Th One More missiology is rooted in the missional nature of the heart of God. It is God’s Mission to see every tribe and tongue to declare Jesus as their King. Thus, God is continually working to bring that Mission to fruition. Everyday he is doing something new in someone’s heart. The Spirit is still working everyday, even in those places where the church has not yet been established

With God’s Mission in mind, what does that mean for his Church that shares his Mission? How can the church ever settle for what God has already done when God certainly does not? There is so much more that he is doing right now and there is so much that he wants to do in the future and God is inviting us along to partner with him in his Mission. What a privilege!

There will always be a VITAL place for ministry that takes seriously the health of the already established church. Pastoral training, discipleship, resourcing, and church revitalization are all aspects of what it means to be “the Church”. Moreover, these are appropriate activities for Global Workers engage in.

At the same time, in our noble desire to make sure the Church is healthy, we must never neglect the Apostolic nature of the Church. It should never be one or the other.

The Five Core Functions of the Church

Paul writes to the Ephesians these words…

And he (Christ) gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV (Italics mine)

Christ has given the church five core functions. These functions are represented by offices and characterize the nature of the church.

1. Prophet– The Spirit still speaks to the church and to the World through his people. The Church and our world need the voice of the Spirit to speak against corruption, injustice, and sin.

2. Evangelist– The church is to always keep the Good News of the Kingdom of God in its front windshield. The church is to be proclaimers of the Gospel.

3. Shepherd– We connect people to each other and form vibrant communities of Christ.

4. Teacher– We hold God’s Word in high regard. We exposit it correctly and learn how to apply it to our lives.

The Apostolic Function

The Church is usually excellent at the third and fourth, okay with the first and second, but we often completely neglect the fifth (which happens to be first on Paul’s list).

5. Apostolic– The Apostolic function of the church is what drives the church to ask the question, “Where has there not been a local expression of the Kingdom of God? Where is there no church?” It is through the local expression of God’s Kingdom that people experience new resurrection life. Consequently, the local church is the hope of the world!

The Apostle Paul’s Missiology of Discontent

If there were one verse that summarizes the fifth function of the Church and that summarizes the One More Missiology it would be Paul’s word to the Romans…

For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

Romans 15:18-21

A few verses later Paul says this…

When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you.

Romans 15:28

Paul has seen the church planted, he has seen countless lives changed, and yet he is still not content. He has seen such success that he is able to speak of his fulfillment of his ministry in an area. He already had a lifetime’s worth of success. Yet, he isn’t willing to stop just yet.

God’s “ambition” has become his ambition. The unfinished task, namely the Mission of God, has created in him a discontent that refuses to settle for what God has done in the past, because he knows that there is more that God wants to do. There is still ONE MORE in Spain that needs to hear.

The Tendency of the Church is to Settle and Savor

My daughter has started to watch the movie Toy Story. Throughout the intro to the movie, she always asks me, “Where is Buzz? Where is Buzz?” brimming with excitement

“He’s coming. Just wait.” I tell her.

A few minutes later Buzz makes his grand entrance and my little girl’s face lights up. After Buzz has made his entrance into the film, flown around Andy’s room, and thoroughly amazed my little girl she then says, “I want to watch it from the beginning.”

To which then I gladly comply and watch the first ten minutes of the movie all over again with my little girl.

What a picture of the tendency of the Church. We have asked with excitement, “Where is Jesus? Where is Jesus?” and now that we have found him, we are content to savor him, theologically analyze him, and proverbially watch the first ten minutes of the movie over and over again.

Yet we have missed the point of the story. We rarely ask why he came. We never consider his mission.

The Church has largely missed the great drama of redemption that God wants to reveal to the world through his Church. The Director is wringing his hands because we have neglected the final act.

There is more than just what we have settled for and savored. Certainly, there is more that God wants to do. Jesus did not come just to save YOU, he came to save the WORLD. He came to redeem a community who would then be used by him to redeem the world. The Church is a key player in God’s drama, yet we often miss the director’s cues.

The church tends to settle without the Apostolic function. The question is, if the Church (both its local expressions and the Universal Church) does not have ALL five functions, is it really being what God has called the church to be? Do we want to be 2/5, 3/5, or 4/5 of the church Jesus died to establish? Do we want to obey only a part of our mandate?

May it never be!

The One More Missiology: God, Give us ONE MORE!

We must find ways to celebrate what God has done in the past and still allow those works to spring us forward into new ventures.

Our hearts are grateful for what God has done. Certainly, we rejoice for the churches that have been planted and for the lives that have been changed! Yet, the prayer of the Church has always been, “God, give us ONE MORE.”

One more life changed.

One more church planted.

Let there be One More community of Christ, a beacon of hope and forgiveness, a local manifestation of the Kingdom of God, be planted in the midst of the Kingdom of Darkness.

The Unfinished Task is huge. There are so many that still have not heard and this can be so overwhelming. As an example, just a quick visit to the Joshua Project can fill one with a sense of helplessness. The need is so great! Truly, we can never settle.

What if we ate the elephant one bite at a time? If every believer would take the Mission of God as their Mission as well? What if everyday we looked for the One More on our street, in our town, or in the next village?

In conclusion, we must go little by little, one by one, carrying the glorious message of the Kingdom of God to those who have not heard, and continue as the Church that God has called us to be.

As Global Workers, let us keep the “one more” in focus. May we never be content with what God has done, but let us always champion the need of the one more; empowering the church to be what Jesus has called it to be- Apostolic.

God give us ONE MORE.