The Call to Go: Answering God’s Mandate in the 21st Century

1. The Simple Beginning: A Call that Reaches Beyond the Horizon

Every great journey begins with a word: Go.

It was the first word God spoke to Abram when He sent him toward a new land (Gen. 12:1). It was the command Jesus gave His disciples before ascending into heaven (Matt. 28:19). And it is the word echoing across our own century, not just to cross seas or continents, but to step into the heavens themselves.

Today, we stand at a threshold no other generation has faced. The Moon is within reach again. Mars is no longer just a red dot in the sky but a planned destination. Technology that once existed only in science fiction, reusable rockets, closed-loop life support, nuclear propulsion, is becoming reality. And in the midst of it all, the Church hears that same ancient word: Go.

The call is not simply to explore, but to carry the Name of Christ wherever humanity plants its flag, whether on desert plains, polar ice, or Martian regolith. The “ends of the earth” are no longer a metaphor for far-off nations; they are the actual ends of our planetary home, and soon, the beginnings of another.

2. Going Deeper: Theological Mandate for a Cosmic Era

Two Mandates, One Mission

From Genesis to Revelation, God’s Word gives us two great commissions: the Creation Mandate, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28), and the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19-20). Together, they call us to extend both stewardship and salvation to all creation.

The Creation Mandate gives the Church reason to engage with science, engineering, and exploration. Stewardship of creation includes understanding and caring for the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The Great Commission ensures that our outward expansion is not merely technological triumph but spiritual mission. New “nations” will form wherever human communities arise, and the gospel must arrive there alongside oxygen tanks and habitat modules.

In this light, space exploration is not a distraction from the Church’s mission. It is a new stage upon which that mission unfolds.

From the Garden to the Galaxies

The story of Scripture begins in a garden and ends in a city, the New Jerusalem, radiant with God’s presence, at the center of a renewed creation. The arc between them is one of expansion, cultivation, and redemption. Each step humanity takes into new territory can be part of that arc, provided it is guided by God’s wisdom and aimed at His glory.

Evangelical theology has long affirmed that the imago Dei, the image of God in humanity, is expressed in creativity, problem-solving, and the impulse to explore. These qualities, sanctified by the Spirit, make it possible for believers to thrive as witnesses in any environment, whether a first-century marketplace, a 21st-century megacity, or a 22nd-century Mars colony.

Learning from the Frontiers on Earth

We have a model for this. Global Church Planting Movements (CPMs) and Disciple Making Movements (DMMs) have shown that when believers are trained for obedience-based discipleship, empowered as indigenous leaders, and equipped with simple, reproducible tools, the gospel multiplies exponentially. The principles that have worked in remote villages and refugee camps will work on Mars: prayerful dependence, abundant gospel sowing, leadership from the harvest, and a vision for every new church to plant another.

Just as Chapter 31 outlined partnerships between space agencies and churches, and Chapter 32 detailed funding and training models, this chapter declares the unifying purpose: these systems exist so that when the first crew lands on Mars, they bring not only science experiments but also the living hope of Christ.

3. The Call to Action: Mobilizing the Church Now

We Cannot Wait

The window is short. Crewed missions to Mars are already being planned for the 2030s. That means the first permanent settlements could emerge within our lifetime. If the Church is not preparing now, identifying, training, and sending believers with both technical and theological competence, the first generation of Martian society will be shaped without a deliberate gospel witness.

Mobilization in the 21st century means:

1. Preparing the People. Recruiting engineers, scientists, medics, and farmers who are also disciple-makers. Every colonist can be a missionary, every habitat a house church.
2. Training in Dual Competence. Technical survival skills paired with theological depth and cross-cultural mission training.
3. Forming Sending Coalitions. Denominations, mission boards, and local churches pooling resources to commission spacefaring teams.
4. Developing Martian-ready Resources. Scripture libraries, worship music, discipleship guides, and pastoral training designed for communication delays and cultural diversity.
5. Casting the Vision. Preaching and teaching that Mars is not the edge of God’s reach but the next parish in His kingdom.

A Vision Worth the Cost

It will cost billions in currency and years of effort. But history shows the Church at its best when it invests in what seems impossible: translating the Bible into unknown languages, sending missionaries to unreached peoples, establishing hospitals and schools where none existed. The first churches on Mars will be born of the same sacrifice.

Imagine it: a small congregation gathered under a transparent dome, Earth a blue star in the sky. Their worship echoes in the thin atmosphere, a testimony that Christ is Lord not only of Earth but of all creation. That scene will not happen by accident. It will happen because someone, somewhere, heard the call to go, and answered.

The Now Moment

This is our “now moment.” The technology exists. The theological foundation is clear. The strategies for multiplication are proven. The only question is whether the Church will act with urgency.

The same God who called Abram to a distant land, who sent Paul across the Mediterranean, who moved believers into every corner of Earth, now calls His people to lift their eyes beyond the horizon. The harvest field is expanding into the heavens. The workers must be sent.

So go. Train. Give. Pray. And when the rockets rise and the first human steps mark Martian soil, let it be said: the gospel was already there, carried in the hearts and on the lips of those who answered the call.