“…anyone who does not gather
with me scatters.” Matthew 12:30
Understanding Christendom today is a little more complicated than the
first Century Christians. Church denominations, culture, language, race and so
many other factors have impacted the Christian perspective and the church
today. Each church denomination is like an independent institution with a customised set of thoughts, duties
and expectations. People are operating and existing by the culture of the
Church more than the expectations and mandate of Christ. And then the “Church worshippers”,
I mean the ones who think God is equal to church building has nothing to do
with missions. Church obligations and being part of the church activities are
in themselves the biggest mission people think they are accomplishing.
Church obligations rob people of the purpose for His mission.
The mission and purpose of Christ Jesus is becoming more and more ambiguous
because of personal interpretations and the interpretations of church
denominations. Majority of the Christendom are missing the purpose of Jesus
coming to this earth. It is muddled up with programs, entertainments,
strengthening the fellowship with each other, making a family, making church
big, I mean as a building and institutionalizing it. And sadly, the purpose of
Christ Jesus is missed and, in most cases, ignored blatantly. Jesus articulated
his purpose so clearly which says, “For the son of man has come to seek
and to save the lost” Luke 19:10. If you notice, most of the parables
support the purpose of Jesus coming to this earth. As individuals and Churches
if we are not making it as part of our lifestyle then for sure we would
continue to entertain ourselves as Christians but fail to be the disciple of
Christ. Here are few parables that also support Christ Mission and
clarifies our mission on this earth,
- Sowing the seed and gathering the wheat (Matt
13:29),
- Impacting the flour with the leaven, (Matt
13:33), influencing the majority,
- Large net thrown in the sea to collect every
kind of fish (Matt 13:47),
- parable of Lamp (Matt 5:14-16) the need to be
the light and draw people,
- The Lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14) leaving the
99 to find the 1,
- The feast of the Great Banquet (Matt 22:1-14)
inviting maximum people for the banquet,
- Ten talents of gold coin (Matt 25:14-30)
compared to multiplying souls,
- The Lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) rejoicing over
one sinner,
- The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) Father
waiting for his lost son,
- The rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) the
pain the rich man had for his lost brothers.
Can you honestly
tell what percentage of all your spirituality is contributed to reaching out to
people who are in darkness? If the above is not part of your daily schedule
that makes the purpose for your existence, then what else is? What is our
Church teaching? Here a person Hasti Gomes shares her disappointment about her
Church experience.
Analyze this statement Jesus makes which is recorded in Matthew
12:30, “Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather
with me scatters.”. Be warned, you cannot play neutral here. It does
not say that you are either gathering or not gathering, but it says that if you
are not gathering then you are scattering. This is powerful and alarming. Jesus
was in the business of gathering the people for the kingdom of God. Many are seen
today institutionalizing the Church and busy trying to manage it and in most cases, making it an enterprise. Church today,
merely confines to edifying people for a good living. Sadly, never equipped to gather the
lost people for the kingdom of God. What is your role today? You can explain
and satisfy people with all that you are doing, but then if all that you are
doing is not contributing to gathering, then you are scattering and working
against Christ and His mission as said in Matthew 12:30. The
10 parables is just a reminder not for a story telling exercise but a call to come
back to the core purpose of your existence, i.e. to be a disciple of Christ and seriously carry the gospel to the non-Christian world
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