A short guide to mission

What is mission?

Jesus calls the church to participate in God’s mission to redeem and restore all of creation.

This short guide introduces Tearfund’s theology of mission. It looks at what the Bible says about mission, at how Jesus Christ shows us what mission is, and at how we learn to participate in mission ourselves.

Tearfund’s understanding of mission is sometimes described by theologians as integral or holistic mission. At times, the church has divided mission into preaching and social action and has argued about which of these is more important. We believe the Bible shows us that the mission Jesus gives us cannot be divided like this.
Instead, we are called to show the love of God and the good news that Jesus promised through every aspect of our lives. We do this
by serving people, as Christ did.

As this guide explains, individual Christians have gifts and callings that enable them to play their particular parts in the mission of God. Tearfund also has a particular part to play in God’s mission.

Tearfund’s calling is to follow Jesus where the need is greatest and to work with the church to see people lifted out of poverty. Our expertise as an organisation is in international development and humanitarian aid. The context for us as we share the good news is therefore the places and people who are the most vulnerable and marginalised in our world. We share the good news of God’s mission in our words, deeds and character within the various situations in which we find ourselves working. This is where we, as Tearfund, participate in the mission of God and how we seek whole-life transformation.