From mission field to mission station: Lessons from Acts 11:19-30

I am currently preaching through the book of Acts. It is my second time preaching through this book, and I love it! I just recently finished preaching through Acts 11:19-30: the formation of the church in Antioch. This account is one that has always intrigued me. In fact, I have spent a lot of time meditating on what God did as he shifted the centre of the mission from Jerusalem to Antioch. It is a section that is often times overlooked, yet it is rich with insight into the heart of God and the mission of the church. I want to share with you some observations that I have made from this text that have helped me understand the church and her mission a bit more clearly.

The bookends of this account offer up an interesting insight into this text. The account begins with Jerusalem sending Barnabas to Antioch, and it ends with Antioch sending Barnabas back to Jerusalem to minister to the people there. There is a movement that takes this church from being a receiving church to a sending church, from a mission field to a mission station. How does a pagan city like Antioch go from receiving to giving? There are three things that God did to transform this community to go from being a receiving church to a sending church.

First, God sent people to Antioch who preached the gospel of the Lordship of Jesus (Acts 11:20). The first goal of any mission in a pagan city is not to preach about the transformation of a personal life, but to establish the Lordship of Jesus. Everyone needs to know and understand that we are all accountable to Jesus—he is the judge of the living and the dead. This message was the foundation for all the work that followed. There is no transformation without the foundation of Jesus as Lord.

Second, when the church in Jerusalem heard that God was at work in Antioch, they sent the right leader to establish the new church (Acts 11:22-24). Barnabas understood that it was his job to establish the people to be faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. It was important that that the people of Antioch walk by faith and live to carry out the purposes for which we all have been created. Barnabas was making disciples.

Third, Antioch considered themselves as part of the body of Christ (Acts 11:29-30). When a trial came to Jerusalem, Antioch did not see this as Jerusalem’s problem, but as their problem. Everyone in Antioch contributed to the need. Instead of sending the gift with a messenger, Antioch gave back to Jerusalem what they were given: Barnabas and Saul. This action was the fruit of responding to the gospel and becoming established in the gospel.

In making these observations from the text, I have come to the conclusion that the mission of the church is not to establish a place like a hospital, where you come and get your wounds tended to each week. Instead, the church is intended to be a gathering where the gospel is proclaimed, believed, understood and applied in community. When we go into a community—any community—with this in mind, we can see a church—even in the most pagan of environments—move from mission field to mission station.

Photo credit: Alexandre Normand