Why Is a Clear Understanding of the Gospel Essential in Missions?

Why is a clear understanding of the gospel essential in missions?

I think if we're going to do missions properly, biblically, we need to begin with a clear gospel message. Missions really is the work of making the gospel known to every tribe and tongue and nation. That means we need to know who Christ is and what He's done and how that applies to us and what benefits we receive—i.e., the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. We need to make that gospel clear. If you don't have a clear gospel, then you really can't engage in missions in any faithful way.

Secondly, if we don't have a clear gospel, we don't understand what the church is—because the church really is the company of the saints, the gathering of the believers. We bring them together in Christ's body. Now, we understand that the church has a mixed nature, and that there are unbelievers and believers who gather there. But the point that we're pursuing is that we want to proclaim the gospel so that people hear it, believe, and are gathered into the church. And they're baptized. They participate in the Lord's Supper. They have leaders over them who care for them, who preach the gospel to them, who teach them the whole counsel of God.

We have to be clear then on what the gospel is and what the church is if we're going to pursue the mission—because the mission simply is to make that gospel word known so that Christ's church is gathered in all the earth. Jesus said, "I will build my church." And so the mission is to really proclaim the message of Christ so that Christ, by His Spirit, can build His church in all the earth.