Confession of Faith: The Church in Mission

What is the churches mission?  Sometimes the church becomes misrepresented in what its mission actually is,

especially by human error, like the picture to the right.  Is church a place to lay down the law and hear how sinful we are?  Is church the place to map out the future end of times?  What is the church supposed to do?

Mennonites believe that the church is called to proclaim and to be a sign of the kingdom of God.  We witness Jesus Christ through word and lifestyle, walking together through life as disciples of one teacher (Jesus), and seek to witness among all people - from all nations and ethnic backgrounds.

Witnessing is the best of words to choose when discussing the mission of God.  A witness is someone who has or is seeing a certain event or action, then tells or shows others about that event.  We tell people about Jesus Christ and what he has done for us, and the relationship we have with him; what we avoid is theological arguments surrounding rhetorically aggressive questions that we may or may not know the answer to.

Witnessing includes following Jesus' sacrificial life, as seen in the gospels.  Especially important to Mennonites is the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).  However, I also find that in following Jesus the Mennonites are following in the footsteps of the prophets, such as Isaiah.  In Isaiah 58, the text says, "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?"  The Mennonites strive diligently to do these very things. 

The church in mission is nothing more and nothing less than loving God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and with all our strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  This love relationship with Jesus and others entails the church in mission...both its proclamation and action, never just one, always both.

Want to learn more?  Here is Article 10 of the Mennonite Confession of faith:   http://www.mennoniteusa.org/about/confession-of-faith-in-a-mennonite-perspective-1995/confession-of-faith-%E2%80%94-article-10/

Picture found here:

http://jrwoodward.net/2012/11/monday-morning-medicine-257/