Be Strong and Courageous
For missional discipleship in a reformed church, you need to be strong and courageous because such work requires moving beyond maintaining institutional comfort to radically engaging a changing world with the Gospel. This approach necessitates the boldness to step into unknown, uncomfortable situations and the fortitude to persevere in disciple-making despite resistance. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The Need for Courage in Missional Discipleship
- Overcoming Resistance and Fear: Missional living often meets intense opposition. Courage allows Christians to live out their beliefs rather than retreating in fear.
- Prioritizing Mission over Comfort: Many churches struggle with a "don't ask – nothing to tell" agreement between pastors and laity regarding outreach. Courage is needed to choose missional strategy over relational comfort and to move from passive support (giving/praying) to active, face-to-face disciple-making.
- Reforming the Culture: It requires courage to change from a consumeristic, "come-to-us" church model to an "out-of-the-building" approach, which can be seen as unsettling by long-term members. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Reformed Theological Basis for Courage [1]
- Dependent on God’s Power: Reformed courage is not self-confidence but reliance on God’s strength, similar to Joshua, who was commanded to be strong because God was with him, not because of his own ability.
- Proclaiming Truth with Love: It requires the courage to preach unvarnished Reformed truth in a secular culture, yet to do so with "an arm around the shoulder" rather than with arrogance.
- A Call to Active Service: It necessitates taking risks, knowing that even if you face failure or opposition, the mission of making disciples for Christ is the highest calling. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Practical Challenges Requiring Bravery
- The "80/20" Rule: Often, 20% of people do 80% of the work. Moving the 80% toward active engagement is hard, slow work that requires consistent, patient courage from leaders.
- Challenging Institutionalism: It requires confronting the "fallacy of empathy," which can be used to sabotage leaders trying to change the church’s focus toward mission, notes a Transforming Mission article. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Ultimately, this form of discipleship calls for a "transformed inner life," where the leader or disciple-maker relies entirely on the Spirit, according to insights shared in this Facebook post. [1, 2, 3]
Reformed theology emphasizes both local evangelism and global missions, with many proponents arguing that the two are interdependent rather than competing priorities. [1, 2]
Reasons for Strong Global Focus
- Theological Commitment to All Nations: Reformed theology is strongly mission-oriented, often emphasizing the "Great Commission" to make disciples of all nations, which has historically sparked global missions movements.
- Legacy of Sending: Historically, centers of Reformed theology (like Geneva under Calvin) were dynamic, missionary-sending hubs.
- Support for Foreign Missionaries: Many Reformed churches send and heavily support missionaries. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Commitment to Local Outreach
- The "Priesthood of All Believers": Reformed theology encourages individuals to view their daily vocations—neighbors, coworkers, families—as a mission field.
- Local Church Focus: Reformed thought views evangelism as primarily "church-oriented," where discipleship and evangelism happen in the community through the local congregation.
- Church Planting Locally: Many Reformed congregations prioritize urban or rural church planting in their own neighborhoods. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Addressing the Misconception
- "Both/And" Approach: The dominant view is that local and global missions should be synergistic, not competing, partnerships.
- Overcoming Apathy: Some acknowledge that in certain contexts, evangelistic zeal may wane, but they argue this is due to "infidelity to Scripture" rather than Reformed theology itself.
- "Bringing the Nations Home": Modern shifts in, particularly in Western countries, have led many to see that immigration has brought the mission field to their local neighborhoods, bridging the gap between local and global. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
In summary, Reformed Christians often aim for a balance, holding that "if it is not being accomplished locally, it will not happen globally". [1]
