Church Matters: Retrieving the Great Tradition

Ses s i on 4: Chur ch Mat ter s and Go i ng Back to the Future 93

a. Our Scriptures were the product of missionary communications.

b. The churches were all formed through direct apostolic witness.

c. The DNA of the Gospel message itself is linked and expressed through missionary enterprise (cf. John 20; Mark 16; Matt. 28; Luke 24; Acts 1).

2. The earliest records available show an interest, engagement, and success in missions in the earliest Christian movements.

3. The “tradition behind the tradition” recognizes both a primacy and priority in seeking to obey the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations. The word of our Teacher did not remain in Judea alone – as philosophy did in Greece. Rather, it was diffused over the whole world, over every nation, village, and town.

~ Clement of Alexandria, c. 195 (David W. Bercot, ed. A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998, p. 260.)

There is not one single race of men, whether barbarians, or Greeks, or whatever they may be called—whether nomads, vagrants, or herdsmen living in tents—among whom prayers and giving of thanks are not offered through the name of the crucified Jesus. ~ Justin Martyr, c. 160 (Ibid.)

a. It involves going across barriers.

b. It involves making disciples, i.e., living the Baptized Life.