Essentials in Missions: Conclusion

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order... 
- Titus 1:5 (ESV)*

Just to give some concluding thoughts on the past few posts: I realize that my points would seem rather pedestrian to some and they may well be. However, I must stress that I was not presenting four steps to becoming an effective Church nor am I identifying four marks of a missions-focused Church. What I'm saying is that if you don't have these essentials in the DNA of your Church, you're not an established Church by Paul's, or God's, definition. Paul would not report to Antioch that your Church was a work that he had "fulfilled" (Acts 14:26). He might not have stayed. He may have sent a Titus or a Timothy to finish the job*. But the point is that if your Church doesn't have the essentials down, he would not have considered her to be a complete work of a Church planter/missionary**

The last few posts have presented my views (as I see from Scripture) in more or less uncontroversial ways. Here are, perhaps, more frank articulations of my position. Please keep in mind many of them apply to the Church I am currently a member and lay leader at:

If no body outside your local Church has a formal platform from which to speak truth to your Church, hold you accountable, and formally break fellowship with you, you're not at an established Church***.

If Evangelism would cease should your Pastor leave because no one knows how to do it, you're not at an established Church.

If your "essentialist" statement of faith is the only doctrinal statement that your Church has to call Church members to doctrinal maturity, you're not at an established Church.

If your Church has no agreed upon understanding of what a mature Christian life looks like, or if it does, it has more to do with tradition or pragmatism than the values of the New Testament Church, you're not at an established Church.

And if you have lots of brethren, but none of them aspire to leadership or ministry, so your only choice is to put out job postings and hire staff, and you're not sending anyone to the world, you are probably not at an established Church.

What to do? Ditch these Churches? All situations are different - I think the default should be staying and being an agent of reform - but this exercise has helped me identify what areas I want to emphasize when I think about the Great Commission. Whether or not I am right on every point, I pray that our Churches would desire to have the Bible define our approach to engaging in the Great Commission.


*I realize the specific issue for Titus in Crete was appointing elders (explained in the rest of the sentence). However, I see this as only confirming what I believe: Paul had an idea of what an established Church looked like. Many, if not most of our North American Evangelical Churches wouldn't fit the bill.
**I'll address the terminology at a later date.
***Note my use of the word "established". This is not an exercise to identify the marks of a true Church.