THE HOMEFRONT: For the Maturity of the Church Until He Returns
World War II required sixteen million young men to battle the Axis powers, an unprecedented number engaging the enemy on the warfront. Meanwhile, the homefront (now missing sixteen million capable working men) drastically increased its war production, serving not only the needs of American troops but also its allies.
Through the pain, sorrow, and bloodshed of WWII, nations became more unified in taking a common stance like never before. Both the warfront and homefront decided that banding together in unity through the disturbance of the “normal” everyday life was worth it in order to succeed in the fight against the Nazi regime and the Axis powers.
I believe that time in history should serve as an inspiration for the Church in fulfilling the Great Commission. What would it look like if there were similar mobilization and advocacy for people to go on the field and an unprecedented number of missionaries volunteering themselves to go to the so called “warfront” of the frontier? In similar fashion, what if we saw a massive shift on the homefront, causing local churches to come together in unity to fund, intercede, send, and support the ones on the warfront?
When we see the warfront and homefront banding together to fulfill the Great Commission given by Jesus, we will see a glorious outcome. The Great Commission will not be fulfilled if it is on the back burner of the “to-do” list of the Church. It will only be accomplished when believers, on both fronts, allow their everyday lives to be disturbed by the task of the Great Commission and when the Church is moved by the promise given for the task’s completion.
THE UNIFIED FRONTS
One of the greatest missionary revivals of this century that led to thousands of young people consecrating their lives to service on the mission field started in 1886 in Mt. Hermon, Massachusetts.[1] John Mott, Robert Wilder, and 248 other college-aged young adults attended a Christian collegiate gathering where Dwight Moody and a few other prominent preachers of that time led the conference. During the conference, Robert Wilder, who founded the Princeton Foreign Missionary Society, sought to have a consecrated meeting solely on the topic of missions.[2]
As a result of this missions meeting, the Holy Spirit moved powerfully, and 100 of these students (famously called the Mt. Hermon 100) volunteered to serve overseas as missionaries declaring that they were, “willing and desirous, God permitting, to become foreign missionaries.”[3] However, one of these 100, John Mott, was chosen as the chairman of what became the Student Volunteer Movement. Mott was used powerfully by the Church on the homefront to send out 5,000 more individuals within just two years of the Mt. Hermon gathering.[4]
John Mott had a burning conviction that to accomplish the Great Commission there had to be a banding together of the Church on the homefront and the missionaries on the warfront. In his book Cooperation and the World Mission, Mott says,
The pressure of serious problems and baffling difficulties and right attitude toward them serve to stimulate strong united action. Enterprises are not made stronger by traveling along level, easy roads. It requires obstacles and mountain climbing to call out their strength. Great human needs and grave situations liberate latent energies, and, above all, lead Christians of different affiliations to see how necessary they are to each other, to sink minor differences, to discover essential unity, and to present a united front.[5]
This quote eloquently describes why the grand and goliath task known as the Great Commission serves (or should serve) as a unifying stimulate for those that engage it. However, the stimulating effect of the Great Commission can only fully have its way when the Church has a right attitude when engaging with it. What then is this “right attitude”?
RECOVERING THE “MARANATHA” CRY
As the Maranatha message permeates the Church in deeper ways in the days ahead, there will be many changes and manifestations taking place in the maturing Bride. As “Maranatha” becomes the cry of the Church, we can expect powerful ramifications. These ramifications will produce maturity in many aspects such as how we disciple, pray, worship, fellowship, etc. However, one of the greatest growths towards maturity that will take place within the Church as she cries “Maranatha” will be her attitude towards the Great Commission. The Great Commission was tasked to the Church as one of the great prerequisites to the coming of the Lord. It is only when a lovesick “Maranatha” is on the Bride’s lips that she will be sustained in the zeal needed to accomplish this task.
In Matthew 24:14, Jesus reveals the glorious reward for when the Great Commission is accomplished by His Bride. The reward is “then the end will come.”[6] The ending of this current age, the coming of the Messiah, and the restoration of all things was and still is the grand, prophetic event that all of Scripture looks to. This was the primary motivation for the disciples, following Jesus’ ascension, to fulfill the task of the Great Commission. When we are no longer motivated by that reward of His return and lose our “Maranatha cry,” we become drowsy and asleep in our zeal toward the accomplishing of the task.
If we continue to be illiterate regarding the relation of the mission of the Church (the Great Commission) to its apocalyptic reward, we will not accomplish the task. We will continue to have moments of adrenaline and spiritual hype toward the topic of missions, but any motivation other than the return of the Lord will not sustain the vigor and zeal needed for such a massive task. If we do not yearn for His return and we lose the “Maranatha” on our lips, we become complacent and ineffective in fulfilling the Great Commission. For it will be because of love-sickness and desire for the age to come that the Church will accomplish the task.
Paul, when writing to the Thessalonians, one of the most persecuted churches of that time, commands them to encourage one another, through the persecution and suffering, with the approaching Day of the Lord.[7] Paul also refers to the coming of Jesus as our “Blessed Hope” when writing to Titus.[8] This “Blessed Hope” was the apostolic and prophetic hope for the ongoing work of the Church as it obediently labored toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission given by Jesus. This Maranatha cry of “Come, Lord Jesus” was the unifying hope of the Church to endure through the task faithfully.
This is what was meant to be the Church’s attitude towards the Great Commission. The Maranatha cry that thrusts us into engagement, whether on the warfront or the homefront, will be the unifying attitude of the Church at the end of the age as the task is accomplished. This is the true unifying aspect of the Great Commission: believers banding together out of desire for the Glory of God to be established in the nations and, with a “Maranatha” cry, accomplishing the task to see His name vindicated and hastening the day He splits the sky.
THE BRIDE’S MATURE PARTICIPATION
“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready…”[9]
As the wedding feast draws nearer, the Church will make herself ready. Paul affirms this as he says to the Ephesians,
…that he might sanctify her [the Church], having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”[10]
In the coming days of cataclysmic events and ripening wickedness, the Holy Spirit will raise up the Church in unprecedented maturity and sanctification. The Bride will mature in the knowledge of God, intimacy with the Lord, unity of the brethren, and participation in the Great Commission. The Lord will use this mature Bride to raise a standard against the ripening wickedness in the nations who oppose the King and His purposes.
This will be the Church’s shining hour—to live and labor in such a manner that accurately displays the supremacy and worthiness of the Bridegroom. It is neither by our strength nor by our might, but it will be through the work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus ultimately “builds His church” as a participating bride.[11]
Since the Prophets of old, it has been revealed that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would cover the earth and that the Lord will have a remnant from every ethnos (peoples).[12] Sadly, despite this deep longing of the Bridegroom’s heart, many within the western Church view reaching the nations with the Gospel as, at best, something to give towards, while being completely unmoved—in desire, prayers, or even thought—to see it accomplished. The majority within the Church do not give much thought to the Great Commission, do not give much prayer towards it, and remain unmoved by the reality of those who have yet to hear of the Bridegroom.
This topic of the Church maturing as the Day of the Lord draws near should fill us with hope regarding the topic of missions, especially missions to the unreached and unengaged. There will be a growing disturbance within the Church towards those who have not heard the Gospel, there will be a greater longing for the Bridegroom to come back, and there will be a participating Church laboring faithfully towards the task Jesus gave to her. The Lord in His patience will woo His bride in this journey of readiness until she is fully captivated and faithfully obedient to His Great Commission.
THE FAI HOMEFRONT
In light of these things, Frontier Alliance International has established the FAI Homefront arm to unite with allies around this two-fold purpose:
1. The FAI Homefront wants to rally those on the homefront around the Maranatha message and see a Church in Splendor at the end of the age.
We share John Mott’s conviction that unity in the Church is needed for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. However, until “Maranatha” is on our lips, our unity will be that of slavery to an impossible task instead of affection-based obedience and participation. A Church in Splendor is a Church lovingly and obediently partnering with the Lord in the Great Commission.
2. The FAI Homefront seeks to pioneer effective and efficient bridges of participation for those on the homefront to come alongside those on the warfront in reaching the unreached and unengaged.
This second purpose focuses us to mobilize the Church on the Homefront to pray, give, go, and advocate for missions to the unreached and engaged people groups. The FAI Homefront has pioneered specific and tangible ways in which those on the homefront can participate in impactful and meaningful ways. These avenues of participation can be found in our Center of Operation, available to those who have become members to the FAI Homefront. (You can become a member at faihomefront.org) These Center of Operations provide practical ways for individuals to participate—through intercession, monthly field reports straight from our teams, monthly prayer calls, strategic giving, Homefront Family Gatherings, and regional or national gatherings designed to unite and equip those on the Homefront.
These two purposes are ultimately connected and fuel each other. As the “Maranatha” cry permeates into the hearts of believers in deeper ways, there will be increased participation in the Great Commission, especially to the unreached people groups. For it is in accomplishing this great task that our blessed hope will be reality. He will return to marry the Bride and restore all things.
We have the assurance and guarantee of Scripture that the Lord is sanctifying His Bride unto splendor as one that is equally yoked. Let us then stir one another up in maturity and in “making ourselves ready,” longing for His coming and participating in His Commission.
Maranatha.
Jesse McCaleb is the Director of the FAI Homefront, bridging the energy, prayers, and advocacy resources of the homefront to the work on the “warfront”—the Gospel frontier. We are committed to actually shrinking the 10/40 Window in our lifetime, until Gospel poverty is eliminated—strategically and effectively. Find out more here.
[1] http://www.thetravelingteam.org/articles/the-student-movement
[2] https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/student-volunteer-mission-11630615.html
[3] http://www.thetravelingteam.org/articles/the-student-movement
[4] Ibid
[5] Cooperation and the World Mission, pg. 27. Emphasis added.
[6] Matthew 24:14
[7] 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
[8] Titus 2:12-13
[9] Revelation 19:7, ESV
[10] Ephesians 5:26-27
[11] Matthew 16:18
[12] Habakkuk 2:14
[13] Revelation 7:9