From the very beginning, the Church recognized that they were on a mission. They existed for the very purpose of bearing witness to Christ and making disciples of all nations.  So when they were told by the authorities to keep quiet about Jesus they declined.  “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). It was what they were commissioned to do.

Think of it this way: imagine telling McDonald’s that they are free to exist as long as they stop trying to sell cheeseburgers.  In other words, they could make cheeseburgers, just not try and get anybody else to eat them.  They can have discussion groups in which they share their affection for cheeseburgers and the difference cheeseburgers have made in their lives.  They can study the market for cheeseburgers, set up a headquarters and eat cheeseburgers till they come out their ears.  But they have to stop trying to influence others.  No cheeseburger evangelism.

Think McDonald’s would go along with that?  Not a chance!
Getting people to buy cheeseburgers is the reason they exist, and as crazy as that sounds, that’s what the early Church was being asked to do - to give up its mission!

But notice this: The Church was still free to do everything that seems to be important to churches today.

Want to get together and pray?
     Go for it!

Want to gather for worship?
     No problem.

Want to have Bible studies in your home?
     Study away!

Want to have meetings to vote on budgets and elect leaders?
     Have all the meetings you want!

They could do everything churches like to do today. The only thing they were being forced to give up was their mission. The challenge that we in the Church face today is the pressure to turn inward.  To come to church, sit in our pew, listen politely, then go home and say nothing!  To hear the saving gospel of Christ but keep it to ourselves.

As a family of believers, the Church of the Lutheran Brethren senses “God stirring in our church a fresh passion to reach beyond our own comfort to all people” (CLB Vision Statement). The times have changed, but the mission has not! God is calling us to look beyond the four walls of our church, in the same way that he called the first Church. “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

“Burger anyone?”

Rev. David Foss is the lead pastor at Bethel Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls, MN.

The times have changed, but the mission has not.
We ask that you prayerfully consider partnering with us as we seek, with God’s help, to proclaim the good news we have been given to the ends of the earth.

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