Christians in America, and missionaries overseas, need to stop focusing so much on planting churches. Please notice I didn’t say, “stop planting churches.” Church planting is necessary, but sometimes people overemphasize this aspect of our mission. It’s good to plant churches, but if that is seen as the primary goal of missions, our understanding of the Great Commission is lacking.
I’ve had the privilege of knowing and speaking with many missionaries over the years. I admire their courage and diligence to minister in areas where many people wouldn’t want to live. But in my observation, there’s a short-sightedness in most mission endeavors. The goal of missions is often seen as getting enough people saved to plant a church. Let me be clear, starting churches and seeing people saved are great things. But this is not an adequate view of the Great Commission.
In Matthew’s version of the Great Commission, Jesus says to disciple whole nations. He also says to teach those nations “to observe everything [He] has commanded” (Matt. 28:18-20). Since Jesus is God, and God has given us commands that pertain to family, business, education, economics, worship, law, charity, government, etc., the Great Commission involves teaching the nations how to obey God in all of those areas (and more!). When all of these things are taught, it leads, not just to people being transformed, it leads to whole societies being transformed! In other words, it’s not just churches that will spring up, but a Christian civilization. If that’s not the goal of missions, the goal is too small.
Also notice, the Commission doesn’t just say to teach God’s commands, but to teach the nations to “observe [obey] God’s commands.” The best way to teach others how to apply the Bible to all of life is for you to apply the Bible to all of life. It’s one thing to tell someone what to do, it’s another to show them.
God’s method of teaching incorporates this principle. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Israelite parents were to teach their children the word of God, not only by talking about God’s commands, but also by having their children accompany them as they sat in their homes and when they were out and about. Their children would learn by listening to what the parents said, but also by watching what they did (see also Prov. 23:26; John 5:19-20). This method of teaching was how Jesus taught His disciples: they lived with Him for about three years and in that time they not only heard Him teach, but they also observed His life.
So, how then can a single missionary show unbelievers how to raise a godly family, or show how a community should function, or form a civil government, etc.? How can a lone missionary show unbelievers what Christian civilization looks like? He can’t. At least, not by himself. An individual can’t teach those things very well, at least not by example.
This is why Christians used to send groups of believers into a land as missionaries, not just a couple of them. In times past, ten or twelve Christian men, and their families, would go to a foreign land and settle there. They would build a Christian community, a small Christian civilization. They would form a “city on a hill,” so to speak, and be a light to those who observed them (Matt. 5:14-15).
This was actually God’s plan for His OT people as well. He put Israel at the intersection of three continents (Asia, Europe, and Africa) and in the path of several trade routes. People from many nations would be traveling through Israel. When they did, they would see what a godly society looks like and would praise Israel’s God (Deut. 4:5-8).
While many unbelievers will hate the “light” (John 3:20), our example is often used by God to bring the lost to Himself (1 Pet. 2:12).
Those in church history who used the “city on a hill” method of missions often had great success (as God blessed their efforts). Societies that haven’t been affected by the gospel are not pleasant places to live in. And, when unbelievers saw what a community built on the Bible was like, they often wanted to learn more. A society built on God’s instruction will always be superior in every respect to any other society.
One of the best examples of a “city on a hill” missionary endeavor is the nation you’re living in now. While the modern U.S.A. isn’t quite the godly example it once was, it was built by those who wanted to be a city on a hill, a light to the rest of the world. In 1630, the Puritan John Winthrop preached a sermon to a group of Christians headed from England to America. He said that the community they would establish would be seen as “a city on a hill.” Also, in speaking of the Pilgrim colony, their governor William Bradford said, “as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea, in some sort to our whole nation.”
Planting churches is a part of the Great Commission, but it isn’t the whole mission. A vision of missions that sees the goal as only saving people and starting churches denies that God has given instruction for all of society, and that our job is teach the nations all that God has instructed. It’s time for a bigger vision for missions.