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"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark
16:15.
These were the last words Jesus spoke to His disciples as
He left them on Ascension Day.
There is an old legend that after His ascension He was asked
by the Archangel Gabriel what He had done to ensure the continuance
of His work on earth. "Have you left your disciples a
manual of instructions?" Jesus answered "No".
"Or a programme of action?" again "No."
"What have you left them?" Jesus replied: "I
have left eleven men, my church, and they shall work for me
in the world."
Phillips Brooks said of this: "Jesus taught His truth
to a few men, and then he said, Now go and tell that truth
to other men."
That was the task of the disciples of Jesus and it is the
duty of His followers ever since, to preach, teach and tell
the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour
of mankind to bring them to faith in Him and into a relationship
with God through Him.
The early church realised that responsibility upon it. We
have the evidence of that in the New Testament account of
the growth of the faith through the testimony of the first
Christians.
They spoke, worked and lived for Christ and others were added
to their number and they founded churches to ensure that Christians
together in each place would obey their Lord's command to
win people for Him.
To evangelise, to missionise, to win people for Christ is
the primary, essential, ministry of the church. The economic
maxim "export or die" has a Christian application
for the church must grow, increase its influence, affect the
thinking and doing of people or it will die.
That happened where the church, for whatever reason, ceased
to live because it did not grow in numbers and strength. The
need to grow is inherent in Christianity for the good news
of Jesus Christ must be shared. This happens where the church
is alive, active, influential and consequential. It happens
when Christians individually and collectively, determine to
bring people to faith in Christ.
Church growth is not the responsibility only of ministers,
leaders and church workers, it is the charge of all believers.
This because "the Christian holds the knowledge of God's
love in Jesus Christ in trust for those who are still without
it."
Jesus said: "Go and preach". Preaching is integral
to the witness and work of the church but the word has the
more inclusive sense of talking and living the faith, and
that is to be done by every believer.
What the Christian has to share is well described in the
foundation statement of the Church Missionary Society in 1799.
"Of all the blessings which God has bestowed upon
mankind, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest.
It is the sovereign remedy for all the evils of life, and
the source of the most substantial and durable benefits."
Our world changes but it has stayed the same in that our
problems were those of all who have gone before us, for humanity's
needs, the basics of life remain the same. It is just that
the focus, and especially in the western world, is secular,
materialistic, as never before.
The danger for the church is in accepting the situation and
not ensuring that the Christian message is being presented
to people vigorously, determinedly and believably. That is
the message that can remake a person and head society in a
better direction.
The church in a secular society is faced with competition
for the lives of people. And if that is unequal, for the church
does not offer them the things available from other sources,
it has what meets the needs of people as it has met the needs
of all sorts and conditions of men and women for two thousand
years. What is really important in life - peace of mind and
contentment of soul, is on offer from Christ.
It was the American economist, Irving Kristol, who said:
"A secular state cannot prosper - indeed, cannot survive
- in an entirely secular society. Families and churches are
the two institutions that make for inter-generational activity."
This means that the society in which we live needs the Christian
faith and the kind of people the faith produces when they
are by character and conduct true to Christ.
And everywhere when the faith has affected the lives of people
it has been advantageous to them in every way. It affects
their thinking and doing to govern their relationships one
with another. Christianity is at its best when it is at its
most practical. Douglas Webster said: "It is the fashionable
thing today to be concerned about human rights. The greatest
human right is to hear of the Saviour and to know what He
has done."
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
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