• Directories
    • Business Directory
    • Church Directory
    • Organization Directory
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Help
  • Log In
MENUMENU
  • Learning
        • Leader’s Edge
          • Author Interviews
          • Book Summaries
        • Book Reviews
          • Book Look
          • EMQ Book Reviews
        • Publications
          • Anthology
          • Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
          • Missiographics
        • Podcasts
          • The Mission MattersNew
          • Missio Nexus
          • People First HR
          • Members Only Feed
        • Blogs
          • Global Issues Updates
          • Member Highlights
          • Mission Advisors
        • Topics
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Diaspora Missions
          • Mobilization
          • Muslim Missions
          • Support Raising
        • Media Library
          • Conferences
          • Global Issue Updates
          • On Mission
          • Thought Leader Briefings
          • Webinars
          • Workshop
          • View All
  • Programs
    • Accreditation
    • Alliance for Benefits
    • Bible CertificateNew
    • Church Missions Coaching
    • Cohorts
    • Cybersecurity
    • ImproveNew
    • Mission Jobs
    • Publish
    • RightNow Media
    • The Mission App
    • Women’s Development
  • Events
          • Calendar
          • In-Person Events
          • Virtual Events
          • Event Recordings
          • Awards
        • Premier Events
          • Mission Leaders Conference
          • On Mission
        • Upcoming Events

          • Essentials for Fundraising and Development for Missions Agencies
            Thu Apr 22 2021, 01:00pm EDT
          • Webinar: The Blessed Alliance—Men and Women Serving God Together
            Thu Apr 22 2021, 02:00pm EDT
          • Innovation Labs - Session 4
            Tue Apr 27 2021, 10:00am EDT
        • View All Events
  • Research
          • Missiographics
          • Mission Handbook
          • Research Reports
        • Popular Research
          • Compensation Reports
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Field Attrition Report
          • View All Reports
        • Contribute
          • Current Research Projects
          • Submit Data for Mission Handbook
          • Volunteer
  • About Us
        • Who We Are
          • Our Contribution
          • Meet the Team
          • Board Members
          • History (1917–present)
        • Our Beliefs
          • Statement of Faith
          • Community Standards
        • Awards
        • Partner with Us
          • Advertise
          • Donate
          • Sponsorships
          • Volunteer
        • Help
          • Contact Us
          • Advertising Specs
          • Branding Guidelines
  • Join
        • Learn
        • Learn what you cannot learn anywhere else.

        • Meet
        • Meet people you otherwise won’t meet.

        • Engage
        • Engage in a community like none other.

          • Benefits
          • Benefits for Churches
          • Pricing
EMQ 57.2

Sponsored Content

Upcoming Events

  • Essentials for Fundraising and Development for Missions Agencies
    Thu Apr 22 2021, 01:00pm EDT
  • Webinar: The Blessed Alliance—Men and Women Serving God Together
    Thu Apr 22 2021, 02:00pm EDT
  • Innovation Labs - Session 4
    Tue Apr 27 2021, 10:00am EDT
  • Renew: CEO & Spouse Retreat
    Tue May 4 2021, 03:00pm EDT
  • Church Mission Leaders Peer 2 Peer: Diaspora Ministry and the Local Church
    Wed May 12 2021, 01:00pm EDT

View all events »

Topics

author interview Canada CEO Church Church Missions Church Mission Team Church Planting Conference Proceedings COVID-19 Cross Cultural Skills Diaspora Discipleship Evangelism Focus Future Globally Engaged Churches Innovation Islam Justin Long Leadership Management Missiology Missionaries Mission Finance and Administration MLC2019 MLC2020 MLC2021 Mobilization muslim Muslim Diaspora Networks Partnership Personal Productivity Podcast Presenter Research Short-Term Missions Spirituality support raising Training Trends Unengaged Unreached Weekly Roundup Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Does the Church Need a Reformission?

Posted on May 30, 2018 by May 30, 2018

Does the Church Need a Reformission?

Written by Matthew Ellison.

Matthew is one of our nine Mission Advisors focused on assisting the Missio Nexus association with key insights and wisdom on specific topics and areas of interest.  You can learn more about our Mission Advisors and their areas of focus by click here:  Mission Advisors

October 2017 marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. On All Hallows’ Eve, October 31, 1517, the Roman Church received the world’s most memorable trick-or-treater at its door, when a monk named Martin Luther approached the door of the Wittenberg church in Germany and posted his 95 theses.  Many Christians celebrated this historic anniversary as a time to remember the array of biblical truths the Reformation restored to the church—sola fide (by faith alone), sola scriptura (by scriptura alone), solus Christus (through Christ alone), sola gratia (by grace alone), soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone).  Not only did the Reformation rediscover the truth of the gospel, it enabled access to the gospel, as the Bible was translated from Latin into vernacular languages across Europe.

However, 500 years later, there are 7,000 people groups, numbering nearly 3 billion n souls, who have yet to hear the same message that swept the world, drawing countless souls into the kingdom and transforming the face of Western civilization.  These are the unreached, and they are unreached not because they are unreachable, but because we have chosen not to reach them.

I ask, could the ever-broadening definition of missions be behind the delay in reaching and discipling these peoples who have yet to hear? Well-intentioned attempts to expand the definition of missions may have actually diluted biblical priority placed on it and hindered our efforts at seeing the gospel penetrate the most difficult places on earth.  For many churches, missions has come to include local ministry, social and economic empowerment, education and healthcare—all valid and valuable ministry. But is this the Scripture’s understanding of what it means to make disciples of all nations?

As the medieval church discovered, the gospel did not need to be redefined. It needed to be rediscovered. In the same way, our idea of missions need not be redefined. It merely needs to be rediscovered.  Perhaps now is the time for a Reformission.

 

GoToOlder PostNewer PostAll PostsFeaturedIssues in FocusLocal ChurchChurch

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Keep up to date with our community.

Menu

  • Home
  • Directories
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Join

  • Join
  • Benefits
  • Learn
  • Meet
  • Engage

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Cookies Policy

About Us

  • Who We Are
  • Statement of Faith
  • Awards
  • Resources
Missio Nexus Logo

© Missio Nexus. All rights reserved.


PO Box 398
Wheaton, IL 60187-0398

Phone: 770.457.6677
678.392.4577

Annual Sponsors

ECFA Logo Brotherhood Mutual Logo

Membership website powered by MembershipWorks