At Rivermont Presbyterian, we want to cultivate a working definition of "missions" that reflects our understanding of the broad scope of the Church’s God-given "mission" in the world. We are persuaded that our definition of "missions," and also the scope of the Missions Committee’s responsibilities, should encompass all the various ways that God calls us to reach out beyond the bounds of the church to impact the world around us.

The mission God has given the church is a comprehensive mission. I have found it helpful to think of it as comprising three main aspects. First, in obedience to the Great Commission, our mission involves sharing the gospel with our world, at home and around the world, calling lost sinners to repentance, to faith in Christ, and to discipleship. Rivermont Presbyterian understands this to be at the very heart of our mission, as reflected in our Mission Statement: "Rivermont Presbyterian exists to proclaim the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world, reflecting our Reformed convictions and relating to contemporary culture." Our prayer is that more and more of us at Rivermont will come to see "sharing the gospel" (i.e., evangelism) as an important part of our calling; and also that we may learn to better articulate the faith in ways that relate meaningfully to contemporary culture.

A second aspect of our mission in the world involves responding with compassion to people who are hurting and suffering (as in Christ’s account of "the Good Samaritan"). In obedience to the Great Commandment, we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We are to serve the Lord Jesus by demonstrating His mercy, His generosity and His justice toward "the least of these". During the summer months, we plan to provide information about opportunities for such compassionate service in our community. May we prayerfully ask the Lord how He would have us involved --- and in what ways He would have us invest our time, talent and treasure --- in such ministries of compassion.

A third aspect of our mission in the world (which unfortunately many have omitted in their definitions of missions) involves working actively to transform our "culture". In addition to giving us the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, God has also given us a Cultural Mandate (sometimes referred to also as "the cultural commission"). In addition to being called to evangelism and ministries of compassion, we are called to impact our culture by consistently living out our faith in our daily lives, by performing our daily work for the glory of God, and by contending for Christian values and a Christian world view in every area of public life. For further study, I commend to you (1) the Colson/Pearcey book, How Now Shall We Live?, and (2) Pastor Mabray’s sermon on "The Church’s Mandate to Engage and Influence Our Contemporary Culture"(copies are available in the sermon racks at the church). We should all take this third aspect of our mission seriously as well, asking God how He would have us be involved. Rivermont is planning a conference on "Developing a Christian Perspective on Work and Vocation" for February 2001, to address some important aspects of this part of our calling.