Miss me, miss you, Miss Congeniality ... what is Mission?

In the last days
the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."

The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Isaiah 2:1-4

There's an old cliché that goes, “Spread the gospel at all times, when necessary, use words”. Saint Francis of Assisi is meant to have coined it, which seems strange for an itinerant preacher whose style could well be described as 'brimstone'. It may not be surprising, then, that the phrase doesn't appear in any contemporary biography of the man. Whatever the story behind it, we should probably move on from apocryphal sayings and ask, what is this 'gospel' anyway, and why do we need to preach it? Who needs to hear it and where do we fit in God's plan for spreading it to them?

Christianity has been a missionary religion ever since Jesus sent out seventy two of his followers in Luke chapter 10, with the instruction to, “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.'” The word 'gospel' and the Greek word 'euangelion' mean 'good news', and there's always been a fine tradition of sending people, missionaries, to places near and far to tell people about this good news. From the sending of the seventy two, through Paul's witness to the gentiles, St Augustine and St Columba's first missions to Britain, the sixteenth century's Jesuit efforts in Paraguay and the many Victorian missionaries such as David Livingstone and William Carey right up to the modern day, there's been no shortage of people who, inspired by passages such as the one above, have left behind everything they know in order to preach the Gospel to those who haven't heard it.

In the passage, Isaiah tells us what this good news actually means for us: the gospel is God's gospel – his mountain uniquely stands higher than the rest. All nations will go to his temple – God's good news is for everyone, not just people like us. Christianity isn't just an extension of culture, it's a message with real meaning. In verse 4, Isaiah's message is that when people know the Lord, submit to him and learn his ways, there will be peace – something the world has never been able to achieve by its own efforts.

It is because of this that authentic mission must always include the message of God's kingdom and his offer of eternal life to whoever asks: because we can't do it on our own. Conversely, it is why so many missionaries have gone out to live in poverty, adopt local customs, speak truth to power and empire, and tirelessly serve their adoptive communities:

“because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,”
(Isaiah 61:1)

My own attempt at mission has been nothing on such a grand scale. For the past year, I've served a volunteer youth worker at a church in Stockport, which has been rewarding, frustrating and humbling all at once. Just as I've been humbled to see what God can do with the little I've been able to offer him, I've been amazed at the good he's brought out of situations where I've fluffed up, and I've been frustrated when people have appeared so blind to the fantastic riches God's kingdom has to offer them.

I moved away from Stockport a few weeks ago to start work in the secular world again and so far, the change feels quite weird. A few weeks ago my mission was my job, now I've got to recall how to be a Christian while doing something that isn't itself a Christian activity. I'm sure I'll cope, but my most cherished memories will take me back to last year, to giving all my time to God, not just what's left over at the end of the day.

I was placed in Stockport by the charity Careforce, and their volunteers are a pretty international bunch, with Uganda alone providing half as many volunteers as the UK. When I asked one of them why he came to England, his answer was simple. “Many years ago, Britain did a great service to our country when it sent missionaries over to tell us about Jesus. Now we're returning the favour.”

Amen to that, brother.