Church Protected Mission Ignored! Part-10

 “As he approached and saw the city, he wept…” Luke 19:41

I want to thank you all took the effort to read all the series under this topic “Church Protected Mission ignored”. This is the last series under this title. The intention of this blog is not to bring forth good content and excite the reader but to bring about a stronger conviction towards the mission. Church is inclusive of Christ’s Mission to the lost soul. However, in the process of busy managing the Church, mission to the unreached has suffered. We all want to believe everything is working well in our ministry and stay satisfied. In this series I am trying to bring about the missing elements and all that we intentionally and unintentionally overlook. We need a revival in our Churches. As Leonard Ravenhill stated, “In revival, God is not concerned about filling empty churches, He is concerned about filling empty hearts.”.

We are all familiar with the shortest verse in the Bible and can say without hesitation, “Jesus wept”. We see this happen in two incidents. I would like to dwell on one of them. But then why did He weep? Allow me to put in context the incident where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. How much He yearned that the people in the city would believe the Messiah and find the truth. The Mission of Jesus was never to establish the largest Church in an identifiable, locatable place. It wouldn’t be easy for Jesus to do that way at all. In fact, it may now convince us to think that if He did that, no doubt He would have had the largest crowd of the century.

The Bible records the fame of Jesus spread throughout the region. The Bible says "Then the news about him spread throughout Syria. So they brought to him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. And he healed them. Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan." (Matthew 4:24-25 CSB). Jesus could always have followed the model of establishing everything in one place. People would have anyhow reached Him. Instead, He kept on moving as recorded in Matthew 9:35 "Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.".

Contrary to His model, we want to be locationalized, stabilized and build without moving an inch. We follow the wrong path for revival and expect it to happen. Are we serious about following the pattern our Lord Jesus has left for us?

 Our master was not able to control His emotions when He saw the city which had the Messiah yet missed the opportunity to find the savior in their lives, He wept. Today, many of the mission headquarters are found in the prominent cities. The purpose of its existence is not always channelizing to Mission work. The Organisation, Ministries and Church building survives, however. But the true mission sadly has become an enterprise. True mission is the replica of Jesus’ 1-12-72 model in all possible manner that I presented in my 3^rd series. Ray Ortlund states, “The worst that can happen to a church is not catastrophic disaster but the tragic nothingness, the empty inconsequentiality, of dull "success" -- with a faithful doctrinal statement, good attendance, money flowing in, but it isn't for Jesus, and the Spirit has departed.”.

For most of us we think all is well with our ministry and Church as it still survives. The surviving is sadly gauged by the success of fund flow. If Jesus happened to live in body in our times. I am sure Jesus would have wept over many Churches existing and thriving devoid of His presence. How saturated is your city with the Gospel? Are you seriously moved with compassion? Are your eyes welling up with tears?

Jesus wept in two instances as we all know. 1. Over the city and 2. Over the person in the case of Lazarus. Today the so-called Christians are dead like Lazarus for years and yet not buried. Spiritually dead without the mission. All are taught to be busy and concerned enough to protect Church structure and facility in order be religiously sacred. When will we be concerned over lives and city? Protect the mission and carry the mission He has left for us to ardently follow.

   

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Church Protected, Mission Ignored! Part-9

           Holistic Mission

God is holistic and therefore the Church mission is holistic too! It is an integration of spiritual and physical component. Jesus’ intervention was both physical and spiritual. His mission statement in Luke 4:18-19 states, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”.  The greatest two commandment is an emphasis to love God and love others. Loving others is not necessarily a spiritual deal always. It is demonstrating the gospel of love in action.

David Bosch reminds with these words about the purpose of the Church, “the Church is both a theological and a sociological entity, inseparable union of the divine and the dusty.”.  The early Church carefully followed the holistic model of a Church. They existed with a vibrant evangelism model, active Church fellowship and with a structured social intervention. Acts 4:32-35 displays a divine purpose of the Church movement. “ Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. ³³ And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, ³⁵ and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.”.  Is this ever followed in today’s Church fellowship? This has become almost impossible to be followed today. Then, they never rationalised much. It was spontaneous expression of commitment to the holistic Church mission model. The outcome of this approach is found in Acts 2:47 “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”. The movement received favor from the community and then we see daily people were saved and were becoming part of the Church fellowship. Today many Churches are stagnant with zero growth and in many other cases people just float from one fellowship to another.

Quite often James 1:27 is quoted, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”. How many Churches are taking it seriously? Today even the most vulnerable the widows, orphans, the abused are hardly recognised by majority of Churches today. Their value is gauged by how much they are able to give to the Church. They are spoken as an example where Pastors challenges the congregation by saying, if these people can pay why not others. All becoming  part of business transaction. We live in such a pathetic condition unfortunately.

We cannot pass by without referring to Job who fits into a perfect category of following the Holistic Mission. He was not only a righteous and blameless before God but was reaching out to the poor, needy and the vulnerable. Read this carefully, Job 29:11-17 “When the ear heard, then it blessed me, And when the eye saw, then it approved me; ¹² Because I delivered the poor who cried out, The fatherless and the one who had no helper. ¹³ The blessing of a perishing man came upon me; I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. ¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know. ¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth.”. Church, is this your model you are following? How are you preserving the mission? Is the Church consciously willing to stand with the poor and the needy? Karl Barth notes that when we see an image of the cross, we would do well to always include the other two crosses next to Jesus. Jesus spent his dying moments associated with the lowest of the low, keeping company with those the world condemns. The point of the gospel writers telling the story of Jesus next to two thieves is not to emphasise  who believed in him and who didn’t. The major point (my opinion) is to locate God.

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Church protected Mission ignored! Part-8

 Boasting on experiences than Christ’s mission!

 2 Corinthians 12: 2-7 “I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago…”

Experiences can be misleading when it is preached and forced upon to be a doctrine. Today, in Christendom there are innumerable expressions and each denomination cling on to one which best suits them and make it a mandatory requirement to be part of the Church. It becomes an identity for the Church.  We Christians and Churches are gravely divided over our personal spiritual experiences and vision. Ecumenism is a superficiality in Christendom. Just coming together once in a while and talking about unity is not what Jesus emphasised.

Christians are supposed to be united in the mission; God entrusted us with it. There is one mission given to all and i.e., to go and make disciples. Why are we so choosy over doctrines and mar Christian faith before the world and create an offense which prevents them to stay away from Christ the Savior? I understand that there are many doctrines and cults that prohibit giving glory to God and don’t acknowledge Jesus as only way and the Savior of the world. I am not referring to them.  But dividing over experiences, liturgies, worship & expression of the Holy Spirit are creating a void from the actual mission Christ gave to the Church.

There can be various expressions of happiness, for example, one may jump with joy, another may just be excited without any physical movements. Let me quote few examples, King David was leaping and dancing with joy before the ark of the covenant. It was an expression of extreme happiness and gratitude before God (2 Samuel 6:14,16). Does it mean this experience is the copyright of true worship and that it should pertain to a particular Church denomination? Not at all! Expressions are not a theology.  The Bible says, King David was wearing an ephod made of fine linen consisting of two pieces covering both back and front (Exodus 28:6-8, 31-32) And there are some serious comments referring him to be almost naked. Are we then ready to follow even that? Another example I wish to state about King Saul, which is recorded in 1 Samuel 19:23-24. It says, “So he went to Naioth in Ramah. The spirit of God also came on him and as he walked along, he prophesized until he entered Naioth in Ramah. Saul then removed his clothes and also prophesised before Samuel; he collapsed and lay naked all the day and all that night. That is why they say, Is Saul also among the Prophets?” How do you translate this? Now, can this expression be a standard for prophesying? Stop confusing expressions and experiences to the Biblical mandate entrusted to us.

Today, Churches are fighting over so many doctrines. One major thing is over tongues and prophesying. Though Bible has given a clear parameters over the operation of spiritual gifts, yet there are many who are ambiguous and contradictory over this. How do you bring this all together? Let me take you to Paul’s revelations who at one instance narrates a little on his vision to third heaven. But most importantly want to refer a sentence that he emphasises. 2 Corinthians 12: 2-7 “I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the  body I don’t know God Knows . . . was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak. . . especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore , so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me. . .”.  The most important thing in this for me is when he says this happened fourteen years ago. If it was us today, we would immediately develop a new language, a new doctrine and a new theology with a Church denomination and a training school. For Paul that was a revelation and a personal experience, and he did not tamper with the main mission to spread the gospel.

Church, your mission is not your spiritual experiences and your personal vision, but rather being successful in mobilizing your Church to win souls for Christ. Enough of building frameworks and walls to secure your Church. Let Christ’s mandate, the mission be nurtured and released.

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Church protected Mission ignored! Part-7

 

image by amenic181

John 12:24 “… unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”.

I recollect my experience working on a social project for a tribe in India. The terrain was not conducive at all for farming due to the extreme unlevelled land. Moreover, this terrain received very less rainfall compared to any other places in the state. Hence, our organization granted funds for levelling the ground and introduced hybrid seeds for a high yield. This initiative brought life among the tribal people because the yield was unimaginably high and helped solve few perennial problems like family migration, school dropouts and other issues. As a sustainability plan, the concept of seed bank was adopted where the seeds were preserved for future sale and use.

I thought I will use this concept of seed bank and draw parallels to unfold the work of the mission through the Church. The seed bank is not a preservation storage cell where the seeds are supposed to remain there forever. There may be variety of seeds, which are preserved in the seed bank, but all seeds are there to be sowed in the field. Unless we just want to have it for a public display, I am sure it is never meant to remain that way.

Seed is life and seed belongs to the field. Every person who finds the Savior and becomes a disciple is a seed to be sowed. This however is downplayed in Christendom, more specifically by the Churches today. Churches preserve the seed in their bank and ensure their yield is converted to money and benefits the Church institution. Let me remind and quote of what Jesus said about the concept of sowing. In John 12:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”. If you know the context in which Jesus says, you will notice it was said in response when the gentiles expressed their desire to Philip by saying this, in Verse 21 “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”. If you want to see a desperate life wanting to see Jesus then you should be prepared to sow the seed in the field, there is no other alternative.

Paul says the same in 2 Corinthians 9:10, “Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, [h]supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”.  Notice the words “seed to the sower”. Pastors and Missionaries, if the seeds are supplied to you, it is for a divine grandeur purpose connected with Christ’s mandate, the Great Commission. Do not over-preserve it to make it useless. Many members today are seeds who are and who will never be sown back. They will be taught to stay inside the box and be there faithful all their lives, like fishes in the aquarium. And then we hypocritically and superficially declare we need revival in our churches and in our cities. We Churches and Christians involve in all kinds of prayer, like, intercessory prayer, Esther’s prayer, Nehemiah’s prayer, etc. and plead for souls, but least bothered with the seeds God has already entrusted to us. Are you seeing the deception dear people? I am deeply concerned and mourning over the grave superficiality of Christians today. It is time we repent. We are happy over the Sunday celebrations because it gives us power, adds wealth, and adorns us with status. At the end of the day seeds are wasted away. The members come and go week after week as a ritual. Churches are happy with the numbers because their institutions are preserved. The fertile land is ready, but the seeds are withheld from sowing. Church, since you are the seed bank, preserve it but then soon find ways to sow it back. Preserve the Mission not your Church institution.

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Church protected Mission ignored! Part-6

 “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. ". Luke 10:2 CSB

This article will emphasize the position of Missions today. It states the understanding and misunderstanding of Churches regarding the mission of Christ. Mission is the most misunderstood term in today’s Christendom. Everyone is deriving their own definition to suit their existence. The definition of Mission eventually culminates to one broad field i.e., “Ministry” and it is classified as Church ministry, worship ministry, Music ministry, media ministry, etc. Quickly each ministry gradually is institutionalized and thrives for its own purpose.

Let me remind you the incidence of the Babylon Tower where people came together to build the tallest tower in the city for themselves that would be matchless, reaching the sky. The need to exhibit ultimate power is seen through this incident. We all know how the Lord disrupted the whole thing and brought it to an end. I want to call this the Babel Tower Syndrome. Even today Pastors and leaders are running pillar to post to mobilize people for money so that they can establish their own kingdom and call it a Mission centre. Facility, property, resources, money are constantly shown as the biggest need for Missions. I do accept that these are necessities indeed and that we all wish to have enough resources to do many things pertaining to the Church’s mission. But these are not the actual reason due to which the Great Commission is ignored and has become redundant.

It looks like all have the same reason, the lack of funds to blame for the failed mission. When Jesus pointed out the biggest concern for unfilled mission, it was the lack of laborers (Luke 10:2) and not the lack of funds. It is we who have created and amplified the financial needs as a big problem. Churches and people become the means to achieve the financial target. Today, you see anywhere, Christian leaders and Churches are advertising their financial needs and mobilizing the funds at all costs. Paul comments in 2 Corinthians 2:17 “For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.”. It is unfortunate to see leaders are not hesitant to beg, borrow and steal to establish God’s kingdom. It is a hard observation, yet a stark reality.

If financial need happens to be the roadblock for your ministry to reach out to people, then technically God is to be blamed, not you.  When a mission is given, the resources need to be provided by the one who gave the mission. God cannot be wrong. He did not introduce a ‘Fund model’ for effective ministry but brought in the ‘Disciple model’. We all know it doesn’t always have to be financial stability to share the gospel. All want a mega program where the turnover of money is the goal. We think we should accelerate the gospel work and therefore, we need to accelerate financial mobilization for the same. God never thinks that financial need will pose as a threat to mission rather it is the disobedience to the call. What percentage of your believers are successful in reaching out and leading a new soul to Christ? Based on Jesus' 1-12-72 Model   is your Church excited and equipped enough to reach out to the non-Christians?

Mission is the cooperative act. The ones who are rich with resources have a greater responsibility, to join hands in mission work and spread of the gospel. The Gospel is holistic and therefore the mission approach should be holistic too.  Apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 9:13 “.Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity  in sharing with them and with everyone.”.  It is required that people demonstrate their obedience to the gospel and with their resources to create a holistic impact. In verse 12 , Apostle Paul acknowledges the ministry of service, which is overflowing in many expressions to reach people with the gospel. Let Christ’s mission flow through each member in your congregation so that the Church is a movement to impact lives and transform communities.

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Church Protected Missions ignored! Part-5

 

Mark 1:17, “Follow me” Jesus told them, I will make you become fishers of men”.

In my last blog the edicts of Jesus, the Great Commission, the Great Commandment, and the Great Compassion was explained. In case you have missed to read the same you may click HERE. Let me unfold what it means to be a disciple of Christ. When Jesus started His ministry preaching repentance and the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17), He starts connecting with people. The book of Mark records when He met Simon and Andrew. He asked them to follow Him. It says in Mark 1:17, “Follow me” Jesus told them, I will make you become fishers of men”. The commission comes with a responsibility.

The word "disciples" was used to describe believers over 250 times in the Gospels and in Acts. The word Christian is only used 3 times. If these two terminologies - Christian and disciple, exists in the Bible, then probably we need to seriously find out what exactly each means. The word Christian first time appears in Acts 11:26 where it records “the disciples where first called Christians at Antioch”. It was not the other way round. You don’t become a Christian because you are born in a Christian family nor because you go to Church. Maybe Church attendance makes you a Christian, or baptism, or confirmation, or having someone lay hands on your head and speaking in tongues.  However, the Bible does not define that term or establish it as the goal to become a Christian. Everyone seems to be fighting for their type of Christian to be recognized as the true Christian, even if it totally irrelevant!

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Christian this way, “Christian’s are one’s who professes belief the teaching of Jesus Christ.”. After their training the apostles were commanded by Jesus to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19b). Though Christian is first found in Acts 11:26, the word disciple is found much earlier and more frequently in Acts. So, we can safely assume that the word "Christian" was built on the foundation of the word "disciple." Not vice versa. Without a discipleship, those believers would likely never have been called Christians. Today, all true disciples are Christians. But not all Christians are true disciples. Jesus has given the Church a Great Commission. He has clearly told us what we are to do: "Go and make disciples" But, instead we focus on making Christians. The word Christian has no biblical meaning apart from the word disciple. If today's Christianity is based on a foundation other than true biblical discipleship, it is not biblical Christianity.

One Feisty Scottish Pastors says; “The savior is not looking for men and women who will give their spare evenings to Him-or their weekends or their years of retirement. Rather He seeks those who will give Him first place in their lives. –Too often we look on Christianity as an escape of hell and guarantee of heaven. Beyond that we feel that we have every right to enjoy the best that this life has to offer. We know that there are those strong verses on discipleship in the Bible but we have difficulty reconciling them with our ideas of what Christianity should be.”.

Ensure disciples are increasing as recorded in Acts 6:1 “Now in those days when the disciples were increasing in number…”. When disciples increase in number there is revival, growth and impact. But if the members who think they are Christians increase in number probably your offerings may increase but the mission would still be stagnated.

 

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Church protected Mission ignored! Part-4

 

“Go and make disciples..” Matt 28:18-20

 

My last blog was addressing Jesus’ 1-12-72 model which was taken from Luke 8:1, 9:1; Luke 10:1. You may check the same HERE in case you have missed to read the same. The mission is all about sending and reaching out the unreached. If all our activities fail to connect with the Great Commission, then the purpose of our existence and our Church existence is a gross waste. And that can also mean we have created our own purpose for our personal existence and security. Church is the combination of coming together to worship, be nurtured and to go out to the sinners with the gospel which is the outcome of coming together as body of Christ.

The mandate of Christ is that we carefully connect everything to the same. I want to call it as the edicts of Jesus. They are the 1. Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) which is the command to go and make disciples. Along with it comes the supplementary commandment which we find in Acts 1:8, to be witnesses for Him in every place. The Great Commission is not a choice or for selected few, but for every individual who is the follower of Christ. And then we have 2. The Great Commandment (Mark 12:30-31) i.e., to Love God and to love our neighbors. Jesus clarified what it means to love our neighbor in (See Luke 10:29-37). He quotes the example of the ‘good Samaritan’.  Loving our neighbor is reaching out to people in need without expecting things in return. Even this is connected to the gospel. Basically, demonstrating the gospel of love in action. And the third one is 3. The Great Compassion (Matthew 25:31-46) where, in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Jesus emphasises the dire need to reach out to the vulnerable. You cannot just obey the Great Commission and downplay the Great Commandment because it costs your money and your time.

Krish Dhanam puts it beautifully, “If you practice Great Commission and share about Christ you are an irritant, and if you practice Great Commandment and talk about the love of Christ you are interesting, but if you do both Great Commission and Great Commandment together you are irresistible.”. Church, is all your activities and programs interwoven with Christ’s mission mandate? What percentage of offerings and resources of your Church are used for mission compared to other activities and programs? What is the Church working towards tirelessly? How mobile is your Church? Has it become stagnant for long that it is slowly becoming a monumental piece? These are some serious questions to ponder upon. Never forget this, the Church isn’t a building to be maintained, it’s people to be mobilized.

The mission is to make disciples of Jesus. Don’t settle for just well-behaved pagans or self-righteous Pharisees. The disciples are the ones who are irresistible. They cannot just be a member of the Church Community and have goals and wishes to grow in the Lord all their life yet never once shared the gospel to their Non-Christian friends.  Leonard Ravenhill has a serious allegation against the people who know God but not His mission. He states this, “Most of our people don’t know God! They know religion. They know formality. They know ritual. They know how to clap and sing.  But really knowing God-hearing his voice, submitting to his voice, submitting to his commandments- is something entirely different.”.

Church there is a huge difference between a Christian and a disciple. The regular attendees of your Church who pay the tithes and offerings, enjoying worshipping together and occasionally takes part in your Church programs yet fails to be a missionary the rest of the week besides Sunday is more a Christian with a brand. Disciples are entirely different. However today, to be a disciple they are required to go through a course on Discipleship to become informed disciples. We will be seeing the actual meaning of Disciples and the work connected with it in the next chapter.

 

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