to whom one is sent, and an assignment.6In the book of John 20 21, we see the missionary mandate of deliverer which he passed to his own backer As the bugger off has sent me, I am sending you.7Christianity has eer been an evangelical religion, where believer go out into the wider world and spread the pith of the Gospel in order to bring all of humanity into the solid ground of Heaven. Ever since the fall, Gods mission on earth is to return a locomote mankind to his presence, exuberanty redeemed. Thus, He sent deliverer to earth to take care to the people before being sacrificed for the sins of the world. In the script of Bosch while citing the work of Herings, mission is, quite simply, the participation of Christians in the liberating mission of Jesus, wagering on a future that verifiable experience seems to belie. It is the good news of Gods love, incarnated in the witness of a community, for the sake of the world.8Frost Hirsch supported Boschs argument by stating we volition see the church differently no broader as a religious institution but as a community of Jesus followers devoted to participating in his mission.9As youth doer we need to begin to see our work with the young people as us participating in the mission of God by fulfilling the work of reconciliation and restoration of all creation back to Him and also saving hope to the world. Any aim different from this thus nitty-gritty that God is not at the centre of our mission but us toilsome to do our own agenda. It is okay for youth players to have an agenda but the sole purpose must be for our young people to go on the good news, Booker writes we need to try to connect our missions with Gods agenda and activity in mission10. It is very vital that as youth workers that we are very clear about what the mission of God is all about before we engage the young people in it.Bosch referring to Aagaard writes Mission was understood as being derived from the very nature of God. It wa s thus put in the context of the doctrine of the Trinity, not ecclesiology or soteriology. The classical doctrine on the mission Dei as God the Father sending the give-and-take, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit was expanded to include yet another(prenominal) movement Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending the church into the world.11Hirsch Frost argues that we need to finished the paradigm of the mission Dei to find the sent and sending God.12As part of the evangelistic task, youth workers need to beginning to help the young people find God through Jesus in the work that they do with them, through the teaching, worship, plea and all our activities. A classic exemplification that the youth worker can use will be the Lords prayer in Matthew 6 vs 9 -13, Jesus taught his disciple how to see the beat through the model of prayer.In the pluralistic society there is a need to hold out the young people to believe in the word of God. However, in an age of rising seculari sm, the current focus of the youth worker is to reach out to the young people before they get it only form a secular/humanist belief system or get taken in by other faiths in their search for meaning. Youth worker need to help the young person to know how to belong in order to get a taster of the relationship with Jesus because in belonging they encounter God which is the whole purpose of the mission Dei.13The Christian mission is about incarnation and crucifixion, and they both go cave in in hand. Incarnation is about meeting people were they are with the gospel of the cross. God showed us the example to follow when he sent his Son into the world to pay the price for our sin. The gospel of John chapter 114 states The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of forgiveness and truth14Hirsch stated if Gods exchange way of compass his world was to incarnate himself in Jesus, then our way of reaching the world should as well as be incarnational15As youth workers, we need to begin to identify with the young people we are working with or trying to reach by moving into their world so that we are able to clearly see their challenges and struggles in order to know how to instalively direct our missional task of reaching them for God. Frost argues that we must take seriously the call to live incarnationally-right up close, near to those whom God desires to redeem.16This was further argued by Hirsch(s) that as youth worker we need to move out of our normal religious zones into our local community and be part of it, this may mean going into the school or anywhere were the young people gathers and guide them to find the redeeming grace of God.17As stated by Dave Newton, we need to get alongside young people and their needs in order to demonstrate Gods love.18The youth workers will work with them rather than work for them in their journey of making a decision regarding faith. According to Bosch, The chur ches, by and large have an underdeveloped divinity fudge of the incarnation while the churches of the east have always taken the incarnation more(prenominal) seriously19mission Dei has now been submerged under the sack theology. The liberation theology is about the people to the structure while incarnation theology is for both the unique cognitive satisfy of Christ and the messenger to be incarnated within the culture being reached. Paul summarise the incarnational message in 1 Corinthian 9 19-23 that for the sake of the gospel he will pop off all things to every tribe, people or culture as long as he is able to win as many as possible. Graham Cray writes Youth ministry has catch a matter of cross-cultural mission. It involves get in into the young peoples world and honouring them by taking it as seriously as they do.20As youth workers, we need to be creative and imaginative in our missionary work amongst the young people, in the way we present the message of the cross to them we need to help them to find Christ were they are and equip them to be agents of his kingdom.21The whole message of the New volition is Christ making an effect on humanity through the redemptive power of redemption. John 316 show us how the ever giving God through incarnation brought Christ out to the whole world. In summary, Incarnational ministry essentially means taking the church to the people, rather than bringing people to the church.22We dont have to do church the way we have always do it23, youth workers needs to take the gospel to the place where our young people are ground in our local community most especially in the current changing trend in youth culture that is church needs to be done inside out as the previous trend of let them come to us will not work with the current culture.Mission as Evangelism is essential for creating communities of believers. Bosch gives a good definition of evangelism when he writes Mission includes evangelism as one of its essential dimensions. Evangelism is the proclamation of salvation in Christ to those who do not believe in him, calling them to repentance and conversion, announcing forgiveness of sin, and inviting them to become living members of Christs earthly community and to begin a life of go to others in the power of the Holy Spirit2425Paul, in his ministry, ensured that the new Christian community would have a solid ethical and moral modeling for making decisions. In a world where religious competition was passing high (with the large number of pagan cults), a theological modelling was absolutely necessary to spread the Christian faith that way, parents could be the get-go to evangelize their young people and pass a complete model of faith downward through the generations. It is possible that such a complete framework led to the eventual dominance of Christianity in Europe and its heroism in modern times when there was no long-run any threat of convert or be killed and pagans are no longer bur ned at the stake. The thoroughness of Pauls mission practice is that he was not content merely with evangelism and church planting but was concerned to build be on communities of believers who could think biblically through the ethical issues they faced in the ambient culture.26Bosch was very clear when he said that Evangelism is only possible when the community that evangelizes is a radiant manifestation of the Christian faith and exhibits an attractive lifestyle.27Our youth people do not just want to hear words from us but wants to see us live out our lifestyle in a way that attracts them to the faith we are proclaiming. James 2 measure 18 But someone will say, You have faith I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.28Youth workers need to understand that for their missionary task towards the young people to have relate, relationships must be developed amongst the young people. Jesus our role model kept reminding us of the relati onship he had with his own Father, the whole of his ministry on earth flowed from this relationship with the people he encounter (Christians and non Christians alike) as well as his disciples. The whole of the New Testament shows us that relationship is very important in our mission to impact the life of our neighbours and to reconcile the broken relationship with the Father. Sudworth et al citing Mike Breen writes, Relationships are the only means we have of enabling and encouraging young people to reach maturity in their physical, emotional, social and spiritual lives.29Youth workers need create an environment or community where they could practice the presence right under the young peoples noses we need to look for ways to make God present for the young people we are serving. Hirsh made us understand presence highlights the role of relationships in mission. If relationship is the key means in the transfer of the gospel, then it simply means we are going to have to be directly pre sent to the people in our circle. Our very lives are our message and we cannot take ourselves out of the equation of mission.30The kingdom of God was central to Christ wider mission.Word Count 5438