The Holy Spirit and the Mission of the Church Today

Abstract

Why did God send us his Holy Spirit? Obviously, one of the marks of the Spirit in the church is mission. It has been so from the first days of Christianity. Once we find out the fundamental place of the Spirit's missionary activity, we can no longer be content with the traditional way in which the relation between mission and church is posed. The mission is not just a practical, necessary instrument in the expansion of the church. The mission is not at the disposal of the church; both are at the disposal of the Holy Spirit. In saying that the church is the instrument of the mission, we speak a half-truth. the relation between the two is a result of the mission. The movement of the Holy Spirit has an end - it is not an end in itself. That end is beyond the church; it is that "the earth shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea"(Isaiah 11:9). Realization of the kingdom and instrument of the kingdom lose their character as soon as they isolate themselves from one another. The strongest missionary force of the church is always in demonstration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon believers at Pentecost in order to constitute the church. They were not anointed with the Holy Spirit individually, but in a corporate body as a whole. In this paper our study attempts to understand the Holy Spirit's relation to the mission of the church. To do this, first, we will confirm that the Holy Spirit is the liberator of His people from the bondage of sin and the death, from life under the law, not only is He the initiator for both congregational and mission structures, but also He is the one who unifies His people as well as directs them in the activities of their church and missions. Second, we will discuss the Holy Spirit's serving to complete His missionary works by training, by empowering, and by preparing. In conclusion, we will apply the relationship between the Spirit and the Mission to the Korean church of today which is at a stand-still in growth and evangelization.