Succeeding

Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.

In the Jewish-Christian tradition, care of the powerless is central to the lifestyle of the people of God. The Law by which they were meant to implement God's covenant protects human rights, especially those of the most vulnerable.

Sacrificial giving is the kind that is done at great personal cost to the giver. But a wealthy person, by definition, is someone who has so much money that he can weather losses with ease. The very function of wealth is to shield its owner so that it is hard for him to do anything at great personal cost. Indeed, for this very reason Jesus says, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:24). It is not that the poor are more righteous in God’s sight than the rich; no, we are all equally hopeless (Romans 3:10). It is just that the rich are more likely to try to get along without God’s help. The upshot is that a wealthy person, in order to reach the point of sacrifice, must give a much larger amount than a poor person would. Christian generosity is certainly more complex than any particular dollar amount or percentage rate. But practically speaking, if a wealthy Christian wants to begin giving sacrificially, he must sit down and calculate a number large enough that it will cut noticeably (even painfully) into his standard of living, and start giving at that level. For those who need help determining that number, missiologist Ralph Winter offers this suggestion: “Deliberately and decisively adopt a missionary support level as [your] standard of living and [your] basis of lifestyle regardless of income.” If this “wartime lifestyle” seems hopelessly out of reach, consider what Jesus says to the rich: “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27).

Christ's global cause

The story of Adam and Even grips our hearts because it is not simply an ancient account of two people and their tragic mistake. It is our story as well. It is our personal tragedy. We share in this story both because Adam and Eve are our spiritual ancestors and because we mirror their behaviour in our own lives. Like the first humans, we have rebelled against God. Thus we live outside of God’s paradise. We yearn for the peace for which we were created, but never experience that peace, except in bits and pieces. Though we were meant to live in peace with God, our neighbours, our world, and even ourselves, we experience brokenness in all of these relationships.

For instance, we often assume that money exists for our own benefit, rather than for God or others. Pastor Andy Stanley tells a story about a little boy who was scolded by his mother because he refused to share his lunch with a classmate who had brought no lunch to school that day. The ironic point, Stanley says, is that we expect our children to know that possessions are for sharing, yet when it comes to our own affairs, we act as if possessions are for keeping. But why else, according to the Bible, should we give? First, we should give because it is a reasonable response to all God has done. Because God has shown such great mercy to His people by sending Christ to suffer in our place, it is fitting that we should offer ourselves as sacrifices to Him (Romans 12:1) and specifically in part by giving our money (2 Corinthians 8:8-9). Generous giving is an act of Christian worship. Second, we should give to show the genuineness of our Christian confession. Many people say they know Jesus, but those who really know Him show it by their lives, especially by their generosity (Matthew 25:31-46). When we give to the Lord, we put our money where our mouth is, so to speak. Third, we should give because the Lord Jesus (Luke 12:33) and His apostles (2 Corinthians 8:7) command us to give. Christian giving is certainly much more than a duty, but the biblical commands are unavoidable. Fourth, if specific instruction from the Scriptures were not enough, we should give because God promises to reward us for doing so (Luke 12:33). As it turns out, to give is not to throw money away, but rather to invest it for a staggering return. The Bible is certainly not lacking for reasons that we should give. Why would we not give?

We also remember Ecclesiastes 12 verse 14, which promises, "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" as well as Romans 2 verses 5 and 6, where Paul speaks of the day of God's wrath "when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done". It is a fearful thing even to imagine standing before God "from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away", and have nothing but our own wicked works to show for the time on earth the Almighty had given us. On that day the words of Paul the apostle will come true: "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God". (Rom 3 verse 19) The final word, of course, will be God's.

Recently, mega-church pastor Rick Warren found another way to describe what it means to live as a World Christian with the helpful phrase “the purpose-driven life”. The idea of being impelled and focused on God’s global concerns has encouraged many. But in the long run, to flourish in a purpose-driven life, we need to know first what it means to live a Person-driven life. For all of our activities and general support for Kingdom work, many may not be, in fact, the Person-driven people we thought we were.

To avoid any spirit of trivial “triumphalism”, however, let’s be clear on one thing: Christ’s missionary story not only initiates harvest fields, it also instigates battlefields — just as the children experience in Narnia at the climax of Aslan’s return. Any war is costly, sometimes bloody. Skirmishes are lost and won. Not every moment in the service of Jesus’ Kingdom offers visible, unalloyed advances in His mission. There are Forces of Darkness opposed to God’s promises, ready to fight them, and us, to the death. This, too, is part of the narrative of Christ’s global cause in which we each play our part.

What it means to be a World Christian

Catch The Vision! My World-Sized Part With Christ

God accomplishing His purposes

There was a time not too long ago when people thought the oceans extended without end and the world was flat. Now we know the exact extent of the surface of the oceans, and it is still magnificent to us in it’s scope. But it is limited. The oceans have shores, and those shores were created by our God. God has measured out not only the waters of the earth, but His entire creation.

God measures our gifts with a measure different from that of the world. He is not impressed with large numbers. Rather, He measures according to (1) the giver’s capacity (because He knows what we possess) and (2) the giver’s attitude (because He knows the state of our hearts). Jesus spoke to this question directly when He compared the temple gifts of the rich men with the gift of the poor widow (Luke 21:1-4). By Jesus’ reckoning, the widow gave more than the others because she gave all she had to live on. Her capacity was prohibitively little, but her attitude was extravagant. The rich, on the other hand, had so much wealth that even large gifts required little devotion of them. Biblical generosity is not any given dollar amount. Nor it is even just a given percentage rate (although percentage of assets is an important indicator of attitude, which is of great importance to God.) To be biblically generous is to recognize God’s infinite beneficence toward us in Christ, and to give extravagantly in worship to Him, relative to what one has. To put it differently, biblical generosity is best gauged by asking not, “How much am I giving to God?” but, “How much am I keeping for myself?”

The world is growing at an extremely rapid pace, and we are charged with preaching the gospel to the whole world. When a missionary goes into a new region, their primary goal is to develop their converts to become effective ministers to their own people, who know the culture, the language and pathways to the heart of people in their own culture, things that would take many years to teach an outsider. Western youth culture needs young men and women who understand the cultural language through a Biblical perspective and can effectively speak enticingly to that culture about the impact of the gospel.

Evangelism, of course, is a legitimate name and a legitimate endeavor. It is the work of the Church to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to bring souls into the Kingdom of God. True evangelism follows the spreading of the pure Gospel with the planting churches and the discipling of believers that will guard the biblical truths and practices vital to sustaining a viable relationship between individual believers and the Lord Jesus Christ.

"The Bible gives us plenty of proof that God uses all types of personalities. Peter was a sanguine. Paul was a choleric. Jeremiah was a melancholy. When you look at the personality differences in the twelve disciples, it is easy to see why they sometimes had interpersonal conflict. There is no 'right’ or 'wrong’ temperament for ministry" (The Purpose Driven Life p. 245).

Statement of Faith

The God Who Accomplishes His Purposes

The Story

The Bible begins with the story of creation and ends with a vision of God’s recreation. Peppered generously between alpha and omega are a host of other stories. While stories dominate Scripture, they rarely enter the Christian worker’s strategies. Leland Ryken cogently asks:

Why does the Bible contain so many stories? Is it possible that stories reveal some truths and experiences in a way that no other literary form does—and if so, what are they? What is the difference in our picture of God when we read stories in which God acts, as compared with theological statements about the nature of God? What does the Bible communicate through our imagination that it does not communicate through our reason? If the Bible uses the imagination as one way of communicating truth, should we not show an identical confidence in the power of the imagination to convey religious truth? If so, would a good starting point be to respect the story quality of the Bible in our exposition of it?

Is it not time for today’s Christian workers to revitalize one of the world’s oldest, most universal and powerful art forms—storytelling? I believe so. I also believe that Christian workers, with training and practice, can effectively communicate the finished story of Jesus Christ and connect it to the target audience’s unfinished story. Presenting an overview of Old and New Testament stories that unveils the history of redemption will highlight for the listeners the Storyline (Jesus Christ) of the sacred Storybook (Bible). Should this happen, the gospel will be much more easily understood, and more frequently communicated to family and friends.

Being a Witness

The great movement of Christianity seemed to have reached its tipping point at the moment the Jewish council attempts to restrain it by arresting Peter and John.  They threaten the Apostles, and charge them not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus; Peter and John contemn the threat, calling upon the council to judge whether it be right to hearken unto the council rather than unto God. The members of the council could not inflict punishment upon the two Apostles, on account of the people, who glorified God on account of the great miracle of the lame beggar who sat at the gate for so many years. Peter and John, being freed from custody, return to the other Apostles. They all give glory to God and pray for boldness to speak the word of God. After the prayer the place shakes, and they are filled with the Holy Ghost.

“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even upon the menservants and maidservants
in those days, I will pour out my spirit."  Joel 2:28-29

"Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."  Revelation 19:10

Barnabas and Paul (the letter mentions Paul in second place) are called “our dear friends” and “men who have risked their lives” for the gospel (Acts 15:26).

 

“People are drawing conclusions about your God and about your gospel and about your Saviour and about your Bible and about your way of life based on you.” 

“As a Christian, you may be the only ‘living Bible’ that some people ever read.”

 Dr. Ravi Zacharias: Being a Witness in a Multicultural City


 

 

The cross is a victory

It is worth noting that scholars have not only claimed that the Gospel of John portrays a suffering-free crucifixion, but also that John does not see Jesus' death as an atoning sacrifice for sin, as do Mark and Matthew (e.g. Mk. 10:45). In John it is simply a victory. To this we may respond that John does indeed stress that the cross is a victory: it is a victory over Satan, who is called 'the ruler of this world' (14:30). The picture is of Satan having hijacked God's world, and of Jesus in the cross confronting Satan and Satan confronting Jesus. The confrontation is a dark moment, but the outcome is 'the judgment of this world' (i.e. of Satan's kingdom) and the 'casting out of Satan' (12:32). The gospel which fails to describe any of Jesus' individual exorcisms still has the idea of Jesus casting out the evil cosmic ruler through his death.

The Kingdom of God is God's reign defeating His enemies, bringing people into the enjoyment of the blessings of the divine reign. The final victory occurs at the end of the Millennium when death, Satan, sin are finally destroyed and the Kingdom is realized in its ultimate perfection. 

"As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: "'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'" When the Gentiles heard this, they

were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed." (Acts 13:42- 48)

 

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