God has uniquely called the Church to present the Gospel in an uncomplicated and common sense way.
And all God’s people say… Amen! That’s a given isn’t it? I think we would all agree. But what if I put it this way: “I believe God has uniquely called First Christian Church of Salem to present the Gospel in an uncomplicated and common sense way.” Do you still agree? I hope so. The point I’m trying to make is that we must take the mission of the Church personally. Each and every one of us should commit to that mission. It isn’t someone else’s mission – it’s your mission and my mission. We should want First Christian to truly be a church passionately committed to Christ, His Cause, and His Community. Everything else is a distant second.
When we commit to the mission, when we give ourselves wholly to the mission, when we live and die for the mission, then nothing else can sidetrack us – Satan and the gates of Hell will not prevail. When we’re on the frontlines of this spiritual battle there’s no room for bickering and complaining because…well, we have a mission to accomplish. Will we have disagreements, yes, but we should never let our disagreements and preferences stand in the way of accomplishing our mission.
With a passion and zeal for the lost and hurting world, First Christian must look for ways to build bridges to a cynical and jaded society. We must take a different approach in reaching out and helping people along the journey. That means we must stress cultural relevancy and utilize all means, all medias, all genres, all styles, all things to communicate the gospel message.
In His Grip,
Phil
