Missions Response on the Great Commission

In another forum I am involved with in my missions seminar is to respond to a book I am reading, and basically give synopses on the state of the Great Commission has been in the church.  Here is my response thus far based on a book we are engaging.  It is an ongoing forum. 

I surmise that as long as the church upholds the fourfold gospel ideal mentioned in by Sweeney in the introduction, the gospel will always advance.  The four qualities: “conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed; activism, the expression of the gospel in effort; Biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible, and crucicentrism, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Where these qualities remain intact, we retain and progress a strong and healthy gospel. 

I was thankful that Sushine in chapter one eventually mentioned the mission accomplishments of the Reformers, particularly in the area of printing and missionary mobilization.  The lack of understanding language can be and has always been a barrier in gospel advancement.  One of the means of Pentecost was the Spirit empowered proclamation to each nation in their own tongue, so clarity of language cannot be overstated.  This is why the criticism of early Protestants who remained in their own homeland as a proof of their lack of missionary vision is at the very least a weak one.   Could it be that they were not suited linguistically to those foreign cultures, something that Hinkson brings up vividly in chapter two.  I for one think that Luther’s German Bible, Calvin’s French Bible, and Wycliffe’s English Bible can be counted as major missionary accomplishments in the history of redemption.  As with our age, the greatest time to proclaim the gospel has to be now in terms of technology, resources, and accessibility. 

We must also consider the training of the Word in a local church produces missionaries.  Again, I am grateful Sushine pointed this out, but not in its fullest way.  As persecution passed, Calvin began to train missionaries and plant churches.  From 1555 to 1562 100 underground churches were planted by Calvin’s’ church in France.  By the time of Calvin’s death there were over 2,100 churches in France that had been planted that wasn’t there when he was born.  By the time of his death more than 1,200 missionaries went to France to plant those churches and they all came from Geneva.  Not just in France but churches were planted in Italy, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Germany, England, Scotland, and Brazil.