This article is basically saying that the church's mission is to make disciples. This discipleship making is not easy and is not driven by "whatever works." "Whatever works" begs the question of who defines what is working. Rather, the church is to not be afraid of discipline and obedience to its doctrine and teaching. Often times we think that in order to reach people we must be relevant. This article (and this pastor) is not interested in being relevant but being faithful. Now I understand that those things might not be diametrically opposed, but many times in an attempt to become relevant we forsake what makes us holy and separate from the world. In other words, maybe the whole point of church is to be not relevant to the world, but to be a kind of alternative to the world. A body of people continually calling others to be irrelevant to the world.
V. Mission of the Church
"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.'" (Matthew 28:18-20)
We believe that the source of the Church's mission is the risen Jesus Christ. The church's mission has many dimensions (worship, evangelism, education, prophetic witness, service, and fellowship), but the mission itself is to "make disciples of all nations..." This mission requires Christian adults to lovingly lead children and youth in obeying Christ and in fulfilling His church's mission.
We reject the assumption that the church's mission is based on American pragmatism. Pragmatism in American Christianity is most often demonstrated today in the rush to offer religious goods and services, to increase institutional security, to adopt fashionable political formulas, and to bend the church's teachings to incorporate certain aspects of culture even when the Scriptures teach otherwise.
