A DECLARATION OF FAITH (1977)
CHAPTER EIGHT -- THE CHRISTIAN MISSION
1 (1) God sends the church into the world.
2 God has not taken
his people out of the world,
3
but has sent them into the world
4
to worship God there and serve all humankind.
5 We worship God in
the world
6
by standing before the Lord in behalf of all people.
7 Our cries for help
and our songs of praise
8
are never for ourselves alone.
9 Worship is no
retreat from the world;
10 it is
part of our mission.
11 We serve humankind
12 by
discerning what God is doing in the world
13 and
joining God in that work.
14 We
risk disagreement and error
15 when we
try to say what God is doing here and now.
16 But we find guidance in God's
deeds in the past
17 and in
God's promises for the future,
18 as they
are witnessed to in Scripture.
19
We affirm that the Lord is at work,
20
especially in events and movements
21 that
free people by the gospel
22 and
advance justice, compassion and peace.
23 (2) God sends us to proclaim the gospel.
24 God sent his Son
25 to
proclaim release to those who are bound,
26 to
announce that God's promised kingdom is at hand,
27 to urge
everyone to repent and believe the good news.
28 The Lord is moving toward the
time
29
when the glorious liberty of the children of God
30 will be
manifest throughout the whole creation.
31 We testify God is at work here
and now
32
when people obey Christ's commission
33 to
witness to him and make disciples of all nations,
34 when
they spread the good news by their words
35 and
embody it in their lives.
36 We believe that God sends us
37 to tell
all nations
38 that
Christ calls everyone to repentance, faith and obedience.
39 We are to proclaim by word and
deed
40
that Christ gave himself to set people free
41 from
sin and self-hatred,
42 from
ignorance and disease,
43 from
all forms of oppression,
44 and
even from death.
45 We are to offer them in Christ's
name
46
fullness of life now and forever.
47 We must not distort the gospel
48 by
weakening its promises or demands,
49 by
identifying it with oppressive structures,
50 by
pointing to ourselves instead of Christ.
51 We must not restrict our
proclamation
52 to
persons just like ourselves.
53 We
invite people everywhere
54 to
believe in Christ and become his followers.
55 We urge them to join us in
telling others the good news
56 and in
struggling for justice, compassion, and peace.
57 (3) God sends us to strive for justice.
58 God has reached out to those
who suffer injustice
59 and
defended the excluded, the poor, and the hungry.
60 The Lord is moving toward the
time
61
when justice will roll down like waters
62 and
righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
63 We are persuaded God is at work here
and now
64
when people deal fairly with each other
65 and
labor to change customs and structures
66 that
enslave and oppress human beings.
67 We believe God sends us to work with
others
68
to correct the growing disparity
69 between
rich and poor nations,
70 to
achieve fair legislation justly administered and enforced,
71 to make
the operation of courts and penal institutions
72 more
just and humane.
73 We are charged
to root out prejudice and racism
74 from
our hearts and institutions.
75 We
are commissioned to stand with women and men
76 of all
ages, races, and classes
77 as they
struggle for dignity and respect
78 and the
chance to exercise power for the common good.
79 We must not countenance in the
church and its institutions
80 the
inequities we seek to correct in the world.
81 We must be willing to make such
amends as we can
82 for
centuries of injustice which the church condoned.
83 (4) God sends us to exercise compassion.
84 In his concern for justice in
the social order
85 God has never
forgotten the needs of individuals.
86 In the end the Lord will judge
all persons
87 by the
simple, unremembered acts of kindness
88 they
did or failed to do
89 for the
least of their sisters and brothers.
90 We acknowledge God is at work here and
now
91
when people show personal concern for each other
92 and
work to make helping agencies,
93
including the church itself,
94 more
compassionate.
95 We believe God sends
us
96
to risk our own peace and comfort
97
in compassion for our neighbors.
98 We are to give to
them and receive from them,
99
accepting everyone we meet as a person;
100 to be
sensitive to those who suffer in body or mind;
101 to
help and accept help
102 in
ways that affirm dignity and responsibility.
103 We must not limit our
compassion to those we judge deserving,
104 for we
ourselves do not deserve the compassion of God.
105 (5) God sends us to work for peace.
106 God has brought out of the
horrors of warfare
107 the
judgment and deliverance of nations.
108 Yet the Lord has condemned the
atrocities of war
109 and
warned his people not to trust in military might.
110 The Prince of Peace does not
bring in his rule by force.
111
The Lord is moving toward the time
112 when
nations will not learn war any more.
113 We affirm God is at work here and now
114 when
people are ashamed of the inhumanity of war,
115
perceive the threat of annihilation
116 that
hangs over the human race,
117 and
seek other ways of settling international disputes.
118 We believe God sends us
119 to
minister to people on all sides of wars:
120 the
victims,
121 the
participants,
122 and
those who in conscience refuse to participate.
123 In is our duty to attack the
causes and roots of war,
124 to
unmask idolatry
125 that
places national security above all else,
126 to
urge all nations to devote to making peace
127 the
resources, intelligence, and energy
128 that
have gone to making war.