What is a mission?

Often I hear great news about groups going on mission. I used to get excited for them as I envisioned them going to places (whether local, national or international) and sharing the gospel with lost people. They come back and show pictures and stories of their trip. I would like to report that I'm always pleased with the report as they regale about all the people that they shared the gospel with and led many to repentance and belief in Christ our Lord, but I can't. They come back to show and tell us about the works they did, about the people they met, the adventures they had, and how they just loved the people. While in itself, these are not bad things; in fact they are vital in any mission trip. But was it a mission? What IS a mission?

Christ commands us as believers to go and make disciples (Matt. 28:19). Disciples are those that follow the teachings of someone, and in this case, we are to make disciples of Christ (Matt. 28:20). You may notice that Christ does not command us to go and make converts. All too often, on missions trips that do focus on the gospel, we focus on making converts and not disciples, as making disciples takes much more time than a week long trip. Making disciples takes a lifetime, so what are we doing with the converts we do make? Is there anyone trustworthy to hand these new converts over to? or are we leaving them to sink or swim on their own?

Christ gave us two commands before He ascended to the right-hand of the Father. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:37). When we do missions without sharing the gospel, we are not loving God, as we are not sharing the most important news there is to share. If we do missions and share the gospel without lovingly serving the people we are sharing with, we are not loving our neighbor. On mission, we must do both. Our kind and loving actions are nothing more than a humanitarian effort without the gospel. Lost people do this all the time. One of the most frustrating quotes in Christianity today is "Share the gospel, use words if necessary." (Attributed to Francis of Assisi, although there is some question of the validity of this, however, it doesn't detract from the number of Christians that use this line to give excuse as to why they don't use words to share the gospel.) If people don't know you're a Christian and you're doing good works, are people going to look to you as a Christian? or just another nice person? There are all sorts of non-Christians that do 'good works'. Our works without the knowledge that we are Christians is not a mission. Our works without sharing the gospel is not a mission. We must do both. Then, and only then, can we call it a mission.