Unique Mission and Plain Priority

 If you're like me, you've probably been very overwhelmed-- at some point in time-- by the seemingly overbearing obligations that are apparently the lot of the Christian. Although we should certainly do good works as a natural outpouring of the love we've been shown through salvation, there is no way for Christians to make everything right in the world. The ultimate purpose of Christians is worship. And because worship is lacking throughout the world, we have been commissioned to take part in bringing the gospel to the world through global outreach. DeYoung and Gilbert use Machen's words to briefly make sense of all this:

"'The responsibility of the church in the new age is the same as its responsibility in every age. It is to testify that this world is lost in sin; that the span of human life—no, all the length of human history—is an infinitesimal island in the awful depths of eternity; that there is a mysterious, holy, living God, Creator of
all, Upholder of all, infinitely beyond all; that he has revealed himself to us in his Word and offered us communion with himself through Jesus Christ the Lord; that there is no other salvation, for individuals or for nations, save this, but that this
salvation is full and free, and that whoever possesses it has for himself and for all others to whom he may be the instrument of bringing it a treasure compared with which all the kingdoms of the earth—no, all the wonders of the starry heavens—are as the dust of the street. An unpopular message it is—an impractical message, we are told. But it is the message of the Christian church. Neglect it, and you will have destruction; heed it, and you will have life.'
-J. Gresham Machen

It is not the church’s responsibility to right every wrong or to meet every need, though we have biblical motivation to do some of both. It is our responsibility, however—our unique mission
and plain priority—that this unpopular, impractical gospel message gets told, that neighbors and nations may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, they may
have life in his name."

 What an honor it is to be used by God in spreading His good news to the nations! And how awesome a privilege to show His character and work to our neighbors through visible and tangible manifestations of His love and care. 

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 This excerpt has been taken from What is the Mission of the Church? Making sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert.