Alan Jamieson is the General Director of Arotahi, the New Zealand Baptist mission arm. Kelly Stubbs was until recently the Communications & Engagement Manager for Arotahi.
We Kiwi Baptists love to say that “mission is in our DNA”.
A quick Google tells me that DNA is “the fundamental and distinctive characteristics or qualities of someone or something, especially when regarded as unchangeable”. We’re essentially saying that mission is an unchangeable part of who we are and what we do… so unchangeable and integral, in fact, that it interacts with and affects every other part of our lives. When we say mission is in our DNA, we are acknowledging that mission is part of God’s unified agenda outworking itself in our lives. But if that’s true, what is it in unity with?
In the life of most of our churches, mission and worship are treated as separate and discrete activities. The mission committee oversees the former while the worship team takes care of the latter. The possibility that mission and worship might, or indeed should, be connected in significant ways is seldom given serious thought. Yet Scripture endorses that these two ‘activities’ are powerfully linked at the very core of who we are.
We want to investigate then how our DNA (mission) connects with our chief end (worship). Let’s break it down together.
God’s unified agenda is creative, redemptive, ecclesiological, missiological and eschatological. We were;
- created for a purpose,
- we have been redeemed for a purpose,
- the church was brought into being and exists for a purpose,
- all of which is linked to God’s mission,
- which will come to full fruition in the eschaton when all creation is renewed.
And we also know that in the eschaton, as described in Revelation 7:9, the redeemed will be from every nation, tribe, people and language, and will gather before the throne to join in worshipping and glorifying God for ever. Worship is the fuel of mission, and it is also the ultimate goal. If we are prepared to say that as Baptists, mission is in our DNA, then we need to know and own afresh this powerful and integral relationship. To do this, we need to firstly understand exactly what the definitions of worship and mission are.
MISSION
According to Christopher Wright, “mission” (singular) is the overarching concept that encompasses “all that God is doing in his great purpose for the whole of creation and all that he calls us to do in cooperation with that purpose”.[1] This begins with the missional motif of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3) and is expanded upon in the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20). Defining God’s mission is practically impossible, but can best be understood through the stories of Scripture. We consistently see the fingerprints of God and what God is doing throughout the Old and New Testament – mission is “a major key that unlocks the whole grand narrative of the canon of Scripture”.[2]
In contrast to this, “missions” (plural) relates to “the multitude of activities that God’s people can engage in, by means of which they participate in God’s mission”.[3] Missions is, therefore, a small part of Mission; specific tasks or steps assigned to a person or people as part of the Missio Dei. As Wright emphasises, it is not so much the case that God has a mission for the church as that God has a church for his mission. As such, our ‘missions’ operate in continuation of the Abrahamic Covenant: to share God’s blessings with the nations (Gen 12:1-3) which invites them into a vital worshipping relationship with the one true living God. To this extent everything that consists of “conscious participation” in the mission of God is considered to be “missional”.[4]
WORSHIP
Let’s explore how worship is understood by a variety of scholars.
One understanding of worship is “the way that people glorify God”.[5] Hawthorne posits that true worship reflects “genuine relational interaction with God” that takes place “when people recognise who God is” and respond accordingly by “offering face-to-face gratitude and day-to-day allegiance”.[6] Hawthorne claims that throughout Scripture, we see that God is revealing Godself in order to draw obedient worship, or glory, from the nations. In this sense, says Hawthorne, “the Bible is truly The Story of His Glory”.[7]
In The End for Which God Created the World,[8] Jonathan Edwards asserted that throughout scripture the ultimate purpose to which all of God’s actions were directed was his glory.* Not surprisingly, we see the same emphasis in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus sought the glory of his Father in all he did (John 7:18); Jesus told us to do good works so that God will receive glory (Matt 5:16); Jesus warned that not seeking God’s glory makes faith impossible (John 5:44); Jesus said that he answers prayer so that God will be glorified (John 14:13); Jesus endured his final hours of suffering for God’s glory (John 12:27-28); Jesus receives us into fellowship for the glory of God (Rom 15:7); Jesus fills us with the fruits of righteousness for God’s glory (Phil 1:9, 13); Jesus is coming again for the glory of God (2 Thess 1:9-10); Jesus’ ultimate aim for us is that we see and enjoy his glory (John 17:24). Of equal significance is the fact that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is directed towards glorifying the Son (John 16:14).[9]
Arzola defines worship as “the act of glorifying God” and sees this as the ultimate purpose of the church.[10] Likewise, Grenz asserts that the church in all its expressions “exists ultimately for the sake of the glory of the triune God”.[11] Echoing the sentiments of the first paragraph of the Shorter Westminster Catechism, Grudem maintains that worship is “a direct expression of the ultimate purpose for living – to glorify God and fully enjoy him forever”.[12] Piper describes worship as right affection toward God in the heart (Matt 15:8-9) that is rooted in right thoughts about God in the mind (John 4:23) and that results in right actions that glorify God (Matt 5:16).[13] Piper insists that “worship is essentially an inner stirring of the heart to treasure God above all the treasures of the world”.[14]
We want to suggest that worship is an innermost spiritual understanding and treasuring of the character of God and is intended to be an all-of-life phenomenon. Worship represents the central calling of the church and as such it should give focus and direction to the whole of life.[15] Achieving a true understanding of worship must be given top priority in the life of the church.
Many contemporary instances of worship have a focus on an individualistic salvific focus, where we think a shift to a more theologically informed theo-centric emphasis on God and God’s glory is required. We want to suggest that this shift requires a relinking of mission and worship, a link that becomes so unbreakable it reflects the structure of our DNA.
GOD’S UNIFIED AGENDA
Our primary goal, as individuals and as the church, is to worship and glorify God.
The focus of God’s relationship with humans and the rest of his creation (God’s creation agenda) was intended to reflect the relationship of mutual worship that existed within the Godhead prior to the creation. Because of sin and its amplification leading up to the scattering of the nations at the Tower of Babel, a way was needed to bring humans back into the relationship that God intended for them (God’s redemptive agenda). As a first step in implementing this strategy God selected out one man, Abram soon to become Abraham, and entered into a covenantal relationship with him. In return for receiving God's blessings, Abraham and his descendants (physical and then spiritual by faith) were to become a blessing to all the families or nations of the earth (God’s missiological agenda). In compliance with this calling Israel was to be a living witness to God's name among the nations as a contrasting people and thus act as a centripetal force that would attract them into a redemptive relationship with God. At times, however, Israel failed to live up to the responsibilities of this calling and as a result they were dispersed into the nations to bear witness to God’s name in exile, reflecting a centrifugal missional force. By the end of the events of the Old Testament record, Israel had fallen short of this calling on both counts and so Jesus came to establish a church that would pick up and continue Israel's mission mandate of being a blessing to the nations and bringing them into a vital relationship with God (God’s ecclesiological agenda).[16] Following Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit was sent to aid the church in this missiological task. The culmination of the Missio Dei, of course, will take place in the eschaton when every nation, tribe, people using every language will worship the Lamb in the ultimate fulfilment of this goal (God’s eschatological agenda).
Thus, to use Christopher Wright’s phrasing, mission means “inviting all the peoples of the earth to hear the music of God’s future and dance to it today”.[17]
MISSION & WORSHIP
All of this points to a mission of God (Missio Dei) that is to draw all nations into relationship with God and ultimately prepare them for involvement in the glorification of God (Gloria Dei).
We should no longer see mission and worship as separate and discrete activities, but as interlinked and integral elements of God’s ultimate purpose: God’s glorification.
As Marva Dawn says, “God’s revelation… unmasks our illusions about ourselves. It exposes our pride, our individualism, our self-centredness - in short, our sin. But worship also offers forgiveness, healing, transformation, motivation, and courage to work in the world for God’s justice and peace - in short, salvation in its largest sense.”
As Arotahi, we believe that God always intended that worship and mission be woven together like strands of DNA. That worship is the fuel and goal of our missional activity and the two are integrally connected. They are woven together at the very core of who God created us to be.
The outer strands (backbones) of the DNA are shown as linked and tied together by the horizontal (base pair) strands. These horizontal strands are aspects of God’s character; elements of God that we glorify in worship, and which shape and become our ways in mission. We are drawn to worship by God’s justice, mercy, humility, compassion, tenderness, hospitality - just as we are sent to be missional with justice, mercy, humility, compassion, tenderness, hospitality and more.
At our very core we are drawn into worship of God as we experience God’s character, being transformed and sent into intentionally living out the missional ways of God in the world.
In a number of weeks at National Hui (6-9 November 2024, Rangiora), Arotahi will express something of our worship of God that acknowledges and lifts the character of God in our hearts so it can be expressed in our mission with God. Our DNA has been intricately created by God, and as we draw deeper into worship of our Creator, God will begin to reveal more clearly our hand–carved place in the Missio Dei.
A next step:
A contemporary group of musicians who write worship songs expressing the Imago Dei speaking to the great anguish and longings of our times are Common Hymnal. Songs like The Kingdom is Yours (humble perseverance in living the beatitudes), Rose Petals (Black lives matter), Refugee (God’s heart for refugees and displaced people), He has time (church’s silence to sexual abuse), and God is not abusive (Jesus way of compassion and kindness) show the wovenness and power of worship and mission expressed in the imago.
Endnotes
[1] WRIGHT, The Mission of God’s People, p25
[2] WRIGHT, The Mission of God, p17
[3] ibid, p25
[4] ibid, p26. Missional is an adjective denoting “something that is related to or characterised by mission, or has the qualities, attributes or dynamics of mission” (WRIGHT, The Mission of God, p24). Michael Goheen asserts that to describe the church as missional means that it participates in God’s mission; that it continues the mission of Old Testament Israel; that it continues the kingdom mission of Jesus; and that it continues the witness of the early church (GOHEEN, A Light To The Nations, p191).
[5] HAWTHORNE, Steven C, The Story of His Glory, in WINTER, Ralph D and HAWTHORNE, Steven C [eds], Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader, (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1999); ARZOLA, Fernando Jr, Exploring Worship: Catholic, Evangelical and Orthodox Perspectives, (Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2011); GRENZ, Stanley J, Theology for the Community of God, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000); GRUDEM, Wayne, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Theology, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994); GOHEEN, Michael, A Light to the Nations; and PIPER, John, Let the Nations be Glad, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010, 3rd edition)
[6] HAWTHORNE, The Story of His Glory, p36
[7] ibid, p34. According to Hawthorne, God desires worship for two main reasons: firstly, he is delighted by the sincere love that comes to him in true worship; and secondly, by drawing people into true worship, God in turn is able to fully bestow his love upon them (HAWTHORNE, The Story of His Glory, p36).
[8] Published in its entirety in PIPER, God’s Passion for His Glory
[9] This listing of scriptures is extracted from PIPER, Let the Nations be Glad, pp41-46
[10] ARZOLA, Exploring Worship, p1
[11] GRENZ, Theology for the Community of God, pp487-488
[12] GRUDEM, Systematic Theology, pp1003-1004
[13] PIPER, Let the Nations be Glad, p231
[14] ibid, p231
[15] GOHEEN, A Light to the Nations, p202
[16] In similar terms, Paul described his own ministry as bringing about “the obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake” (Rom 1:5). This is what Paul had in mind when he talked of “priesting the gospel” in order that his offering of the nations might be pleasing to God (Rom 15:15-17).
[17] WRIGHT, The Mission of God, p234
Image credits: Header showing Kelly Stubbs and Alan Jamieson, DNA diagram provided by Arotahi.
