Balanced Evangelism

What scripture text would you give to justify the Church's mission to evangelize the world? There are several strong candidates.

Go you therefore and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:  Matthew 28:19-20

Go you into all the world and preach the good news to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:15-16

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his [Christ's] name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:47

But you shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

Now based on these directives that Christ gave the Church, what would you say should be our motivation to evangelize the world? I.e., Why is the Church commanded to go into all the world with our message?

Someone might answer that it is because God loves the world and desires for men everywhere to be saved. John 3:16 tells us about God's great love for the lost world. It is not His will for anyone to be lost (2 Pet. 3:9). This person probably likes to emphasize that the message we carry is "good news". They probably always have John 3:16 on hand for them to tell the sinner that they are loved and that Christ died for them. They are particularly in tune with Mark 16:15-16 and Luke 24:47, which speaks of the good news and forgiveness of sins.

Another person emphasizes that we are to be witnesses for Christ. This person is probably impressed by Acts 1:8, which states that the Holy Spirit would give us power to be Christ's witnesses in all the world. If we understand what this means, (and I don't think we always do), we would know that the Church is to be a witness for Christ in a legal, courtroom sense. The world is on trial as we speak, and we are called to the witness stand to give evidence of what we have seen and know (see John 16:7-11). This is why the passages that speak of us being witnesses are frequently in close proximity to references to the Holy Spirit, or the Comforter. "Comforter" is from the Greek parakletos, which was originally a court term for a counselor who assisted those involved in legal proceedings. The Comforter--also known as The Spirit of Truth, bears witness to the claims of Christ through his obedient Church.

Yet another person might emphasize Matthew 28:19, also known as The Great Commission. This passage speaks of making disciples in the whole world. What is often missed in this passage is the marshall tone that Christ took. Jesus preceded Matthew 28:19 by saying, Behold, all authority in heaven and earth is given to me (28:18). The subsequent command to Go you THEREFORE, is clearly a response to the universal authority of Christ. To make disciples is to bring people under the Lord's authority. In fact, it is obvious that the word disciple is closely related to the word discipline. This passage continues by stating that we are to teach our converts to observe all things that the Lord commanded. This passage fits very well with the image of the Church Militant, which is seen as a mighty army sent forth to conquer spiritual strongholds and gain ground for their King.

My point in this exercise is to remind us that these various views on Christian evangelism are complementary. God does indeed love the world, even while the world is on trial--and their judgment will coincide with how they received the message of Christ. And the love of God is in no way contradictory to the image of the Church being sent forth as an army to conquer and subdue a lawless world under the discipline of Jesus Christ.

It is easy for us to become doctrinally eccentric when we emphasize one angle on Christian relations with the world to the detriment of others. The person who knows of nothing except the love of God can fall into the trap of calling the hardcore discipling church "legalistic." In return, the group that is strong on discipleship might find themselves thinking poorly of those who emphasize the love and forgiveness of God exclusively. And perhaps off in the third corner to themselves, those whose motivation is exclusively to be a witness for Christ might find themselves not even caring whether anyone in the world is converted. They are only to speak the Truth and be a witness--if the word is not accepted, then so be it...

I am thankful that God provided multiple writers in the New Testament, because through their diverse personalities, God has revealed more of His own personality. It is not for me to pick and choose which view of God I am most comfortable with and ignore any other views that are revealed in the scriptures. That is dangerously close to making God in my own image. It is for me to recognize that the scriptures complement themselves, and in order to be a mature believer, I need to embrace all of the many-folded wisdom of God that has been revealed through apostolic writers.