If
I were thrown in jail, and could only bring one book of the Bible, I
would have a tough decision to make. Obviously Leviticus probably
wouldn't make my top five (or sixty). But my final decision would
probably be between Romans and the Gospel of John, with John probably
taking the cake.
Now,
imagine that I am in jail with only this great gospel. And I am
wondering about how to think about “mission.” How would this
gospel shape the way I think about interacting with non-believing
people who are not like me?
When
we think about “mission” in the gospel of John and in his
letters, we may originally feel hard-pressed to find how we, as
followers of Christ, are to be on mission. There is no “Great
Commission” like Matthew has. However, just because John does not
include a Great Commission does not mean mission is not on his heart.
In fact, I think that John's approach is particularity powerful:
John roots the Christian's mission in that
fact that Jesus was the ultimate missionary, sent by God.
Jesus is the primary missionary getting all the airtime
in John's gospel.
However,
there are a few points in the gospel where we see that Jesus is not
Heaven's only missionary. The Spirit is said to be sent when the Son
leaves, and there is language of both the Father and
the Son sending him. What
is absolutely fascinating is that
the Spirit and the disciples are sent together. The
Son sends the Spirit, and the Son sends the disciples. We see the
two “missionaries” converge together in this powerful and
staggering verse: “As the Father sent me, I am sending you. .
.receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22).
For
you linear thinkers, here's how it breaks down:
I.
The Father sent the Son (mentioned over thirty times).1
II.
Then the Father and the Son simultaneously send the Spirit.2
III.
The Son sends the Spirit AND
the disciples.3
Now
that we've established that mission is on John's heart, what are some
ways that he sees this goal achieved?
One different way that Christian mission is stressed in
the gospel, a way not as commonly seen in other biblical books, is
found in John 17. Jesus prays to the Father and asks that believers
“may
become perfectly one, so
that the world may know
that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (Jn 17:23).
For John, Christian mission is useless without genuine love among
believers. This theme permeates 1 John, as the contrast stress is
“love one another.”4
And why do we love each other?
“We
love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
Our
love for each other is inspired and fueled by God's love for us.
According to John 17:23, this kind of love for fellow believers is
evangelistic. When non-believers see that way that believers
selflessly lay down their lives for each other (figuratively and
literally), this powerfully displays Jesus.
However, lest we be tempted to
only love ourselves (Christian communities) and forget about the lost
world, we always ought to turn our eyes back to the ultimate
missionary: Jesus. He loves the Father, and the Father loves him.5
Their love is special in the highest sense of the word, perfect and
endless. The Trinity has shared eternal communion for eternity
(17:24). If anyone could have stayed in the comforts of a community,
it was Jesus. But this is not the heart of God.
John 3:16-17
reminds us that God loved the world and gave his Son, who was a more
than willing participant in this cosmic plan (John 17:24). Jesus
laid aside his rights and power and became a servant (Phil 2). The
love of the persons in the Godhead for each other does not diminish
God's love for a lost world. Likewise, our love for God and fellow
Christians should then overflow to the lost world in the same way
that God's did by sending Jesus, instead of restricting our love
(time, focus, energy, devotion) to only fellow believers.
1
John 3:16, 3:34, 4:34, 5:23-24, 30, 36, 6:29, 39, 44, 57, 7:16, 18,
28-29, 33, 8:16, 26, 29, 42, 9:4, 10:36, 11:42, 12:4445, 49, 13:20,
14:24, 15:21, 16:5, 17:3, 18, 21, 23, 25, 20:21.
4
1 Jn 3:11, 28, 4:11-12, 2 Jn 1:5.
5
John 3:35, 5:20, 10:17, 14:31.
