The Call to Mission

By Jamie Munson, Lead Pastor

Mission and vision. Missional. The mission of Mars Hill Church. Are you on mission?

If you’ve been around Mars Hill for any amount of time, you’ve likely heard someone talk about the mission, which begs the question…what is “the mission”?

In short, Mars Hill Church lives for Jesus as a city within the city-knowing culture, loving people, and seeing lives transformed to live for Jesus.

That’s our mission, but “knowing culture” is not a self-explanatory concept, some may disagree on what “loving people” looks like, and “a city within the city” could paint a more elitist picture than intended. To simplify the whole concept, I could just tell you that it’s all about Jesus (his name does appear twice in the mission statement), but that may not help much-especially if you don’t really understand who Jesus is.

For clarity, definition, and unity, we submit to what the Bible has to say on these subjects. Scripture informs every aspect of our mission statement, and the imperatives of scripture supersede all man-made documents, statements, or initiatives we may develop. With that in mind, allow me to explain the mission of Mars Hill Church.

Jesus

Our mission begins and ends with Jesus because ‘’in him all things hold together’’ and, as Jesus said, ‘’Apart from me you can do nothing’’ (Col. 1:17; John 15:5). What’s more, ‘’all things were created through him and for him…And he is the head of the body, the church’’ (Col. 1:16, 18). Everything is his, especially the church.

The mission emanates from the person and work of Jesus Christ and his great commission (Matt. 28:18-20). He is the principal substance-the substance-critical to a more complete understanding of all secondary elements of our mission:

A City Within the City

Christians ultimately belong to Jesus and his kingdom (Phil. 3:20). Within the earthly cities we inhabit, we are to represent a distinct community that lives differently than the culture at large (Matt. 20:25-28; John 17:15-16; Phil. 2:14-15). At the same time, we continue to live as a part of the city around us in order to exhibit humble love and effect gospel-grounded change from within (Jer. 29:7; Matt. 5:14).

Knowing Culture

As Jesus, God entered human history and culture to demonstrate his love for us and teach us in ways we could better understand. As Christians, we are to do the same-live within the context of a culture and use its language, artifacts, and rituals to communicate the gospel. The Apostle Paul demonstrates this approach in Acts 17, using the art and idols of ancient Athens as tools for explaining Jesus to the philosophers of his day.

Loving People

The gospel of Jesus (Mark 1:14-15; 1 Cor. 15:1-11) carries profound implications for this temporal life (Phil. 4:4-7, 11-13), and represents all that matters in eternity (Luke 16:19-31; 1 Cor. 15:50-56; 2 Cor. 4:18). We love people by preaching the truth of this good news so that some might be saved (1 Cor. 9:22; Eph. 4:15). Through the empowering grace of this truth, we can also love people by participating in community, respecting each other as image-bearers of God, and caring for one another’s physical needs. Apart from Jesus-love himself (Rom. 5:8; 1 John 4:7-8) all efforts to love are spoiled by selfish motives, broken hearts, or strained relationships. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19), and we love by his example (John 15:13).

Lives transformed

Being a Christian does not translate into comfort, wealth, and happiness in this life. In fact, when it comes to present circumstances, the Bible often admonishes us to expect the opposite (John 16:33). Gospel transformation starts on the inside with our heart and permeates throughout our lives, purifying relationships, desires, motives, as we are reconciled to finally live at peace with our Creator (Ez. 36:26-27; 2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 1:21-22). Only the Holy Spirit can bring about this profound transformation-an act of new creation-but it is a tremendous joy to watch him perform his saving work.

This work of God is why we live and what we live to see. From the pastors, to the ushers, to the people holding the goblets during communion, to the rockers on stage, to the techies building our website—Jesus is the mission. We live for him.