In 2006, I sat in a pew at The Church at Brook Hills believing I was living a good Christian life. I had grown up in church, served faithfully, and led ministry events. From the outside, it looked like I was doing many good things for God.

But something was missing.

My version of Christianity was more about community than obedience and mission. Church was a place to belong and serve, yet my faith was disconnected from God’s larger purpose. I rarely read my Bible, prayed inconsistently, and had never wrestled with what it actually meant to live for God’s global purposes.

The Piercing Question

But a change was coming…in February 2006 David Platt preached from Psalm 67:

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.”

He asked a question that stopped me in my tracks: “Have you disconnected the blessing of God from the mission of God?”

For twenty-six years, I had gladly received God’s blessings. I believed He loved and saved me, but I never understood that His blessing was meant to lead me into His mission. Psalm 67 reveals that God blesses His people so that His ways may be known on earth and His salvation among all nations.

This is the heart of mission: God is committed to making His glory known among all peoples, His saving power through Jesus Christ known everywhere. I realized then my life was not about merely enjoying God’s blessings through salvation; I was saved to glorify God by making disciples of ALL nations.

A Biblical Mandate

The heartbeat of Scripture is God’s glory being made known among all peoples of the world. From the promise that all families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham (Genesis 12:3) to Jesus’s command to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), the Bible reveals a God whose heart is for the nations. However, the goal of being a “good” Christian can overshadow the ultimate purpose God has for His children.

Mission often feels like a specialty for “professionals” rather than a calling for every follower of Jesus. But Scripture is clear: disciples of Jesus are to make disciples of Jesus. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Growing disciples share the gospel, teach God’s Word, and help others follow Christ and care about making Jesus known everywhere. As Matthew 24:14 reminds us, this gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations.

Mission Precision

In Romans 15 Paul describes his ambition to preach where Christ has not been named. This concern for those without Christ should be the same for all believers, but it can look different in each of our lives . Tony Merida believes, “We all have different gifts, and we must each individually account to our Master. Still, we should all share Paul’s concern for the unreached peoples of the world who will perish apart from the gospel (Romans 1:18–25). We should do our part to reach the thousands of unreached people groups.” (3) Just as Paul wasn’t traveling randomly, but was intentionally pressing into places with little or no access to the gospel, the life of a Christ-follower should be marked with the same concern for the lost.

Our Role

Mission is not a side ministry; it is the calling of every believer and every church. Every believer is called to live out the gospel by praying, giving, and going. While God leads us in different ways—some stay, some go, some give —all must obey. Biblical mission means aligning our lives and resources for God’s glory among the nations.

Closing

From Genesis to Revelation, God is gathering people from every tribe, language, and nation to worship Him. By His grace, He invites us to take part. The question is not whether God has a mission; He does. The question is whether we will align our lives to join Him so the hope of Jesus is known in our neighborhoods and among the nations. The time to align with God’s mission is not someday—it is now.

1. Radical. Defining Unreached People and Places (Podcast).
2. Radical. 12 Traits of a Biblical Church: Mission. https://radical.net/message/12-traits-of-a-biblical-church-mission/
3. Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Romans, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2021), 239–240.

Author: Josh Caldwell is the Senior Director of Global Operations for Radical.