A Ministry for the Propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ amongst the Indigenous of Guatemala’s Interior
A Ministry for the Propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ amongst the Indigenous of Guatemala’s Interior
"The Protestant Church has perhaps taught too exclusively the duty of consecrating to God the life we are born into, and left too little room for the truth that in this present evil world there must be great renunciations as well if there are to be great Christian careers" - James Denny, D.D. - 1910
By missions we speak of that unique deliberate Holy Spirit empowered work of laboring in the distinct proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the counsel of God concerning the salvation of mankind from sin and its consequences—for the express purpose of making disciples—baptizing them, gathering them together into local assemblies, teaching them to observe all that Jesus has commanded us, and organizing them into Churches—for the purpose of worshiping and reproducing themselves in like manner. Thus, we define missions and the work of missionaries as primarily Gospel preaching and teaching, while seeing compassion and mercy ministries as the natural byproduct of the Christian life which ought to spring forth as fruit—in the wake of missionary labors—from disciples and their newfound life in Christ.
In light of this understanding of biblical missions we will primarily labor in four related, progressive tasks:
In short this is evangelism > conversions > discipleship > church planting > sending > repeat! We see the plenitude of this Great Commission task, and more specifically the fullness of the context of Ephesians 4:11-16, as the basis of God's design for the harmonious co-laboring of Christ's gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers being expressed through the churches' elderships/overseerships.
If there was once a time when one could sum up their biblical theology by the statement, "We just believe the Bible", and it was commonly understood as to what that statement meant, that is not descriptive of the time in which we live now. Convinced it is no longer sufficient nor clear to simply state, "We just believe the Bible", but also what we believe the Bible says, we see the wisdom in holding to a common, orthodox, historic confession. Therefore, Guatemala Interior Mission's biblical theology and convictions are those generally upheld by the 1689 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith, as the best confession and compendium of our statement of faith and what we believe the Bible says regarding matters of life and faith as God has revealed to us in His holy word.
We echo the words of C.H. Spurgeon who said:
"This ancient document is the most excellent epitome of the things most surely believed among us. It is not issued as an authoritative rule or code of faith, whereby you may be fettered, but as a means of edification in righteousness. It is an excellent, though not inspired, expression of the teaching of those Holy Scriptures by which all confessions are to be measured. We hold to the humbling truths of God's sovereign grace in the salvation of lost sinners. Salvation is through Christ alone and by faith alone."
The Great Commission was given to the Church
· We believe the totality of the Great Commission was given to the corporate church, not to individual Christians as individuals. Discipleship making, therefore, is a corporate body responsibility. The responsibility is appropriated by Christ to individuals, yes, but as members of the local church in accordance with their measure of gifting and graces. The single mother of three does not have Great Commission expectations laid upon her that she is not physically capable of carrying out, that a single man, for example, may in fact be capable of doing. However, in the large scope of the fulfillment of the Great Commission, this single mother may take part in the Great Commission by doing what she is enabled to do, just as faithfully as the single man, in our example. Together, we as a church make disciples. (Rom. 12:3, 6; 15:15; 1 Cor. 3:10; 12:7-8; Gal. 2:9; Eph. 3:2, 7-8; 4:7; Jas 1:5; 2 Pet. 3:15)
The Great Commission Commands Us to Go and Make Disciples
· We believe that by concentrating on making disciples, we equip our members to focus on the simple (though not easy) task of making disciples by the initial responsibility of sharing their testimony and the gospel with unbelievers, rather than the complex task of the final work of planting churches, which belongs to the corporate church as a whole. By focusing on making disciples through personal evangelism, individual Christians—as individuals—are not made to feel alone in their participation in the Great Commission by having the Great Commission’s fulfillment unduly pressed upon their individual conscience. (Matt. 28; Acts 14:21)
The Great Commission Ought to Primarily Produce New Church Plants, Not Transplants
· We believe that because of the extremely difficult and demanding task of making disciples, some churches have sought to labor to construct church services in place of laboring to make disciples. Because of our natural proclivity to avoid confrontation, rejection, and the reproach of Christ—circumstances often associated with commanding people, through the Gospel, to repent and believe on Christ—many have sought to take the path of least resistance by sidestepping these difficulties and offenses all together by simply reverting to the process of starting a new church service in a chosen locale in place of making new disciples. However, this inversion of process is guilty of mistaking the shell for the kernel. Sadly, the motto of some American churches is: If you “build it” they will come. In light of this departure from biblical missions, we resolve firstly to labor for the kernel rather than the shell. By prioritizing the prime-product of making disciples we trust that the byproduct of organized established local churches who gather for worship will have its proper place. We desire to see healthy churches planted through new converts. (The witness of the entire Book of Acts)
The Local Church is the Mission Society and the Sending Agency
· We believe that the local church, rightly ordered and rightly understood, is the missionary society and a sending agency. The church may wisely utilize mission societies or mission sending agencies, but not at the cost of ceasing to be one itself. The church must be discriminate in this utilization lest she forgo her responsibility of being the sending entity and authority of her missionaries and their ministry. Thus, missionaries properly originate from, are overseen by, and are accountable to the local church. (Acts 9:30-31; 11:22, 26-27, 30; 12:25; 13:1-5; 14:26-28; 15:3-4, 40-41)
Missionaries Are Gospel Heralds Who Are Sent To Preach and Teach
· We believe that missionaries are sent ones of the local church who cross linguistic and/or cultural boundaries for the purpose of evangelism and making disciples, unto the eventual establishment of local churches, and all this ultimately for the purpose of worship. In a day and age where the common motto in the church is often, “Every Christian is a Missionary,” we want to stand on the firm example and definition of a biblical missionary. It is true that a great many of wonderful godly men and women have gone to the nations engaged in incredible work and witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, many of whom have been used by God and have become great examples of a life well spent in the service of our Savior, many of which have born the title missionary and have been considered historically as such. However, with great respect and gratefulness for these servants, we will endeavor, nonetheless, to jealously guard the term missionary in order to preserve its biblical scope and function—preaching and teaching the Gospel. Compassion and mercy ministries are a good and natural fruit of the Christian life, and a missionary may naturally engage in such service at times and as he sees fit, but it is secondary to gospel ministry and is not in and of itself the primary work of a sent missionary. (Ps. 67:4, 96:2; Hab. 2:14; Rom. 10:13-15; 2 Cor. 8:22-23; the witness of the entire Book of Acts—particularly Acts 13:1-4)
The Church Ought To Send Elder Qualified Missionaries
· We believe that because missionaries are Gospel heralds, who are sent to preach and teach, and this being the work of an elder, missionaries therefore ought to be mature men who exemplify the New Testament elder qualifications. However, this does not mean that the church cannot send out additional men and women that are gifted Christian workers who work in a foreign context or even directly aid the ministry of established missionaries. The Apostle Paul often had co-laborers with him who did not have the same gift as he did. They were a great and invaluable service to him, and to the Lord’s work. (Acts 13:5; 2 Cor. 8:22-23; Eph. 4:11-16)
Missionaries Go As Elder Qualified Evangelists, Pastors, or Teachers
· We believe that Jesus Christ has given to the church certain gifted men who serve to equip the saints through the qualified office of the eldership/overseership—some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors, and some as teachers—in order to build the superstructure upon the successfully laid foundation of the apostles and the prophets—these two gifts having ceased, being revelatory and being mentioned by themselves in Eph. 2:20. (Matt. 24:14, 28:18; Mk. 16:15; Acts 21:8; Rom 10:13-15; 2 Cor. 8:23; Eph. 2:20, 4:11-16; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; 2 Tim. 4:5; Titus 1:1-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-2)