EMQ » Jul – Aug 2025 » Volume 61 Issue 3
Summary: The gospel is dynamic and outward-moving. This centrifugal nature of the gospel contrasts with the centripetal approach prevalent in the West. Chris McMillan urges a return to the biblical mandate of “Go and Tell.” He calls for a revival of missionary vigor to counter institutionalization of the church.
By Chris McMillan
On January 9, 2007, at the Macworld Conference in San Francisco, the iPhone was first introduced. Apple founder Steve Jobs triumphantly declared, “We are going to make some history today.” Even he could not have fully envisioned how his invention would revolutionize the world. The iPhone transformed global communication, democratized access to information, and reshaped entire industries. Eighteen years later, iPhones are everywhere – from bustling urban metropolises to the most remote villages.
The iPhone’s meteoric rise mirrors the centrifugal nature of the gospel. Once unleashed it moves outward with unstoppable force breaking through cultural barriers, overcoming the most virulent opposition, and transforming individuals and societies. The gospel at its core is dynamic and outward moving. It is not static. When Jesus issued the call for his apostles to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, the going indicated a change of location.[i]
Unfortunately, the centrifugal gospel has become centripetal in many places in the West. The gospel as movement has become the gospel as stasis. The result is increasing secularism, waning church attendance, apathetic evangelism, and the rise of identity politics leading to a distorted witness of the gospel.
In this article, I demonstrate how the gospel is inherently centrifugal, designed to move outward rather than be contained. While the New Testament presents an unequivocal mandate to “Go and tell,” many churches in the West have adopted a “come and see” approach that prioritizes safety and attraction. By exploring biblical foundations, historical movements, and contemporary practices, I make an urgent call to recover the centrifugal nature of the gospel.
The Outward Movement of God’s Mission in the Old Testament
Many treatments of God’s mission in the Old Testament begin with the call of Abram. However, as Matthew Newkirk points out, God’s mission does not begin with the call of Abram. It is present from the inception of creation.[ii] From the very beginning, it was God’s plan to be worshiped among the nations. The command to Adam and Eve to multiply and fill the earth with image-bearers indicates God’s missionary purpose in creation.[iii] Despite our primeval parents’ fall and the subsequent judgement of the world through the flood, God’s missionary purpose refused to be thwarted. It was reiterated in the command to Noah to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 9:1–2).
The outward movement of God’s mission continues with the call of Abram (Genesis 12:1–3). The promise of a people and a place culminates in a redeemer that would bless all peoples of the earth. The Hebrew phrase for all peoples here is כִּל מִשְׁפְּהֹ֥ת, which refers to family units or households (cf. Joshua 7:14). The Septuagint renders this phrase πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαἱ or all tribes (cf. Acts 3:14). The promise is reiterated in Genesis 18:18, 22:18, and 26:4. In these verses the Hebrew phrase is כִּל גּוֹיֵ֥י, which the Septuagint renders πἀντα τα ἒθνε or all nations (cf. Matthew 28:19).[iv] It is clear then that the promise of blessing extended to more than just ethnic Israel. It included all people everywhere.
The instrument of this blessing would be Israel. At the giving of the Law on Sinai, God told Moses that Israel would be to him a kingdom of priests that would mediate the blessings of salvation to the nations (Exodus 19:6). Through their covenantal relationship and ethical distinctiveness, Israel would be a light to the nations (Isaiah 49:6).[v]
The debate continues among scholars whether Israel’s missionary role should be considered centripetal or centrifugal. The centripetal nature of Israel’s call is well established. Their laws were intended to evoke awe among the nations (Deuteronomy 4:5–8) and their temple would be a house of prayer for all peoples (Isaiah 56:6–7). Prophetic visions abounded of the Gentiles pouring into Zion to worship Yahweh (Isaiah 2:2–4; Micah 4:1–3; Zechariah 8:22–23). The Queen of Sheba came from afar to see Solomon’s wealth and prosperity and marveled at Yahweh’s blessing.
Nevertheless, the centrifugal aspects of Israel’s missionary role cannot be denied. Joseph and Daniel, through their God-given ability to interpret dreams, served as witnesses to foreign rulers and brought blessings to the nations (Genesis 37–50; Daniel 2:24–49). Likewise, God called the prophet Jonah to cross cultural and geographical boundaries to preach repentance to Nineveh. The Servant Songs of Isaiah further present Israel as a witness to the nations, culminating in the Messiah, who receives the nations as his inheritance (Isaiah 42:1–7; 49:1–7; cf. Psalm 67:1–4).[vi]
During the Intertestamental Period, the Jewish diaspora and the printing of the Septuagint contributed to networks of peripatetic Jewish evangelists who zealously proselytized Gentiles.[vii] Jesus himself remarked on the apparent success of these itinerants, though not without critique (Matthew 23:15).
The Outward Movement of God in the New Testament
With the arrival of the New Testament, the come and see aspects of God’s mission are largely subsumed by the command to go and tell. Notably, the primary missional thrust in the New Testament often occurs outside the established Jewish religious structures of the time. The ministry of John the Baptist was unsanctioned by the religious authorities, occurring outside of the temple system in the wilderness of Judea. Likewise, Jesus conducted an itinerant ministry neither associated with, nor approved by, the established religious system. The Greek word for preach in the New Testament, κερύσσω, appears sixty-one times. Sixty of these instances refer to preaching outside established religious structures.[viii]
The outward movement of the gospel is further emphasized by the frequent use of the word sent and its cognates, which appear approximately two hundred times in the Gospel accounts.[ix] Additionally, Matthew highlights the global scope of Jesus’ mission by recording his use of the phrase πάντα τά ἒθνε (all nations) four times in his discourses (Matthew 24:9, 14; 25:31–46; 28:18–20).[x]
The book of Acts traces the ever-expanding movement of the gospel from its humble origins as a Jewish sect in Jerusalem to a truly multicultural faith in Rome. Prior to his ascension, Jesus instructed his apostles to take the gospel beyond Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and ultimately the whole world (Acts 1:8). Subsequently, Acts provides six summary statements that highlight the outward the movement of the gospel from Jerusalem to the whole world (Acts 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20; 28:30–31). Notably, in chapter 8, a shift takes place away from the original apostles in Jerusalem to Paul and his subsequent missionary journeys. Ultimately, Acts depicts the movement of the gospel in the first century as it crosses cultural and geographic boundaries.
A final note regarding the outward movement of the gospel in the New Testament is found in the book of Revelation, which highlights the gospel’s ultimate triumph. In Revelation 5:9 and 7:9, a vast, multicultural multitude is depicted worshiping before the throne. The presence of individuals from every tribe and tongue affirms the victorious spread of the gospel to all nations.
The Outward Movement of God in Church History
By the end of the first century, the gospel had spread throughout the Mediterranean world and beyond. While the data contains gaps, it is believed that Thomas the disciple reached India and Paul, Spain.[xi] Eminent historian Kenneth Scott Latourette states, “One of the most amazing and significant facts of history is that within five centuries of its birth Christianity won the professed allegiance of the overwhelming majority of the population of the Roman Empire and even the support of the Roman state.”[xii]
The rapid spread of the gospel in the first few centuries was met with increasing hostility and persecution from the church’s opponents. However, the conversion of Constantine and subsequent Edict of Milan in AD 313 produced a period of peace, which was welcomed by a weary church.[xiii] Unfortunately, as Christianity gained influence in political circles, it also became a status symbol rather than a way of life, leading to corruption within the church. Preoccupied with theological controversies and shaken by the shocking fall of Rome at the end of the fifth century, the church increasingly turned its focus inward.[xiv]
Despite periods of decline, the missionary impulse persisted among certain individuals. Patrick introduced the gospel to Ireland after being taken there as a slave in his youth. In AD 563, Columba established a mission base on the island of Iona, which became a strategic center for evangelizing the British Isles. By the eighth century, Boniface had taken the gospel to the Germanic tribes, laying a foundation for Christianity in central Europe. Meanwhile, in the ninth century, the Eastern Orthodox Church commissioned Cyril and Methodius to evangelize the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe.[xv]
The Protestant Reformation of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries revitalized the gospel message but initially lacked a strong missionary emphasis. In contrast, Catholic orders, particularly the Jesuits led by Francis Xavier, fervently spread Christianity throughout Asia, including India, China, and Japan. Protestant missionary activity did not gain significant momentum until the eighteenth century with figures such as Nikolaus von Zinzendorf, William Carey, and Adoniram Judson, who catalyzed the modern missionary movement.[xvi]
The twentieth century witnessed an unprecedented shift in the global center of Christianity, moving from the Global North to the Global South. At the dawn of the twentieth century, approximately 82% of the world’s Christians resided in the Global North. However, contemporary estimates indicate that nearly two-thirds of Christians now live in the Global South. Missiologists project that by 2050, four out of every ten Christians will be in Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, five of the ten the largest Christian nations by population are expected to be in this region, underscoring the remarkable growth of Christianity in Africa. Similar movements are also happening in Latin America and parts of Asia.[xvii]
Despite the remarkable growth of Christianity over the past century, over three billion people have yet to hear the gospel. Notably, many formerly unreached regions have now become epicenters of missional activity. For example, some of the largest mission-sending countries per capita include Brazil, South Korea, and Nigeria. Unfortunately, most missionaries being sent today are not targeting unreached areas but are instead going to already Christianized nations.[xviii] As a result, there is a pressing need for more gospel movements to penetrate unreached areas for the glory of God.
An Urgent Call to the Church in the West to Recapture Its Missionary Vigor
In contradistinction to the rapid growth of Christianity in the Global South, the Western church is drifting toward marginalization. The steady decline of Christianity has been well-documented in recent years. Apart from a revitalizing movement of the gospel, this troubling trend is certain to continue. While Western evangelicalism is rife with missional talk, there is little actual gospel movement occurring.
One of the reasons for the decline of the Western church is the institutionalization of the gospel. What I mean is that evangelism and church planting, which are the chief agents in gospel movement, have become relegated to institutions rather than being every Christian’s responsibility. These institutions are denominations and local churches. However, we expect too much from local churches. Sam Metcalf rightly points out that churches are meant to preserve the harvest not to extend it. In fact, most individuals comprising local churches are not equipped – whether by calling, training, or capacity – to effectively cross geographical and cultural boundaries with the gospel. Moreover, most Western Christians are averse to risk-taking and inclined to safety and comfort,[xix] which is a characteristic of established institutions.[xx] As a local church pastor for over twenty years, I can attest to this fact.
It is remarkable how often evangelistic emphases and campaigns generated by local churches are church-centric. Many of the most cherished evangelistic activities and traditions of modern churches involve bringing the lost to a church campus rather than believers leaving the church campus to go to the lost. In doing so, we are operating under an Old Testament come and see paradigm rather than a New Testament go and tell paradigm.
However, this is not the pattern we see in the New Testament. Central figures, such as John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul, operated outside the religious structures of the day. This fact does not diminish the importance of the local church in God’s redemptive program. It does, however, point to its rightful role as the chief means of discipleship and edification for believers. It does this bearing in mind that growing believers are strengthened so that they can go and tell rather than linger inside.
If a gospel movement is to take root in the West, a proliferation of what Ralph Winter described as sodalities are essential. Sodalities consist of apostolically minded individuals who unite for mission as a second commitment beyond local church membership.[xxi] These second decision people are often mavericks and risk-takers whose greatest passion is to make Jesus known among the nations. However, they frequently become frustrated with the bureaucracy, rigid power structures and internal conflicts within local churches. They want to do great things for God and are willing to expend themselves in pursuit of this mission.[xxii]
A similar warning must be extended to the church in the Global South, where Christianity is currently flourishing. The church in the West serves as a cautionary example: do not allow apostolic passion to be diminished by institutionalization. As the Christian faith becomes established in a region, the temptation arises to formalize its structures through the creation of denominations and buildings. This shift can lead to a loss of the fervor that once catalyzed evangelism among the unreached. It redirects focus inward – from a kingdom-oriented mission to a church-centric model – thereby stalling the movement of the gospel. If the thousands of remaining unreached people groups in the Global South are to be reached, then sodalities must also be multiplied among believers in these regions.
In conclusion, the gospel is, by its very nature, a movement – an outward force that refuses to be contained. From the very beginning, God’s redemptive mission has been centrifugal, driving his people beyond geographical and cultural boundaries to bring all the nations to worship. This outward trajectory is evident in the Old Testament, confirmed by the ministry of Jesus and the apostles, and demonstrated throughout church history. The explosive growth of the church in the Global South today confirms that when the gospel is unshackled from institutional constraints and embraced as a dynamic movement, it flourishes.
Yet, the Western church stands at a crossroads. Once a powerful missionary-sending force, it has largely turned inward, prioritizing comfort over calling. Institutionalization has dampened the apostolic impulse, reducing the gospel to an attractional model rather than an advancing movement. If the church in the West is to reclaim its vibrancy, it must rediscover the centrifugal nature of the gospel. This will require a radical reorientation – one that prioritizes risk over routine, mission over maintenance, and the Great Commission over institutional preservation.
The same warning applies to the growing church in the Global South. It must resist the gravitational pull of institutionalism that has sidelined mission in the West. Instead, it must embrace and multiply apostolic sodalities – bands of mission-driven believers willing to carry the gospel to the unreached at any cost. The urgency of the task before us is great. More than three billion people remain unreached. The question before us is not whether the gospel will advance – the book of Revelation makes clear that the nations will be gathered before the throne – but whether we will participate in its outward movement or be left behind.
The gospel was never meant to be stationary. It was never meant to be confined to buildings, programs, or traditions. It was meant to go. And it will go. The only question that remains is whether we will go with it.
Dr. Chris McMillan serves as the President of International Training and Equipping Ministries (ITEM). With over 30 years of ministry experience his passion is to accelerate the spread of the gospel through leadership training. He has ministered in over 30 countries and holds degrees from Liberty University and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Chris and his wife Allison have a daughter, Carissa, and a son, Nathan, in heaven.
[1]Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative (Downer’s Grove: IL: IVP Academic, 2006), 195–96.
[1]Matthew Newkirk Fill the Earth: The Creation Mandate and the Church’s Call to Missions (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2020), 8–9, 11).
[1]Newkirk, 15–21.
[1]Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2000), 19.
[1]Wright, 337.
[1]Johannes Blauw, The Missionary Nature of the Church: A Survey of the Biblical Theology of Mission (London: Lutterworth Press, 1962), 48–49.
[1]Blauw, The Missionary Nature, 55–60.
[1]James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), s.v. “κερύσσω.”
[1] Strong, The New Strong’s, s.v.”απόστελλώ” and “πέμπω.”
[1]Don Dent, Finding Direction to Redeem the Nations: Navigating Missions Misconceptions (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2023), Location 336–473, Kindle.
[1]RCH Lenski, The Interpretation of The Acts of the Apostles, 1–14 (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 2008), 32.
[1]Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity: Volume 1, Beginnings to 1500, rev. ed., (San Francisco: HarperOne, 1975), 32.
[1]Latourette, 81–92.
[1]Justo L. Gonzales, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1, The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, rev.ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2010), 177–180.
[1]Gonzales, The Story of Christianity, 295–298.
[1]Latourette, 850–855.
[1]Lausanne Movement, “Is Christianity Shrinking or Shifting? Lausanne Global Analysis, September 2020. https://lausanne.org/global-analysis/is-christianity-shrinking-or-shifting.
[1]Lausanne Report, “Most Missionaries Are Reaching the Reached,” Christianity Today, September 2024. https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/09/lausanne-missions-state-great-commission-christianity-polycentrism/
[1]Sam Metcalf, Beyond the Local Church: How Apostolic Movements Can Change the World (Downers Grove: IL, 1985), 73.
[1] Richard Hibbert and Evelyn Hibbert. “Nurturing Vitality through Appropriate Structure: A Challenge for Ecclesial Movements.” International Journal of Frontier Missiology 36, no. 3 (2019): 119–27. https://ijfm.dreamhosters.com/PDFs_IJFM/36_3_PDFs/IJFM_36_3-Richard_and_Evelyn_Hibbert.pdf
[1]Ralph D Winter, “The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission,” International Journal of Frontier Missions 3, no. 4 (1986), 123.
[1]Mecalf, 87–99.
EMQ, Volume 61, Issue 3. Copyright © 2025 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
