What Are We Doing Here?

"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Psalm 110:1

"But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." Hebrews 10:12,13

 ^"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:18-20

What is the mission of the Church? What is our goal? What are we doing? 

The question has plagued me lately. Are we to just convert people? Are we to go street preaching? Are we supposed to separate from the world, like the Amish? Are we to be like the Hasidic Jews, forming our own urban neighborhoods to retreat into? How do we know? Well, if we profess to follow Christ, we start with his example.

Why did Christ come into the world? There are a lot of people with a lot of different answers to that question; some of them good answers, some of them terrible answers. Let's clear some answers up first of all. Christ didn't come into the world just to show you how to be a good person. Christ didn't come into the world just to show you how much God loves you. Make no mistake, he came to do those things, but if that's all you're getting from Jesus, then you aren't getting it. The big reason Christ came is found in Romans 5:6-11.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

Now, make no mistake, that's huge. That's something that has eternal consequences. But that isn't the whole story. If Christ came solely to die for our sins, he would have just gone straight to the cross. But he doesn't. Why not? What's he doing in the meantime? Well, the Holy Spirit descends on him at his baptism. If you've read Judges, you know that when the Holy Spirit descends on people, situations get violent really fast. People start making war. So when the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus, he goes to war. He goes into the wilderness  and becomes the first human ever to resist the temptations of Satan. Repeat that again to fully understand what you just read. He starts healing cripples, the blind, lepers, casting out demons. He violently drives the money-changers out of the temple, twice. For three-or-so years of his life, Jesus goes into berserker mode against the kingdom of Satan. Colossians 2:15 says "He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."

So what does that tell us about the Church and her mission? It's simple. We follow our Lord into the breach. We go forth with him to conquer. Christ has ascended and been seated at the right hand of the Father, awaiting the day when his enemies are made his footstool. That's our job. We go out with the Holy Spirit into the whole earth with the goal of conquest. Sometimes we hear that and we like the thought, but we limit it. We aren't called to just conquer our homes or our circle of friends or our families; we are called to conquer the whole world: colleges, marketplaces, laboratories, art galleries, grocery stores, banks, governments on and on until there remains no inch of ground over which the flag of Christ's Kingdom doesn't fly. 

And here's the real kicker: we are called to do all of this with nothing more than love and a Book. Sound stupid? That's because it is. It's foolish to even think victory possible. But it is not only possible, it is assured. Matthew 16:18 "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it". Daniel 7:13,14 "and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came on like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed". 

It seems to me that right now our mission is summed up in one word: conquer. Conquer everything for the kingdom of Christ. 


At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.