What is the Chief End of Mission/Evangelism?

An argument that the salvation of men is not the end of evangelism. Rather, it is a means to an end - the end being God's passion for His own glory.


What should be our number one purpose in spreading the gospel to all the nations? To frame the same question another way, what is God’s number one purpose in commanding us to spread the gospel to all the nations?

When faced with those same questions, many (if not most) Christians today would probably respond by saying, “The salvation of lost souls is the chief end of spreading the gospel to all the nations”. I contend that, though a great motivation, the salvation of lost sinners is not the ultimate purpose for spreading the gospel through mission and evangelism. Rather, the glory of God is. God’s own glory is His ultimate purpose in commanding us to spread the gospel. Paul, in Rom 1:5, affirms this. Notice the progression of Paul’s thought:

• We have received grace and apostleship as ambassadors of the gospel. Why? For what purpose?
• In order to bring about the obedience of faith (salvation) among all the nations. Why? For what purpose?
• For the sake of Jesus’ name.

In other words, we have been entrusted with the gospel so that all the nations will be saved. This is where many Christians stop in their thinking. But this is not where Paul stops. Paul says, we have been entrusted with the gospel so that all the nations will be saved so that Jesus’ name will be glorified. The salvation of the nations is not the end in itself. It is the means to a greater end, namely, the praise of the glory of God’s grace (Eph 1:5-6).

When Paul’s words are compared with God’s words in Isaiah 48, this point becomes clear. 

  ⁹ "For my name’s sake I defer my anger,
   for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
   that I may not cut you off.
¹⁰Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
    I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
¹¹ For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
   for how should my name be profaned?
    My glory I will not give to another. (Isa 48:9-11)

It is clear from Isa 48:9 that one of God’s purposes in salvation is the rescue of sinners: “I restrain [my wrath] for you, in order not to cut you off”. But this is not God’s ultimate purpose in salvation. Just as Paul says in Rom 1:5, God’s chief motivation in salvation is the glory of His own name. God’s passion for his glory is mentioned six times in this passage as His chief motive in saving sinners. Though it strikes at the heart of our ego-centric, man-centered culture, God’s primary concern is not the salvation of sinners. God’s primary concern is the display and praise of His own glory. This should be our primary concern as well.

Let me be exceedingly clear. We should be concerned with the eternal destiny of lost sinners. We should be motivated, out of love for sinners, to spread the gospel. But this should not be our primary motive. When we lose sight of this, we lose sight of God’s ultimate purpose in saving sinners.

Man is not the center of the purpose of the universe – not even in his own salvation.

God is.

BY HIS GRACE (1 Cor 15:10) – FOR HIS GLORY (1 Tim 1:17)