Ministry success Analysis!

 

I am grateful to God and we should all be that Christian presence is seen, felt and heard nationally and globally. Today, there are innumerable social media platforms, that talk about Christ. It’s a joy that anytime someone wishes to know Christ can find information in abundance by merely browsing. But there is a problem. In spite of abundant supply (a term used in economics) the demand is significantly low, meaning people aren’t willing to buy-in the idea of salvation, in Christian sense, corresponding to the amount it is made available.

I battle with this question - Are we seriously missing something? With abundance in Christian work, why aren’t we witnessing increase in harvest? If you are a leader or a Pastor you would attest the fact that you are part of so many Christian fellowships, forums, Chat groups where Christian language is spoken in abundance. But the measurement metrics, I am referring to, i.e. the national statistics of Christian presence, are not encouraging and yet, the Churches and Christian organizations continue to celebrate success defined by them. I do understand that the Churches and Organizations have sufficient reasons to celebrate their success, but "What about the BIG goals and where are we in regard to the same?" is what every individual and Church fail to ask. 

Pandemic ushered in the revolution of  social media platforms, which increased the concentration on Christians exponentially. The measurement metric that plays here is the greater the number of people join one's platform the greater the satisfaction for the hosts. This defines the success of their Church, which is an erroneous way of measuring success. During these times many organizations have worked out the math projecting a calculation of how their revolution, as they understand will saturate the city and the country with the gospel. Each organization has an agenda, compelling Christians to be part of the crowd calculation and be satisfied with the report they present. If you notice, Organizations and Churches want to thrive on activities without making any real sense to Non-Christian friends. When will the Church learn that running around in frantic religious activities has nothing to do with Christianity, as pointed out by Jesus. It’s just being religious! (Luke 10:42). Dr Eric Mason states, “I fear the Church has become salt and light to itself and not the world as it was called to which left to itself becomes artificial light and self-preservation.”. 

Christian presence in India was 2.3% as per 2011 census, but recently Open Doors world watch list has published 2021 statistics with India now at 4.9% Christians. Another fact to consider is that India has been ranked 10th globally for severity of persecution against Christians and it is getting increasingly difficult for Christians to profess their faith. The survival is not about organizations and Churches but that every Christian is equipped to share his/her faith and save souls from eternal damnation. The Church should enable them to go out and share the gospel. If this is not part of measurement metrics of success then probably the Christian institutions are merely surviving. The more the Church strives for stability, recognition, power and money, the more its spiritual potency will diminish. You may check the blog on Quick Fix or lasting impact? to more on this.

Let me end my analysis with a final remark from Reinhard Bonke who puts this beautifully, "So our main task must be the implementation of the Great Commission—the going, the making, and the discipling. The church is a lifeboat, not a pleasure boat. Entertainers are neither needed nor wanted. From the captain to the cook it is all hands on deck for soul-saving.". The church that does not seek the lost is “lost” in itself. Some excuse themselves by saying that in today’s pluralistic society the Christian half can never penetrate the other half. Why not? That is not God’s idea or command. When He spoke through Isaiah, He said: When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him. —ISAIAH 59:19.

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Masked You vs The Real You!

 

"You wear a mask for so long, you forget who you were beneath it." Alan Moore. I could not but fully agree with this quote as it's profound and thought provoking. Our life experiences force us to wear masks and with constant overuse of that leads to a point we become unrecognizable to ourselves. If we come across someone who is genuine and true to themselves, it's like a breadth of fresh air in this fake world we live in.

The Bible says, “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 MSG. Our pretentions and deceptions are conceived in our heart, plans to follow through devised in our mind and eventually exhibit in our actions. Somehow, we convince ourselves that we can pretend to be someone else (with Christian overtones) and get away with it. Yes, it's easy to deceive, manipulate and fool humans, but can we really deceive God?

"Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace!" Proverbs 12:20 NLT. In this verse, Bible is very clear that when you deceive you are already in the path of evil. The question arises, what makes us wear masked personalities? Is it our fear of rejection? Or is it that we have been hurt too many times for our goodness that we end up taking revenge by acting like a good person? Or is it that we are just pure evil and sold out for the devil that we go around manipulating and taking advantage of people?

Our deceptions are always translated in our actions or otherwise our works. If we read the book of Revelations, God says to five out of seven Churches, namely Ephesus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, "I know your works...". My dear brothers and sisters, why should God be focused and concerned about our works? Because each of us are the Church. It's not our buildings God is talking about. It's you and me and that should be a good enough reason to remove our masks or we will stand judged by Him. Our motives, our principles, our morals, our ethics should all stem from obeying and practicing the word of God.

The further we are away from God, correlates to the level of pretense we exhibit in our lives. The moment we use God for meeting our own will and desires, God is only a prop in our life. But when we truly surrender every area of our life to God, be transformed, we become genuine, unafraid of revealing our true self to the world. Can we like Apostle Paul dare the world saying, "Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ."1 Corinthians 11:1 CSB.

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