Set right what is left undone in 2023 – Titus 1:5

 

The Epistle to Titus was written in approximately A.D. 66. The summary and purpose of this small book was to document Paul’s many journeys which he wrote to Titus from Nicopolis in Epirus. The letter lays down the qualifications to look for leaders in the Church. He also warns Titus of the reputation of those living on the Island of Crete (Titus 1:12). Paul makes a statement which should never be forgotten. “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good.” (Titus 1:16). The biggest disappointment today in Christendom is to witness those who talk about the Body of Christ, Great Commission and Global missions, yet live an unholy and a contradictory life, blissfully ignorant that they are detestable to God. In this book Paul instructs the elders (pastors), overseer or even for that matter an ordinary lay person to be blameless, not to be arrogant or hot-tempered, nor an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, not to be rebellious, filled with empty talk etc. (Titus 1:10-12)

Today people are focusing more on accomplishing things than living a holy life. Accomplishment can be a cover for achieving one’s selfish motives. When only accomplishments are celebrated, then it is dangerous. We assume that familiarity, popularity, and abundant resources will help accelerate the gospel, forgetting that God’s mission in this world does not depend on our favour. The foremost requirement is to be holy (1Peter 1:16), faithful /Trustworthy (1Timothy 1:12) and maintain a clean conscience before God (Acts 23:1). And in this book Paul adds by saying “…holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:8-9).

Rather than taking stock of our achievements, work progress and accomplishments, can we retrospect and take stock of areas of our genuine relationship with God first and then obedience to the Great Commission? Your attendance to Church services, or promptness in paying your tithes/offerings or observing religious rituals are of no use without a genuine relationship with God. The pharisee claimed to pay his tithes regularly and fast twice a week (Luke 18:12), the young man claimed to observe all the commandments of Moses (Matthew 19:20), a leader like Theudas, or Judas the Galilean (Acts 5:36-37) claimed to be somebody and used Christ for their selfish agenda. They were all found guilty and unacceptable. Beware!

In recent times any spurious activity in Christendom is welcomed and popularised. Spiritual heresies and garbage are channelled through famous Christian leaders/celebrities and pastors. We all want to believe everything is okay. Not really! We are in danger, and we need to check and test if you are in the Lord as Paul Says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV “Examine yourself to see you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realise this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in You? – unless you fail it the test.”. Jesus was not famous but faithful to His father and obedient till the point of His death. 

 Let me give you an excerpt to explain this point:

“Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

While still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was His coat. When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the centre piece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.”  - James Allan Francis (1864–1928)

What an estimate about our Master and Savior Jesus Christ? Do you wish to take this time to set things right and address those areas in your life which are left undone in the year 2023?

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GO & Tell Vs Show & Tell!

 

If Jesus had given the best sermons only on the way of life, probably He would have had a large following who would have dedicated a permanent magnificent worship structure for Him, parallel to Solomon’s Temple and synagogue in Jerusalem City. Whereas He preached on repentance, Kingdom principles for life ethics, the hope of eternity and showing people a way to inherit the eternal kingdom. Yet He gathered large crowds who came from far and near searching for Him. It is interesting to note that Jesus never thought about managing this crowd, preaching to them over and over, using a particular facility and commissioned people to Go and Tell what He was teaching. He continually moved from one location to the other – villages, towns and cities - preaching about the kingdom of God. (Luke 8:1).

The purpose of His coming was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Hence, before entrusting with the Great Commission (Matt 28:19) and with the supplement commission (Acts 1:8 ) i.e., to be a witness, He showed how to do and what to do. The Gospel of Mark records that Jesus appointed the twelve disciples to be with Him, to help them observe Him closely, learn how He does things and then to Go and Tell to others (Matt 3:14). John in his book 1 John 1:1-2 states this "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—  that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.". What the disciple witnessed by being with Him and watching Him closely was to follow Christ and share to the whole world about the greatest sacrifice Christ made for the sins of the world (1John 2:2). This was the crux of his letter.

Today, the pulpits are sophisticated and commercialized. People are instructed to “Go and Tell” without the “Show and Tell” model. More than 90% of any Church crowd aren't budging. The Church has settled with the convenient teaching of “Giving” model - Give and Give more. The Gospels teach us how until His crucifixion, Jesus went from place-to-place walking and preaching about the Kingdom of God. Present age has made the Gospel a luxurious propaganda. Music, entertainment and social services have replaced the urgency to share the Gospel, as they are the only ones that attract the crowd and eventually are financially advantageous. The leaders are happy assuming their Church Mission and Gospel mission are on track. 

People need to see how you share, influence people with the gospel. The right ones who experienced the true salvation are unstoppable. They are just waiting to see the leaders’ evangelistic lifestyle and to follow their footsteps. Show them, don't just tell them! David Cassidy states "There's a lot of "Go & Tell" in our faith but it is always to be accomplished with heavy amounts of "Show & Tell" confirming the effort.  Praying for the unity, mutual love, and humble, credible witness of brothers and sisters today.".

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When Personal experiences are exaggerated!

Let me start by narrating Jesus’ encounter with Nathanael which is recorded in the gospel of John 1:47-50. This man Nathanael was enthralled when Jesus exactly revealed to him who he was, where he was when Philip invited him to meet Jesus and revealed the state of his heart, he just couldn’t believe it. Immediately, we see Nathanael confessing and saying these words, which is recorded in verse 49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the son of God; you are the king of Israel.”. Jesus then responded and clarified with these words, “...Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these (John 1:50). Jesus did not want Nathanael to be excited with the revelation, which was shared with him but to know that He was the Messiah indeed.

Let me now draw parallels to the present time happenings. We all love experiences and love to make our experiences monumental, but somewhere down the line, the mission gets disillusioned.  Let's consider a scenario. If a preacher calls a person by name and prophesies on future happenings through the gift of prophecy, then the excitement shoots up and the experience becomes memorable. The person quickly becomes the follower of this prophet. And that prophet becomes a celebrity, savior and the mission ends there.

Let me talk about the five offices of the Church in Ephesians 4:11 which says, “And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers.". People end up assuming it to be areas of specialization. This is soon institutionalized and many Churches today have stopped existing for the purpose for which it was introduced. The original purpose is misconstrued so often. People forget the following verse which says, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ.”. (Ephesians 4:12).

Similarly, let me refer to the Pentecost experience. The experience of the Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) talks about the rushing wind, the sound, the fire, the tongues, is what catches the attention of the people, they like to dwell on it and excitedly wait all their life. In some cases, people train themselves and others to speak in tongues but fail to become the reason for which the experience was given. I have quoted this incident in my earlier blogs too. If you just hold on to the experience for a spiritual trademark you have got Christ's mission all wrong. The important thing that happened is not that people spoke in tongues, but it is when people from different people groups heard them speaking in their own languages as recorded in Acts 2:6, "When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language”.  The purpose was reached when people heard them speak in their native languages. Peter immediately clarifies the experience but did not stop there. We notice Peter preached Jesus to the crowd. And the outcome was 3,000 people experienced the salvation (Acts 2: 41).

In another significant incident when Simon the sorcerer saw people experiencing the Holy Spirit and miracles were happening when hands were laid on people, he was so excited and thought he can purchase it from Peter. We find Peter literally reprimanding Him and pronouncing the Judgement. (Acts 8:20-23). When Mission is overlooked people will be enthralled and talk about the experiences all their life without being useful for Christ's mission at all.

Let me quote the final example, the incident where Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave after four days. Have you noticed, there is not a single passage that records Lazarus speaking about his death experience? If it were today, we would have made a video, called a press conference and flaunted on the experience and narrate what happened during the four days. Lazarus did not do anything of that sort. He became the reason for many to experience the love of Jesus. Though the Bible records many deserted Him because of Lazarus, nevertheless many believed Jesus on account of Lazarus' resurrection (John 12:11)

Dear friends, Christ's mission is lying desolate. Everybody is interested to amplify one’s own experiences and talk about it,  but would you seriously carry Christ mission and influence others to do so?

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Disqualified yet on the top!

 

1 Corinthians 19:27 CSB ^"Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified."

It is actually possible to be irrelevant and yet survive in the ministry as pastors, elders, worship leaders, missionaries, mission heads, CEO's of Christian Ministries, tele-evangelists and so on. The cravings for power, status, fame, money, luxury, and the need for survival have distorted the view of many from the true mission and purpose. Sadly, they continue to live satisfied, celebrating their accomplishments. Many are living a life of deception because their Church institution and organization are surviving. Even for the fallen leader you will find a faithful mob still approving, applauding, and following them ardently. These renowned Christian leaders have learnt to gauge their approval because of their gifting and accomplishments.

So often people forget that we are not measured by our giftings and accomplishments but by our faithfulness to God. Gifting and accomplishment are from the Lord, but faithfulness is our response to Him.  Apostle Paul states in Romans 11:29 "since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.". As the gifts are not snatched away from us abruptly, people have taken things for granted merchandising their gifts and calling. Anything is converted to a business plan and a strategy today including Christ Mission.

The deception and money laundering in many Christian organisations and Churches are rampant and heart wrenching. Their consciences are seared and calloused. People in the forefront have become a stumbling block for the non-Christians. They are living devoid of conscience, with no fear of God. God is mocked because of His tolerance. In Psalms 50, Asaph is considered to have written this chapter, and it is so powerful.  Let me quote few verses, "But God says to the wicked: “What right do you have to recite my statutes and to take my covenant on your lips? You hate instruction and fling my words behind you. When you see a thief, you make friends with him, and you associate with adulterers.". Psalms 50:16-18 CSB. Sadly, many have taken God for granted. Verse 22 is powerful "You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you.". You will often get to see Christian leaders deriding God to their level of foolishness. Psalms 50 does not end there but concludes with the judgement. Verse 22-23 "... But I will rebuke you and lay out the case before you. “Understand this, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to rescue you.".

With this context in mind let us carefully ponder the highlighted key verse in the blog "Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”. There is a marvelous possibility of influencing others, yet at the same time a terrible fact of being disqualified and left behind. We are not accepted on the basis for what we do for God if our intent is wrong and selfish. We are all aware of our motives and God knows that too because He weighs our intentions and the motives of our heart (Proverbs 16:2; 17:3). 

Another false ideology that is existing today is that He cannot perform without us. People believe that He needs them for His mission to survive in this earth. That is an absolute deception and lies. You can be substituted anytime the moment you become irrelevant. You may have your mission, organisation and Church going on with people gathering week after week but that is immaterial in God's eyes. Remember Saul! The moment he started becoming irrelevant, the substitution plan began consequently. Saul was substituted by David. But yes, I need to say this, probably the complete annihilation of one’s existence can take time on a case-by-case basis. Many are surviving like a switched off fan, still rotating for some time.

God does not need you at all in true sense. I quite often quote this from C S Lewis, "God does not need you, the reason He has chosen to need you is because you need to be needed.”. As we read the story of Kings from the Bible, we are reminded that the moment the kings became irrelevant they were replaced. I wish and pray leaders understand that all the worldly prizes are just a trash and garbage. We should be ready to leave it behind at any point of time. I wish the statement of Apostle Paul in Acts 20:24 is true in each one of us, "But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God's grace.". If you wish to truly make an impact through what you do then be faithful, selfless, and ready to pour yourself as a drink offering as Apostle Paul stated (Philippians 2:17).

 

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When lesser gods controls the Mission!

Mission is languishing between Felt Need and the Real Need. There is a misconception among Churches and Mission organizations that lack of money is the number one reason for the gospel yet to reach the ends of the earth. A casual survey or discussion would confirm this truth that money tops the list as potential risk apart from various other threats for the gospel to reach every person on earth. Apparently, money becomes the crucial prayer point.

When Jesus along with His disciples was taking the good news to all the villages, towns, and cities, He saw the need for workers not money. He says,"...the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into his harvest." Matthew 9:37-38. Today the needs are compartmentalized that the need for people is usually downplayed. People have been replaced as crowd gatherers and money generators. This point needs our attention as “People” are the need for the mission and pastors, leaders should focus on encouraging, training, equipping, and sending people to share the gospel in their area of influence. Then every strategy will revolve around spiritual multiplication, evangelism model and approaches, etc. Christ’s mission gets skewed as it’s invariably seen from a financial perspective and every plan, strategy, approaches, proposals, and campaign is twisted trying to build wealth. Unfortunately, pastors and leaders stoop to begging, borrowing, and stealing in the name of building God’s Kingdom.

It is a sad spectacle to see widely, the lesser gods are managing the mission. Mission and Church have become a status. Leaders are living in a make-believe world that they are doing everything right and serving God when what they are really serving is money. Jesus warned us about it already. "...You cannot serve God and money." Matthew 6:24 NLT. The need for money brings along into mission all its vices like power and status. Today, models and approaches have become Organizational/Church identity. They have become Unique Selling Point (USP), to generate money. God’s mission happens to be the means to accomplish their personal mission. This is exactly what upset God with the shepherds through prophet Isaiah, "These dogs have fierce appetites; they never have enough. And they are shepherds who have no discernment; all of them turn to their own way, every last one for his own profit.". Isaiah 56:11 CSB.

I remember in one of the pastors’ meetings how the two mites of the poor widow were misinterpreted as money is an important component in Church Ministry because Jesus sat and watched what was being put in the offertory box. The parable of the 5000 was misinterpreted as Jesus created pressure on the disciples for food and were made to think how they can generate money and be prepared for an event like this. That pastors and leaders should know to catch the right fish to find the coin in the mouth of the fish. The heresies are so deeply rooted today that many missions, Christian Organization and Churches largely have become an enterprise and a scam.

I wonder how pastors would interpret Apostle Paul’s traumatic experience, "Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. ²⁶On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; ²⁷ toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. ²⁸ Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? ³⁰ If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. ³² In Damascus, a ruler under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to arrest me. ³³ So I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands." 2 Corinthians 11:24-32.

Jesus is God enthroned in majesty and there is no other demigod.  Praise God if we are not exposed to such threats. Many of us are accustomed to operating from a safe and luxurious positions some with lots of constriction and limitation. In any case Christ mission is the mandate, a commandment and a mission given to the Church and to individuals. Based on the need, God will provide resources. Do not allow the need for money to overtake and rule Christ Mission. If it happens, you start living with a shadow mission and working to mobilize money than people, and that can be too dangerous. You may want to read my blog I wrote about SHADOW MISSION. This is the matter of the heart and personal retrospection. Can we abandon any god's that have the power to rule us? I want to leave you with this verse for making a personal commitment with God our Saviour. "O Lord our God, Lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee alone will we make mention of thy name.". Isaiah 26:13 KJV. May we stay focused to the true Mission, sincerely. 

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Cycle of the Christian Life!

 

Jude, the shortest book in the Bible, prioritizes on three responsibilities of a Christian. It is part of his conclusion in exhortation and benediction section. He shows the interdependency in relationships and their impact. Let’s review some verses to make my point.

Jude 1 identifies the author of the book as Jude, brother of James. This likely refers to Jesus' half-brother, as Jesus also had another half-brother named James (Matthew 13:55). Jude probably does not identify himself as a brother of Jesus out of humility and reverence for Christ. The Book of Jude is closely related to the book of 2 Peter. The date of authorship for Jude depends on whether Jude used content from 2 Peter, or vice versa.

The Book of Jude was written somewhere between A.D. 60 and 80. It is an important book for us today as it portrays the end times, and the end of the church age, which began at the Day of Pentecost. Jude is the only book given entirely to the great apostasy. He writes that evil works are the evidence of apostasy. He admonishes us to contend for the faith, as there are tares among the wheat. False prophets are in the church and the saints are in danger. Jude is a small but important book worth studying as its written for the Christian of today.

As we carefully read the verses 20 -23 in Jude, it draws the ultimate responsibility of every believer in the Church and of the Church as an entity. The big three responsibilities of the church categorized in these verses are as follows:

1.     Inspire every believer to remain in faith.

V 20-21 “But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.”

Growing in the faith results in multiple expressions. The person grows in the knowledge of the Lord and bears fruits with the focus on eternity. It is important to note that the pastor is not a superhero who can always ensure from his congregation 100% commitment to the Lord in the non-Church hours but yes, he can inspire and nurture a person enough with the uncompromising word of God and Christian ethics. Sometimes the Church tries this by keeping the people busy with the Church activities and weekly programs. And at the end making them more religious with Church sentiments and hardly making them accountable towards the Great Commission responsibilities. Diane Langberg states this, "God's purpose is not to build up spectacular ministries, or display brilliant minds, or articulate tongues or pleasing, arresting personalities. God's purpose is to make us, you and me, like his Son. It is the only outcome that brings glory to the Father.".

2.     Ignite the ones who waver from the faith.

V 22 “Have mercy on those who waver.”

Most of the time people go to Church to fulfil their weekly obligation. Sunday becomes a religious day like any other religion which has specific days in a week to observe piety. Along with it comes our offerings and few commitments, and there ends our responsibility. As Christians, are we helping the other fellow believers who are struggling in their faith due to various reason? John in his book 1 John 3:17 holds each person responsible for his fellow believer, “If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him- how does God’s love reside in him?” And Paul to the book of Romans 15:1 says, “Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.”

3.     Influence the people to be missional outside the four walls of your Church.

 V 23 “save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.”

Here comes the big mission, where Jude reminds the third big responsibility of every Christians is to save others by snatching from the fire. The who one who does not know God are racing down the highway of hell. Paul while writing to the Thessalonians states, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 “when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength.”.

As a Church are we successful in taking our people to the next level, i.e., to be effective in the marketplace? Or still struggling to stagnate them in the first stage, inspiring them to be in the faith. This is the best way to gauge your effectiveness and the Church’s effectiveness. Churches are stagnating in the first phase; the need of being inspired to be in the Lord. And then have convincing excuses on why they are not able to influence and inspire their friends with the gospel. One reason we lack the opportunity to share our faith is because we have little or no meaningful contact with non-Christians. Non-Christians are not hearing our message, because they’re not within the sound of our voices! The gospel hasn’t lost its power. We have simply lost their audience!

Understand the cycle of the Christian life.  You are not just responsible for your soul but also of your neighbours. 

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What are you doing with the seed?

  

By the word ‘seed’ we all know what it is meant for. The basic, straight, and specific purpose, that is grows to be sown back. We don’t need to have a degree to understand this simple idea. But in Christian world this meaning is smothered, stretched, and extended to give a new purpose and a meaning. Read this verse carefully, “Now the one who provides seed for the Sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”. 2 Corinthians 9:10 CSB. I have heard it quite often this interpretation that says money and resources given to a person are for the purpose of sowing back to receive more.

This chapter 2 Corinthians 9, urges Christians in the Corinthian church to follow through on their commitment. They had agreed to participate in a collection for suffering Christians in Jerusalem. Paul says he should not even need to write to them about the collection, which he calls the "ministry for the saints" (2 Corinthians 9:1). The offerings in the New Testament were very different from the Old Testament tithes, which is still practised and emphasized conveniently for a specific advantage. Let me clarify this. The offerings are inclusive of giving to Church, for Missions (1Timothy 5:17-18), Relief work (Acts 12:25; 1 Corinthians 16:1; 2 Corinthians 8:4; 8:7 9:12; Hebrew 13:16 and for Widows and Orphans (1 Timothy 5:3; James1:27).

Today, the concept of tithes is continued to be on the top of the Christian priority because the leaders know if the mandated percentage is removed then the giving, amounting to that 10% percentage will drop down, for sure. Therefore, this concept stays as the number one rule in the Church institution. Scripture never mandates a specific amount each Christian or church must give. Paul even refuses to name a percentage of income or belongings. Instead, God's word sets a standard according to what each person has decided to give. Well, the intention of the blog is not about inducing a conviction to make a believer give, but to sow themselves for the Great Commission; the mission Christ mandated for all.

I usually say this that the congregation is the under-utilized, unempowered, unengaged people group for the mission work. Most of the Christian research study states that more than 90% of Christians have never shared the gospel even once in their lifetime. Unfortunately, it does not alarm the body of Christ. We have robbed the congregation of its purpose for Christ’s mission. Attending the Church, week after week and paying their offerings become the top, satisfying and only priority for all the people. Pastors and Leaders, if you have people following you then they are the seeds that you need to sow back in to make them fruitful and multiplying.

In this context let me point out what Solomon questioned, “Why is there money in the hand of the fool to buy wisdom, when he has no common sense or even a heart for it?” (Proverbs 17:16 AMP) As a metaphor why is one holding the seeds as part of congregation when the leader does not use them for the right purpose. Why are they not equipped to be effective gospel sharers in their sphere of influence. Burk Parson made this powerful statement, “Just because there's a church building on every corner doesn't mean the gospel is preached on every corner.”. Church is the people, the disciple of Christ, the word overused little more than 260 times than the word Christians which is used only 3 times in the New Testament. Discipleship today, has become a training program and a certification course. Dear Church, don’t just hold them accountable for not paying the Church offerings or failed attendance for the Church activity, but for sharing the gospel which is everyone’s responsibility. Every individual is a mobile Church, don’t institutionalize the person.  Consider the way Jesus operated. John Mac Arthur puts it beautifully, “Jesus' entire ministry was in the street, in the field, in other people’s homes, in synagogues, on the road, on the sea, with only occasional retreats into isolation to restore His energy, rest His body, and fellowship privately with His disciples.”. Jesus' purpose is our purpose too.

Remember the parable of the talent, which is usually referred to business and exhibiting one’s skill set, but what if it is about the seed the people. We are supposed to be used for discipleship and multiplication. Many are like the guy with one talent preserved it safe and were called useless. We know how he was condemned to eternal damnation. “And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 25:30 CSB. Our responsibility lies in sowing the seed to get the maximum produce as said in John 12:24 "Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.".

 

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Gospel becoming a choice and convenience for many!

 

This blog https://liferedefined4god.blogspot.com/?m=1is committed to ignite Churches and the good believers to move from their safe comfort zone and be where they are supposed to be. If you carefully notice you would find that we are often a good Church believer but a failed disciple maker. The reason I keep emphasising on this topic on mission is because the Great Commission, the mandate of Christ has been successfully substituted with “good” programs that has the potential to build spiritual life, ensure active participation in the Churches and build financial security as the result of people’s participation. The Church is happening but the going out never gained momentum at all and in most cases stagnated, and worst polluted. Probably some of the below mentioned reasons can help the people to move from the common spiritual fallacies.

The world of the Church members is the Church and Christian Circle: Every attention of the Church member is Church focused and limited to Christian association only.  Is it bad? Not at all, but what has happened is that they failed to see the world around them. Either they are misled or hijacked.  The world is among us – as our neighbours, our co-workers, friends, and relatives – but we fail to see them as sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36). Somehow, we hear the words of the Great Commission without recognizing the opportunities around us to develop gospel-centred friendship.

Pastors fail to model the Great Commission task: Leaders whose ministries are built on the Bible often do proclaim the mandate. Unless a pastor bleeds for his neighbours and the nations to know Christ, the church he leads will not live out this burden. Most often the Sunday 2 to 3 hours Church Service depending on your Church Culture and denomination becomes the priority. The success of the Church, meetings are only gauged by the attendance, participation, and offerings, which is the ABC model i.e., Attendance, Building and Cash. How can one expect their Church members to reach out in their sphere of influence? Failure to see the passion in their Pastors and Church leaders for soul have doused their hunger for souls.

Churches tell them to go, without teaching them how. My experience in working closely with Churches and leaders from around the world I have noticed this, though many churches tell the people to share the gospel with their neighbours but seldom train them to do so. People are challenged to go to the nations without adequately assuring them of training and support. When we tell without teaching, we shouldn’t be surprised when our churches only talk about the Great Commission.

When people are seen as asset and source of income. As hard as this statement sounds, it is true. The believers are seen as income source that is why if a believer especially a big giver stops attending his usual Church, they are sought in all possible manner to ensure they are back. The false ideology that if he has stopped coming to his Church and goes to other fellowships they are seen as lost and will never make it to eternal home. The Church is regretting because the person is probably a major income source. These are bitter truths but is a common spectacle.  This is not a problem for the Mega Church. Here, people find the Church for affiliation and identity. You can come anytime and can choose to stay anonymous and may even stop anytime. You will never be noticed.

Today, sharing the gospel has become a matter of convenience and the last priority for many, in general. Hardly people are thinking about it. In such situations it forces me to question their encounter with Christ they claim in the first place. One cannot experience the gift of salvation and not talk about it. Something is seriously amiss, don’t you think so? Peter and John in the worst situation when they were threatened and warned to not speak about Christ said this, "for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20 CSB. This is the language of the disciple. Probably if I must rephrase in today's context then it would go like this, "we are unable to stop speaking about what we have experienced and what the Bible tells us to do". The Early Church had one top priority and that is to share Christ. What is your Church priority? How many people are active in sharing the gospel in your Church today? You have all programs to build them spiritually. But what does that mean if he/she has not been able to lead one person to Christ. Think about it!

 

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Effective discipleship Strategy!

 

If you are assuming that the purpose of the Church, is branding the Church building with your registered denominational tag and making the Church building visible for the world, and keeping the people busy with programs, then probably you have got it all wrong. The goal of ministry isn’t to keep people busy in church activities—the goal is to equip people to become more like Christ and live out their purpose as part of the body of Christ.

Our natural tendency is to think we need to offer more ministries and more programs to encourage more steps of spiritual formation, but that is faulty thinking: Over 500,000 church attenders from more than 2,000 churches participated in the Reveal survey, which gives us a clearer picture of how people take steps toward Christ. The data specifically found: “Increased church activity does not lead to spiritual growth.”

Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson wrote about the learnings from this research in the book, Move: What 1,000 Churches Reveal About Spiritual Growth, “Unfortunately, churches often make things harder by obscuring the goal—to become more like Christ—with a complicated assortment of activities… When the church incessantly promotes all the things people should do, it’s very easy for them to lose sight of the real goal—which is who they should become.”

Tony Morgan in helping the Churches to move from Program to real impact, states this, “The Key to Ineffective Discipleship: Programs”. And he says this, while churches should be in the disciple-making business, they often have no intentional discipleship strategy. Instead, churches tend to opt for a program-driven model that simply ends up keeping their people busy in church activities.

When churches take this program-driven approach, it creates several challenges:

·        Ministries within a church start competing with each other for people’s time and attention.

• It feeds a consumer-mindset where the church promotes programs and events for people to attend rather than equipping people to do God’s work.
• Churches continue to add programs as the church grows, creating additional complexity.
• People are made to just pay to the Church with a sense of obligation without a conviction to participate in the actual mission. i.e., share the gospel in the sphere of their influence.

The solution to this challenge is to move from programs to a path. And the path or the journey is to equip the people to be a disciple-maker, not a Sunday crowd where the Church is benefited with all types of offering and all leave satisfied. Establishing a clear Discipleship Path is all about helping people move from where they are now to where God wants them to be. Everyone has a next step they can take:

A person new to faith may need to concentrate on biblical teaching and spiritual disciplines.

A more mature Christian may need to take steps toward reaching those outsides of the faith.

Each step on the Discipleship Path must have an easy to access on-ramp. I want to refer to Tony Morgan’s 5 stages of people’s journey.

Stage 1- Not interested.

Stage 2- Spiritually Curious

Stage 3- Believer

Stage 4- Being discipled.

Stage 5- Disciple Maker

When the Church finds where their members are and slowly move towards the final stage which is to equip them as a disciple maker you then actually fulfil the purpose of the Church.

In most of the churches today, we have a measurement problem. It’s not necessarily with finances or attendance, but with the one thing we’re tasked with doing: making disciples.

 

This raises two fairly important questions:

What does spiritual progress look like?

And how can we help people recognize movement in their own journey?

When our initiatives revolve around the 5 stages and move people from stage 1 to stage 5 the true purpose of the body of Christ is made complete. The Church is the only hope for the dying world and that means every believer is equipped to be a disciple maker and a missionary for Christ.

  

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