There is Church Because There is Mission

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Mission (may be understood) as being derived from the very nature of God. It is thus put into the context of the doctrine of the Trinity, not of ecclesiology or soteriology. The classical doctrine on the missio Dei as God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit is expanded to include yet another “movement”: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending the church into the world. . . . Mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God, God is a missionary God. . . . Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world: the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. . . . There is church because there is mission, not vice versa.

– David Jacobus Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission