Mission/Nurturing Disciples

According to Google's dictionary, the word mission is defined as:

1. An important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes, typically involving travel.
2. A group of people taking part in such an assignment

But what does mission look like?  What is classified as an important assignment?  Who is meant to take part in such assignments? 

Let's look at The Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20. 

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Jesus tells his disciples to to go out and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything He has commanded.  So, if Jesus wants his to disciples to go make disciples of others, then must these new disciples go out and teach as well? 

I believe that we are all called to mission of some form.  Mission can be physical work, like building homes or installing water and electrical systems for underdeveloped countries, or it can be evangelizing to groups who have not yet heard the message of Jesus Christ.  But it can also be working in your local community to make a beautiful place for others to live in.  I like the definition of mission which I read on the Diocese of Salisbury's web page, “Nurturing disciples in order to build the church and change the world.”  This is exactly what I think mission is.  It doesn't necessarily have to be building something with your hands, getting dirty, or going to a totally foreign country which doesn't have indoor plumbing.  Mission is about nurturing our mind, bodies and spirits in order to further God's kingdom on Earth! 

Tomorrow morning, I will be leaving with 8 youth and 3 other leaders from Whitehouse Presbyterian to go on a mission trip to Tremont, Illinois.  This trip isn't the typical mission trip you hear of church groups taking in which the focus of the trip is hard physical work or community service.  The focus of our trip is nurturing the youth, as well as the leaders, and growing in our faith as we engage in conversations about our beliefs with people of a different culture.  (Not quite a different culture for me, but for the mission team!)  We aren't doing mission work which produces tangible fruit or results, but just as important we are doing mission work which produces fruit of the spirit and forms us into disciples to build God's church and change the world.