Ambassadors for Christ!

 

We all are given roles and responsibilities in life, whether it is the role of being a husband or a wife, an employer or an employee, a student or a teacher. But do you know that as believers of Christ, we are also given the role of being ambassadors of Christ? The Mission of an Ambassador: We are all on a mission as believer of Christ to bring the message of the gospel to those who don’t belong to God’s Kingdom: the message of hope and reconciliation between sinful men to a Holy God.

Christians are not merely people who hold certain beliefs. We have been called to represent the King of glory in a world that does not know Him. Our words, our conduct, and our message are meant to reflect the authority of the One who sent us. Scripture says, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us” 2 Corinthians 5:20.

An ambassador does not speak his own opinions. He carries the message of the king he represents. In the same way the church does not invent its message. We proclaim the gospel that has been entrusted to us. Christ Himself commanded this when He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” Matthew 28:19–20. But somehow witnessing and demonstrating the obedience to the Great Commission has been partially or fully ignored by Churches and believers. Programs and activities have taken the precedence. 

In all religion their so-called sacred places are the motivation and attraction for people to visit week after week and more importantly on special days because for them gods dwell in religious structure. People display their reverence while visiting worship facilities and fulfil just religious obligations. Likewise, Christians today resemble them by fulfilling their obligation to pay weekly visit to the Church and pay their offerings, and with that their duties come to an end. As long as the crowd assemble and money is secured, all involved in the entire system are happy. However, we fail to realize our responsibility goes beyond just religious obligations. I have addressed this in detail in one of my blogs, "Cycle of Christian life"

Jesus claimed this while He was on the earth. John 5:17 “My father is still working, and I am working also.”. Jesus was not working to build the food security and for the future of His followers. He came to seek and save the lost. And all the disciples were committed to do so. Today, all other things have taken the priority including the ministry which has become the source of sustenance and fulfilling personal agendas.  Jesus warned the people with these words, "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life". John 6:27. This does not mean we are not supposed to be employed. Every platform becomes an opportunity to be an ambassador for Christ, sharing the good news.

The Movement Christ started was meant to be sustained and integrated in our schedule. We have a royal responsibility. But unfortunately, we see in many cases this is dying under the umbrella of the so-called institution. Today the priority has shifted to religious obligations and fulfilling the demands of an institution. The Movement Christ started, over the period has curbed the momentum and stagnated under the umbrella of institution. Institution is not at fault; it is supposed to organize the movement, equip the believers and remind them of their responsibility to be Ambassadors for Christ. Mark the observation of this famous historian Rodney Stark (Historian) on institution. “For too long, historians have accepted the claim that the conversion of the Emperor Constantine caused the triumph of Christianity. To the contrary, he destroyed its most attractive and dynamic aspects, turning a high-intensity, grassroots movement into an arrogant institution controlled by an elite who often managed to be both brutal and lax.” Sometimes I want to conclude that the movement and institution which was supposed to be an ally and partner has become the residual. 

Unless the Pastors and leaders of the Church are intentional in modelling  to be the carrier of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3) and being the ambassadors we cannot expect the believers to do so. Can we retrospect on these two big questions. What are you modelling? What is your church modelling? May we remind and ignite every believer to be an ambassador for Christ in their families, community, workspace and wherever they go. 

 

 You may read the last blog  HERE

You can follow on Twitter

The Church is not for Christians!

I request you to hear me out before you are offended by the title of this blog. I am sure we will agree if we define Christians as people who believe​ in Jesus Christ and follow His teachings. One definition state, “a Christian is an individual who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.”. So, by definition, the key characteristics that make a Christian is that they believe in Jesus Christ and His teachings to be true, then this obviously makes them part of the Church. With church comes regular attendance and the big question, “which Church?”. There are so many denominations and divisions each claiming to be the true Church, Christ spoke about, but all have missed to understand what Christ meant when He took His disciples to Caesarea Philippi. Let me explain the context Christ introduced the word, Church. 

He took all the disciples to the most perverse evil locale and there He said I will build the Church. The ruins of this city, Caesarea Philippi, still remains a popular tourist destination even today. The village is now called by its Arabic name, Panias. This wasn’t part of the original tour route, but Jesus made an inconvenient, controversial, out-of-the-way detour to visit this city, and He didn’t come alone. He brought His brothers and friends, a group of twelve eager, young, impressionable men.

It is hard to overstate the hatred of Caesarea Philippi to the Jews of Jesus’s day. With shrines to Caesar and other false gods, including a large statue of the goat god Pan in a state of exaggerated sexual arousal, surrounded by attending nymphs, Caesarea Philippi was the opposite of holy Jerusalem. It was a place of darkness, debauchery and occultism—the modern equivalent of Las Vegas, San Francisco, Bangkok and voodoo-drenched Haiti rolled into one. No good Jew would defile himself by traveling to such an accursed place. Jesus went out with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Mark 8:27 CSB

While the ancient Canaanite storm deity, Baal, had been worshipped in this region for thousands of years, a few centuries of Greek culture had effectively rebranded Baal into the hedonistic goat god, Pan. Yet as lord of shepherds, music, pleasure and fear, Pan wasn’t just a Greek invention. His half-goat, half-man form had history dating back to ancient Israel (2 Chronicles 11:13-16). One the main temples in the city was dedicated to him. It didn’t stop there. In 20 BC, Herod the Great furthered the idolatrous reputation of the city by building a white marble temple dedicated to the worship of Augustus Caesar, who proclaimed himself lord of lord and king of kings. By the time of Jesus, the village was expanded again under the rule of Herod’s son, Philip, who renamed it in honor of both him and Caesar.

So, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’” (Mat. 16:13) and then Jesus defines the church to Peter by these powerful words, Matthew 16:18, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”.  The Church in the most uncomfortable terrain and place is meant for a purpose to reach out and influence the people with the gospel. Church is not just for people who call themselves Christians and give their attendance weekly in Church without taking Jesus to the evil, dark world. 

For the world Christianity is one of the major religions where currently, there are more than 2.64 billion Christians. Everybody counts themselves as Christians including the Roman Catholics and other cults. But the Bible introduces an intense word to describe Christians which you find in Acts 11:26, “…the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Who are the disciples? Disciples are not just followers and abide in Christ but are meant to be fruitful and multiply. In other words, they are the “DISCIPLE MAKERS’. This word ‘disciple’ is used more than 250 times in the gospels and in Acts. This word is not just a Christian jargon. With over usage it has lost its intensity.

For Christians their obligations end with Church attendance and Church programs. They can be more conscious in demonstrating their reverence to Pastors & Bishops than to God. Present day Christians are more like consumers attending weekly to receive something that makes them think and feel better. Allan Hirsch the missiologist explains that it is a disaster to build around consumers. Ponder on the statement he made, “You cannot build a church on consumers. They’ll desert you at a moment’s notice because they have no commitments beyond meeting their own needs. Jesus can take twelve disciples and build a movement that changes the world. He could never have done that with consumers.”. Christ isn’t interested in how magnificent your Church building is; He desires individual disciples who collectively constitute His precious Church. 

The early Church in Acts was emphasizing more on disciples than Christians. Mark these passages, Acts 6:1 “Now in those days when the disciples were increasing in number…”  Acts 6:7 “The disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number”. When the disciples grow, the Church grows. When Christians fill the Church with no commitment then Church limits to biological growth and Church hoppers. Can we build disciples actively sharing the gospel and reflect Christ to people who are passing away from this world without Christ?

You may read the last blog  HERE

You can follow on Twitter

 

The Key is the local church!

We have been directly told or overheard that the Church is the only hope to the dying world. Indeed, it is true! God has meant the Church (the body of Christ) to represent and reflect Christ and to carry Christ’s mission to the world. To what extent is the Church missional today? The Lausanne Movement members attempted to define “missional congregation” in one of the papers.  Before I could quote few excerpts from the paper, I wish to explain what Lausanne movement is about. It is a global, evangelical initiative, founded in 1974 by Billy Graham and John Stott, dedicated to connecting Christian leaders and influencers to accelerate global mission and collaboration. Centered on the "whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world," it focuses on evangelism, discipleship, and addressing social issues.

‘It is our deep conviction that congregations both in the West and in the Two-Thirds Worlds must make the transition to become “missional congregations”. What is a missional congregation? They are those communities of Christ-followers who see the church as the people of God who are sent on a mission. Their identity is largely rooted in what they do apart from a church service or a church building. They cease to yield to the Christendom assumptions that the surrounding culture will naturally want to come to church, or that coming to church is the goal of all missions. They no longer see cultures in terms of Christian and non-Christian. Instead, all cultures, be it the historic West, former colonies of the West, or countries with little Western contact are all equal candidates for mission involvement. These Christ-followers seek to embody the way of Christ within their surrounding cultures and not necessarily within the four walls of a church building or service.

Almost everyone has an image in their mind when they hear the words “local church.” The image may be a building on a stretch of rural hi-way or on a busy corner in the heart of a great city. It may be an image of smiling faces, friends and warm greetings as people gather at a building or outside in the open air. It may be a small group engaged in Bible study and prayer, or perhaps a larger group of dozens or even thousands of people meeting for worship. Whatever the image, one of the greatest challenges for local congregations today is to discern and be faithful to their special identity as Christ’s body designed and equipped by the Holy Spirit for God’s mission in the world.

Every local congregation is only a true representative of the body of Christ when they serve the world in mission. If the local church fails to “go” and instead waits for others to “come,” they are disobedient. If the church’s witness is only within our walls and not outward to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), the church neglects their primary calling as priests to the world. William Temple, former Archbishop of Canterbury, once noted that ‘the Church of Jesus Christ is the only cooperative society that exists primarily for the benefit of its non-members. The local church must regain the reputation as mission-driven and intensely passionate in responding to the world for the glory of the Lord.’

In this paper put together beautifully, it repeatedly points out one important fact that the Church witness cannot happen within the four walls of the building. Christ did not mean Church to be limited within a particular facility and if it does, then that would mean imprisoning people to a particular condition that would result in stunted growth. Church is all about equipping the believers to be an effective witness and be a disciple maker (Acts 1:8; 2 Timothy 2:2; Matt 28:19) beyond themselves.  Michael Goheen cites, “If the church is meant to point beyond itself to God’s kingdom, then it’s very structure must reflect a missionary identity rather than an inward concern for its own survival.”

Missiologist Alan Roxburgh notes that, “If you were born between 1925 and 1945 there’s a 60 percent chance you’re in a church today. If you were born between 1946 and 1964 there’s a 40 percent chance you’re in a church today. If you were born between 1965 and 1983 there’s a 20 percent chance you’re in a church today. If you were born after 1984 there is less than a 10 percent chance you’re in a church today.”  The bottom line is more and more people are less and less interested in the programs and activities of the church. We must move from thinking of the church as a vendor of religious goods and services to the called and sent missionary. This shift in how we understand the Church will reshape how we think about mission, discipleship, evangelism, vocation and scorecards.

Rowan Williams, theologian and former Archbishop of Canterbury makes a strong comment, “Start with the Church and the mission will probably get lost. Start with mission and it is likely that the church will be found.”. Instead of focusing on how to do church gathering  better, begin to rewrite the playbook. How are you going to empower and disciple all the people of God into His? We often wrongly assume that the primary activity of God is in the Church. Instead, the primary activity of God is in the world, and the Church is the instrument created by God to be sent into the world to participate in what He is already doing. Let us remind ourselves as Brad Brisco states, “the church doesn’t just send missionaries, the church IS the missionary.”. Majority of the Church’s witness must take place in neighborhoods, workplaces and public spaces. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Church to equip the people of God to participate in public life and engage in His mission in these spaces. Finally let me leave you with the following challenges by Brad Brisco (Abridged from Brad Brisco’s excerpt):

"Pastors model witnessing,

Equip believers to be a witness and share the gospel regularly,

Engage the city, 

Organize around Mission,

Bring Value, 

Seek restoration,

Make Disciples,

Then, birth a new church."

You may read the last blog  HERE

Resource link: Lausanne

You can follow on Twitter

What you wish to be and do differently?

 

Let me at the outset wish you all a blessed New Year 2026! 

What a joy to enter another brand-new year. I am sure we all have so much to thank God for what He has done in us and through us in the last year. May you continue to be fruitful and influence many lives in this new year 2026. Let me remind what Christ stated in His sermon on the mount “…let your light shine before others, so that they (people) may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Our existence is not a mere survival. When Christ said that you are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) He meant something definite. He expects us to shine where there is obscurity so that people can find their way, those who are plunging to a Christless eternity.  May the Lord help us to align our existence and what we wish to do towards His grandeur purpose. 

All of us whether an individual or a Church usually contemplate to do something new or different in the new year. In this context I wish to pose two big questions to the Church and the believers: 

1. What you wish to do differently in this New year? 
2. How you want to do it?

If you must ponder on these meaningful introspective questions, then probably you already have a bunch of things on queue. Usually, the list of things that would capture our attention as individuals are the areas that can enhance better revenue, add to our income, our status, be noticed, enhance our lifestyle for the better and to pacify our conscience we pray to become a better person. Churches may have lots of goals too, with a primary goal to see their Church growing. But are we ready to analyze if we are missing something? Only when we understand the problem correctly, we will be able to revamp appropriately. Brad Brisco the missiologist cites, "If you don't understand the problem, you'll fall in love with the wrong solution.". It is important to know what we are doing wrong. I am not referring to your church liturgy, order of service, Church management and administration. We are so well-versed and accustomed to follow a pattern within a framework that we usually don’t need help. I am referring to the purpose of our existence the purpose of the Church beyond a Church culture. Instead of focusing on how to do a Church gathering better, begin to rewrite the playbook. How you are going to empower and disciple all the people of God into His.

Every institution has a way of doing things and sustaining it like a company with a set of desired outcomes which includes profit and revenue. Sometimes it is possible for the Church world to get the monotonous cycle of a religious institution that manages the people without any specific outcomes. As I always state, measuring the church based on the ABC model, Attendance, Building and Cash. Most of the Churches fall into this cycle of thought to consider themselves a successful Church.  Churches are seen as a legendary Church that attracts crowds because at the end of the day Church crowd matters. 

Lesslie Newbigin puts it beautifully, "You can’t renew things by patching. You have to accept the fact that the old is old, and you have to be ready for what is radically new.” 

Brad Brisco puts it beautifully, Ecclesiology must first be about our identity, who we are and who we serve. Who the church IS, should determine what the church DOES. The proper order of questioning that should guide our church planting and church renewal efforts. 

1. Who is the church (essence/identity)
2. What does the church do (mission/vision)
3. How does the church organize (ecclesiology/leadership)

All the time we are busy showing the Church building is the house of the Lord where Christ lives. The reverence given to the Church buildings is becoming an idolatry. We want to ignite the people so that they do not miss the attendance. Like all religious shrines and worship places we draw the sentiments towards the place. Churches are continuing to put their best efforts to ensure believers commitment to be part of the Church and their obligations towards the duties to the Church - attendance and giving – as prime and sacred priorities. Many Churches are scared to emphasize that people are the Church, and they have an equal obligation to accommodate the people in their sphere of influence into their space, the Church. 

This idea of Church which Christ meant to establish has been misunderstood by majority. The consequence of this misunderstanding is that over 90% of Christians have not shared Christ to anyone in their lifetime. Let us not forget Christ called us to be a witness and a disciple maker. Thousands of Para-church mission organization have emerged lately working in parallel to the Churches to complement the church by trying to influence, train and equip the believers for a lifestyle of evangelism. 

What does the Church do? As this talks about the Mission and Vision of the Church it is important to clarify the existence, the outcomes and measurement. If this is vague you will have Church crowd that exists like the parable that talks about the talent and especially the unproductive guy who did nothing with the one talent given to him. If the Church can move their emphasis from Church activities to equipping believers to share their testimony and share the gospel then the Mission of Christ is honored. Today, in the difficult places where persecutions are high, Church buildings are demolished and church services are not happening regularly there you would notice the growth is rapid with many committing to follow Christ. We have no guarantee how long we would have the privilege to gather on Sundays in the Church buildings. Do we have an strategy how people can still be connected in situation like such and yet be productive in reaching people?

Follow the way Mark Chironna puts his thought, “When the God of a culture grows thin, faith shrinks into slogans and spirituality dissolves into sentiment. A thin God asks nothing of us, shapes nothing in us, and offers nothing sturdy when the weight of life presses in. But the Christian confession has never been of a thin God. It has always been of the God who takes on flesh, who steps into our history through the Incarnation, and bears the fullness of our human condition in His own life. A God like that carries substance. A God like that forms people with depth. The thinner our vision of God becomes, the thinner we become. What our moment needs is not a lighter, more adjustable deity. It requires the One whose embodied presence gives creation its meaning and gives the human person their true strength.”

How does the Church organize? Follow Christ’s mission model which I call it as Christ 1-12-72 mission model where it talks about the three categories of people in the Church.  1. The pastor, 2. The Church leadership Team, 3. The congregation: 

Luke 8:1 Jesus constantly was on the move to preach the gospel. (As a pastor are you still connected with the non-Christians. How many people have you led to Christ?) I am not referring to your Church believers.

Luke 9:1 The twelve disciples were appointed and sent. This is the Church leadership team.

Luke 10:1 Jesus calls 72 people (70 in local language) were appointed and sent. This signifies your Church.

If these 3 categories are not active then probably you are not doing it right all along. The Church needs to revamp and adjust to Christ’s mission and then to answer the next big question: How you want to do it talks about the strategy and the means? Every Church is missional and every believer is a witness there is no other big purpose beside this. Do you like to commit to be a burning and shining light as mentioned in John 5:35; Matthew 5:16, and be a missional Church like the early Church in this year 2026?

You may read the last blog  HERE

You can follow on Twitter