What is necessary for the Gospel to go into the world and bear fruit (e.g. Col. 1:6, 23)? Bibles printed in every language? Gospel tracts distributed in mass quantity? Gospel radio transmissions into every country around the world? Although the things on this list could be good, none of them are required for the Gospel to go into the world and bear fruit.

The missional impact of the church during its first two centuries was arguably greater than at any other period. Neither the printing press nor the radio had been invented. The church in its 1^st two centuries—arguably its most effective period—wasn’t concerned with getting printed words to people as the first step in reaching the world.

How did the early church have such a world-changing impact on the world? Alan Kreider suggests, “Christianity’s truth was visible; it was embodied and enacted by its members.” He cites Tertullian’s explanation that “outsiders looked at the Christians and saw them energetically feeding poor people and burying them, caring for boys and girls who lacked property and parents, and being attentive to aged slaves and prisoners…. And they said, ‘Vide, look! How they love one another.’”[1]

In fact, during much of that time Christianity was illegal. Christians didn’t invite people to church. Churches didn’t advertise. They relied on living transformed lives which would elicit questions from their family, friends, and neighbors. “Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope you have” (1 Peter 3:15). They expected their lives to provoke questions from people.

Many have debated whether the mission of the church is to focus on preaching the message (Word) or whether it includes acts of mercy. Luke describes Jesus’ ministry as involving both: “all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). The implication is that the church is to continue that ministry and Acts shows us a church that indeed does (Acts 2:44-45; 5:32-35; 6:1-7).

The commission of the Twelve was to preach the kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven, which is the same thing). The deeds Jesus and the apostles did were to show the effects of the kingdom (Matt. 12:28). In other words, “God’s rule has come, so submit yourselves to it! In submitting yourself to it, you will manifest its effects.”

The clearest picture prior to Jesus of the reign of God is Eden. Life under the curse shows what rejecting His kingdom produces. Gospel outreach is the proclamation and demonstration through our lives that the reign of God has come. To explain that more fully, let me briefly address 3 things.

Gospel outreach is the proclamation and demonstration through our lives that the reign of God has come.

The God Who Blesses

It is evident in the storyline of Genesis: God has a mission to restore blessing to the world.

When God created the heavens and the earth, he goes on a blessing spree (Gen. 1:22, 28; 2:4). In a sense, everything God spoke in Genesis 1 was an act of blessing the earth (speaking good upon it). His blessing is at its root what changed the whole planet from being formless and void into a place that could feed humanity.

For food to grow it requires seasons, is affected by weather, flooding, and environmental issues. Genesis 1 is all about blessing the planet to bless (feed) us, that we might spread that blessing to the ends of the earth (1:26-28). I call that God’s creational mission. God’s creational mission for his people was to spread Eden to the ends of the earth.

God’s creational mission for his people was to spread Eden to the ends of the earth.
Once God created the world in that way, He rested on the 7^th Day. His “resting place” is His throne (Isa. 66:1). Eden was a picture of the blessing of God’s kingdom or rule. After the Rebellion, the curse replaced the blessing.  One thing impacted by this curse was human ability to produce food (Gen. 3:14, 16-18). This was life under the kingdom or rule of man.

Abram: for the Blessing of All Peoples

In Genesis 12, after 11 chapters of the downward spiral of the curse, God sets out to restore blessing to the world. He chooses to do it through Abraham.

The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. ² I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3 emphasis added)

The long and the short of it is that God tells Abram,” Go….” (1-2) The end result? “All peoples (families of people, clans) on earth will be blessed through you.” (3) In other words, “Go bless.” God is on a mission to restore blessing to the world, and he chose Abram to carry out that mission.

Christians today often get entangled in arguments over election, but I’m not aware of any Christians disputing that God chose Abram out of all people. The important question regarding election is not “Who is chosen?” but “For what purpose does God choose someone?” Abram was chosen to bring blessing to the whole world. God got particular (Abram) in order that He could get universal (all peoples on earth).

God got particular (Abram) in order that He could get universal (all peoples on earth).

God chooses people to participate in His mission to bless the world. What is it to bless? To bless is to undo any of the effects of the curse in Genesis 3.

In Abram’s (now Abraham’s) story, his calling to bless the world remains central to God’s dealings with him. When God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their lack of proper hospitality to strangers and care for the needy, we read,

Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸ Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. ¹⁹ For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” (Gen. 18:17-19 emphasis added)

Notice that restatement of the promise: “All nations on earth will be blessed through him.” How is it that Abraham would be a blessing for all peoples? By teaching his descendants to do what is right and just.

At the end of the Abraham story, having been willing to offer Isaac on the altar, the message from the Lord is:

I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me. (Gen. 22:16-18)

Christopher Wright comments on these verses, “God’s intention to bless the nations is combined with human commitment to a quality of obedience that enables us to be the agent of that blessing.”

God’s People for the Blessing of the World

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, ⁶ you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. (Exo. 19:5-6)

Israel wasn’t chosen instead of the nations, but for the nations. All the people on earth belong to God! Israel’s calling was a priestly calling: to mediate God’s blessing to the rest of the world. Israel’s obedience is essential to the task. “If you obey me fully….”

Israel wasn’t chosen instead of the nations, but for the nations.

Obedience is important because unrighteous living is injustice toward our neighbor. We can’t be the agents of blessing if we are agents of the curse. Part of Israel’s failure to bless the world was that they began thinking of the nations as their enemies rather than as people to bless. It was an ‘us vs. them’ mentality rather than an ‘us for them’ mentality.

The Great Commission, as it has come to be called, is all about the fulfillment of God’s calling and purpose for His people: that all nations on earth would be blessed through them. This is the restorative mission of God in order that people can be restored into persons who can fulfill the creational mission of God from the beginning.

The Great Commission is all about the fulfillment of God’s calling and purpose for His people: that all nations on earth would be blessed through them.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20)

We are called to go to the nations and make disciples. The 3 elements in Abram’s call are found here.

• Go.
• To all nations.
• Be a blessing!

Where does it say to “be a blessing”? A key element of disciple-making is teaching them to obey Jesus’ commands (the rule/kingdom of God). Those commands, in Matthew’s Gospel, are found in the Sermon on the Mount which is a handbook on blessing others by doing what is right and just according to God’s kingdom.

This is how Abraham would bless the world (see comments above on Genesis 18:17-19). Discipleship involves teaching the children of Abraham (Gal. 3:14) to do what is right and just (“obey everything I have commanded you”). Therefore we could paraphrase: Go, to all peoples, and be a blessing and teach them to bless others.

Peter informs us that the church inherited the calling to be a kingdom of priests (1Pet. 2:9-10). As God’s priesthood in the world, we must seek the wellbeing of people—we must bless people in the place where God has put us.

It is easy to come and go from our houses and fail to interact with our neighbors. It is easy to think of work as just “part of the curse,” rather than the harvest field where God has placed us. We may live in an arid place, but we are to subdue it, making it Eden-like for others through Word and deed.

Conclusion

Gospel outreach is a missional priority for us because it reminds us that we must look beyond ourselves to those whom we are called to bless. Blessing them involves anything in Christ’s name that restores them to a place of flourishing, an experience of God’s kingdom. It will always be in Christ’s name (in the name of Christ’s reign) but it doesn’t always have to include a “Gospel message.”

We, the people of God, the children of Abraham, have been chosen to bless the nations of the world. When people ask us why we are doing something that seems extraordinary to them, we must be ready to tell them, “Because Christ reigns over everything in heaven and on earth, and we are attempting to live under His reign.”

In our Gospel outreach, it’s important that the well-being of whole persons (not just “souls”) is what we seek. We all must intentionally engage neighbors, the community, your workplaces, etc. and seek ways to bless.

Go, be a blessing! This is God’s mission and we have been chosen to join Him.

[1] Alan Kreider, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbably Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, 61.

Photo by Georgi Zvezdov on Unsplash