In the Christian world, there is a wide range of ideas regarding the mission of the church. While some argue that the mission of the church is to fight injustice, feed the poor, and care for orphans, others say that the mission of the church is to make disciples by planting churches. While I do think that as Christians we should care about the needs of the world and do ministries of mercy, I am strongly convinced, in view of Matthew 28, that planting churches has a higher priority.^[1]

Below, are three reasons why I think scripture teaches that church planting is of greater importance than mercy ministries and why we should focus on church planting rather than mercy ministries.

1) Mercy ministries do not meet humanity’s greatest need, but church planting does!

Prior to coming to Radius, I worked at a church in the United Arab Emirates. In this church, we had a church member from India who once said, “Indian people do not need money, food, or clothes. They can live this short life without these things, but they need the Gospel for eternal life in the presence of God.” That sounds harsh, doesn’t it? But I think our Indian brother hit the nail on the head!

Are famines horrible? Is poverty real? Yes, for sure! Should we as Christians care and think about these things? Yes, of course! But are these things the biggest needs of humanity? No, they’re not! As Christians, we know that according to Isaiah 59:2, mankind’s biggest problem is sin and separation from God. Our biggest need is to be reconciled with God (Romans 5:10; 2Corinthians 5:18-21). Mercy ministries cannot do anything about that. Helping someone get food or get health care does not meet their need of reconciliation with God. But churches meet this need by proclaiming the gospel and being outposts of God’s kingdom. Churches are embassies of God’s kingdom, telling the world: There is hope and good news (Ephesians 3:10).

2) Mercy ministries can be done by other institutions, but church planting cannot.

Have you ever heard of UNICEF? Charity Water? Doctors without borders? These are all organizations that do a great job of feeding the poor, caring for sick, and digging wells. They probably do a much better and much more professional job than any church could ever do. But will any of these organizations ever plant a church? Will they ever tell the people about their sin and the Good News of Jesus Christ? No, they won’t. It is not their mission and most likely they themselves don’t hold to the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

So if they don’t plant churches who will? No one, other than believers and established churches will plant churches and preach the gospel. It’s exclusively their job to plant churches and since there aren’t many churches out there, compared to the size of the world, they should be focused on their mission. To plant churches is the unique purpose of the church. As we see in the church in Antioch the Holy Spirit works in the context of a church and calls people to be sent out by the church in order to plant other churches (Acts 13:1-3). Churches can do many great things, for the good of the world. And so can other organizations. But no relief organization can or will plant churches and therefore churches should prioritize it! History shows that successful church planters like William Carey, who were focused on church planting were still able to see many other good things accomplished to meet the needs of needy people. But his priority was the church.

3) Mercy ministries do not fulfill the Great Commission, but church planting does!

As we consider mercy ministries and church planting, it all comes down to one question:
What is the mission of the church?

Is it to do humanitarian aid and to perform mercy ministries, or is it to plant churches? I would argue that in view of Matthew 28, it is the latter. In verses 18-20, Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

To go and make disciples by baptizing and teaching them does not happen when we make mercy ministries primary. Feeding the poor, building houses, or drilling wells do not lead naturally toward the goal of the Great Commission. But it does happen when we go and plant churches. The call to make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching them is the call to plant churches.

Don’t get me wrong: humanitarian aid and mercy ministries are not bad. They are good and very important, but they need to be rightly prioritized. Our Lord has made it very clear: The first priority, or mission of a church, is to preach the gospel of Christ, baptize those who believe, and teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded. The mission of the church is to make disciples and plant churches.

Therefore, I would argue that church planting has priority over mercy ministries. This is because church planting meets the greatest need of the world, it will not be done by anyone else, and is the goal of the Great Commission.

^[1] A great book on this topic is What Is The Mission of the Church?