Mark Broadbent
If a church is to become missional, it needs to work out what priority evangelism will take, especially in comparrision with the priority of worship. Here are some thoughts…
#1 Our highest call is to worship God.
> The greatest command is to love God. The second greatest is to love others. If you define worship as 'loving God' then it would seem to get the nod ahead of evangelism, which is mostly about 'loving people'.
> The story of Mary and Martha indicates that God wants us to worship him more than he wants us to serve him.
> It appears that Jesus' decision to go through to the cross was more about pleasing God than it was about saving souls. ('Take this cup from me…not my will, but your will be done').
> Evangelism is something that we can only do while on earth. There will be no evangelism taking place in heaven. But worship is something that we will do for all of eternity. In the words of Chris Tomlin: 'You and I are made to worship'.
#2 Evangelism is the primary reason we are on earth & not in heaven.
> Jesus stepped out of heaven and came to earth to 'seek and save that which is lost'.
> Paul said he'd rather 'depart and be with Christ'. He counted his life as nothing if only he may 'complete the task of testifying the gospel of God's grace'. It would seem that he saw evangelism as the primary reason that he was left here.
#3 If you're not fishing, you're not following.
> Jesus told his disciples up front: 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men'.
> Jesus discipled his followers by sending them out on mission.
> Jesus commissioned his followers to a life of mission (Great Commission)
> Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit so that we could be his 'witnesses…to the ends of the earth'.
My conclusion
Perhaps this whole thing is like asking who is the most important person in a marriage. If you ask the husband, he will tell you that his wife is the most important. If you ask the wife, she will tell you that her husband is the most important.
From our perspective, we are to put God ahead of the people God so desperately wants to save. But from God's perspective, it would seem that he puts spiritually lost people ahead of his own needs or comfort.
Mark Driscoll put it this way: Our goal is to have 'as many people worshipping Jesus as possible'.
Any thoughts??? (I have found this difficult to get my ahead around)
