Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2018

WHY DOES MISSIONS EXIST? Before we ask specifically about Cedarville’s involvement in missions, we should consider why missions exists at all. Contrary to some models, thinking biblically about missions begins way before Paul and Barnabas. It begins even before Jonah and Abraham. In fact, missions begins in Genesis 1:1. By His act of creation — particularly human creation — God demonstrates His desire to be known. In the incarnation and the Gospel, we see the extent to which God will go to make Himself known. And by sending the Holy Spirit, God invites and empowers His Church into His mission to be known. One might say that our triune God is Himself the first missionary. As such, our summons to missions is naturally bound up in the mission of God itself. Too often, however, the language of missions is used to encompass all the various good, philanthropic activities that reflect God’s desires for wholeness, peace, and justice on a social level. Building projects, health clinics, orphan care, and the like are all important humanitarian activities. Yet these good endeavors, when detached from evangelism, discipleship, and church planting, do not constitute biblical missions. Instead, God has given us clear instructions about playing our role within His ultimate mission. Often referred to as the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18–20 includes a clear description of how Christians are to participate in God’s mission: make disciples indiscriminately, baptize them, and teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded. The Great Commission is the mission of the church, and through it, we make God known and play our part in God’s mission. In light of this commission, we must recognize there are places in the world where people have never heard the Gospel, where disciples have not been made yet, and there is currently no church offering acceptable worship to God in Christ. This is where the need for international missions arises. In the oft-quoted words of John Piper’s Let the Nations Be Glad! , “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” International missions, then, is a crucial component of the mission of the Church. And at Cedarville, our students have a pivotal role to play. WHY DOES CEDARVILLE INVEST IN MISSIONS? Cedarville does not send missionaries, but we partner with churches in missions. Since Cedarville exists for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ, our University is inextricably tied to the service of Jesus’ Church and her mission. Primarily, we do this by preparing men and women to enter both the workforce and their local churches equipped as disciple-makers. In light of this, we encourage students to take advantage of our many Global Outreach trips during their 1,000 days on campus. These trips encourage students to consider where God might be calling them to leverage their skills, talents, credentials, and passions in service of the Great Commission. To this end, our Global Outreach team cooperates with churches, ministries, and indigenous partners throughout the world to provide our students with opportunities to use their training and passions for Kingdom impact. On such missions trips, our students not only receive the opportunity to share their 4 | Cedarville Magazine