The five marks of mission are revealed in the Gospels through Jesus’ life and ministry. They help to answer a core question about what it looks like for Jesus to reign in each of us, in His Church, and in the broken world.
The central mark of mission is the Proclamation of Truth–the Good News that Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life. He has come to seek and to save that which is lost. The other four marks of mission reveal how Jesus’ unimpeded reign changes everything for good. Discipleship includes teaching, baptizing, and growing disciples of Jesus. Compassionate Care involves responding to others’ needs to bring wholeness. Justice results in transformative freedom, and Stewardship involves wisely restoring and stewarding creation and its resources so that it reflects His beauty and goodness. In each of these, we find the relevance of His mission and work for every tribe, every tongue, and every nation, irrespective how different people and cultures are from one another.
The church exists to show people what living in the Kingdom of God is like and to invite them into His Kingdom. They show the world that His Kingdom is good by the love that they have for one another. The Guide for Christian Life and Formation highlights five marks of the mission of God.*
These marks were preached and demonstrated by Jesus, and the church is called, equipped, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the same. Five marks of mission move people and the world closer to the fullness of God’s Kingdom where, again, there is Truth, growth, wholeness, freedom, and beauty. Where these exist, His reign is perfect, untouched by sin and rebellion, and perfectly reflective of His holiness and love.
Jesus said He is the Truth. The central mark of the mission of God is the proclamation that Jesus is Truth, and in Him, the Kingdom has come to the broken world. Proclaiming Truth to a world that has exchanged Truth for lies until Jesus’ returns is a defining ministry of the church. Disciples of Jesus bring Good News of the Kingdom to the poor and they proclaim freedom to the captive. The hope of God’s redemptive work is rooted in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The church proclaims that Jesus is the Living Word who saves. Jesus is the Way. He is the Truth. And He is Life.
The next mark of Kingdom mission is Discipleship. Disciples by definition, are learners and imitators of the life and way of Jesus. They experience growth and help others to grow by teaching, baptizing, and nurturing other new believers. By abiding in Christ, disciples become more like Him. They resist the snares of sin and become keepers of the first and greatest commandment to “love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.”
The next mark of Kingdom mission is Compassion–action that brings healing and wholeness. Jesus followers respond to human need with loving service. Wholeness implies health and completeness and that there is no fracture in physical, relational, emotional, mental, or spiritual well-being. All is made perfect in Christ. The church, like Jesus, brings healing and care to those in need—those who are experiencing brokenness, fear, sickness, and pain. Responding with compassion and care shows whose we are. Christians love because He first loved us.
The next mark of mission is Justice. Where God’s Spirit is working, there is freedom—freedom to love, to serve—freedom to consider one another as more important than ourselves. Where sin reigns, oppression reigns–the antithesis of freedom. Seeking rightness and freedom, intentionally stepping into the gaps in society, mirrors the person and the work of Christ who did not consider equality of God something to grasp, but humbled Himself, dwelled among us, and lightened the burdens of the downcast.
The next mark of mission is Stewardship. This is the first mandate and is directly connected to being the image bearers of God. The book of Genesis shares the story of God’s glory, His creativity, and His goodness on full display. He then placed people in the garden to enjoy and steward all that He created and provided. The result of this is beauty, a beauty that glorifies God and evokes worship. God’s restorative work is still accomplished through His people who preserve, restore, and steward their resources, their homes, their families, their time, and His creation. The church works to help ensure that the surrounding community and the resources entrusted to us are purposefully stewarded to reflect the beauty and the majesty of God who spoke the whole cosmos into existence.
Citylight Church is connected to many programs and ministries that are working to see God’s Kingdom come in people’s lives, across our region, and in the world. Now you can learn more about them, participate in their work, and learn more about the ways God is calling you to join Him in His mission.
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