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What do Mennonite Brethren believe? Does our theology have any emphases that are different from the theology of other Christian denominations?
In this series Reuben Pauls looks at our new Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith, approved in 1999. |
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Mission possible
Reuben Pauls
A very important question now that we have dealt with the Nature of the Church (Article 6) is: What is the mission of the church? Article 6 defined the church as “the people called by God through Jesus Christ”. Following from that, Article 7 states that the “good news of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ is for all people”. If we did not believe this, there would be little need or urgency for the evangelistic emphasis of our denomination. It is this emphasis which has led the Mennonite Brethren Church to send out many missionaries since its founding almost a-century-and-a-half ago – to the extent that the membership of Mennonite Brethren churches overseas far exceeds that of our North American home base.
Mind you, evangelism (encouraging people to accept Jesus as their Saviour) is not where our mission statement ends. If we stop short of making disciples (encouraging people to be committed to following Jesus in every aspect of their lives), we have not fulfilled our mission. Salvation without accompanying lifestyle changes is not even half the battle. Once they have accepted Jesus, we need to teach people to live out that commitment by showing love to their friends, their neighbours and even their enemies.
It is important to note that our witness has two parts, personal and corporate. We state that it is the responsibility of the church community to make disciples. This is a necessary corrective to the individualistic approach to disciple-making and mentoring which is currently practised by many. How do we make disciples effectively? By involving individuals in a small group and in the church. On the other hand, we do not deny that each Christian has a responsibility to live and speak in such a way as to influence the people he or she is in contact with to become Christians. There are two ways in which we can go wrong. The first is for those individuals who fear personal witness to hide behind the church; for them, corporate witness becomes all that matters. For others, personal witness is all important. Our Confession states that both aspects are necessary for us to effectively communicate the good news of Jesus Christ to the world, and we need to guard against overemphasizing or underemphasizing either one.
The reason we are able to say our mission is possible is the role of the Holy Spirit as the “empowerer”. Acts 1:8 is crucial to our understanding that “every Christian” is empowered to witness. We say that we witness both by declaring “God’s salvation” and by demonstrating “God’s reign”. The challenge is for both our personal and our church life to be consistently obedient to Christ as we are observed by those whom God calls us to reach – and we cannot achieve this without the power of the Holy Spirit. As you and I personally and the churches we are part of corporately are faithful, and as the Holy Spirit empowers, our mission is possible!
Reuben Pauls is pastor of River of Life Church in Sorrento, B.C. and former executive minister for the Canadian MB Conference.
CONFESSION OF FAITH OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADIAN CONFERENCES OF MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCHES
Article 7
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Last modified February 11, 2002.
© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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