QUESTION: "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained..." (Proverbs 29:18) How would you share the vision you feel like God has given for the church; and how would you mobilize the church to work out that vision?
RESPONSE: The purpose, vision and mission in my heart for RCF is for us to build and travel a highway to Christ-likeness and fullness of life while inviting others to join the journey.
Within the heart of every human being is a desire for a fulfilling life. I’ve yet to meet the person who wants to be miserable and unfulfilled. I’ve met many people who seem to be resigned to being miserable and unfulfilled but none who intentionally made it a life goal. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Fulfilling, or abundant, life is what Jesus offers, and therefore it must be what the church is about.
Experiencing the fulfilling life Jesus offers begins with a willingness to reject our approach to life in favor of living life in the way Jesus made possible for us to live. To use customary church language, we repent of our sin and make Jesus Lord and Savior of our lives. The instant that happens we cross over from eternal death to eternal life.
Even though this is a significant step with eternal ramifications, the adventure is just beginning. We are now disciples of Jesus Christ, or as some would say, Christ-followers. We are now embracing a new and exciting life, and there is much to learn. Our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors begin to be conformed to the character of Jesus Christ. While our salvation is instantaneous, the transformation of our character into Christ-likeness and its accompanying fullness of life is a process. That’s why we are exhorted in the New Testament to put on Christ, run the race, work out our salvation, etc. These images all speak to the idea of an ongoing process of Christian growth.
The church is clearly the vehicle through which God communicates his love to others, his desire to rescue people from a life of misery and death, and to nurture people in his love. When I spoke at RCF on April 6, I talked about the initial rescue as a spiritual heart transplant with God placing his heart within us. The activities (processes) that the early church was devoted to in Acts 2:42 are what we do to nurture that heart so that it overflows in expressions of God’s love and power.
The things we need to do to nurture God’s heart within us include becoming biblically literate, worshipping God, building committed relationships with other believers, and developing intimacy with God through prayer. As we do these things the heart of God will be so powerfully nurtured within us, that our lives will overflow in expressions of His love, including acts of service and verbally sharing His love with those who don’t yet know him.
As for mobilizing the church, I would work with you to first discern what God’s process is for making disciples. It will, no doubt, include the elements found in Acts 2:42 that I discussed above along with providing opportunities and training wherein people will be further equipped to express the love of God. For each aspect of the process a primary ministry will be defined to do two things; meet the objectives of that particular part of the process while leading people into the next step. We will work to bring all ministries in line with the process and then single-mindedly bring all the resources of RCF to bear only on this process. This is where we will distinguish ourselves from other churches.
Other churches clutter their calendars with all kinds of ministries with no thought of how the ministries are connected or of God’s process for transforming lives. We will never be satisfied with simply seeing growing numbers in our primary worship service(s) or the amount of money in the plate. Our satisfaction will come from seeing people move through the process knowing that their lives are being transformed by God as they do. As their lives are transformed, our capacity as a church for reaching out to even more people grows.
As we identify the process and define the corresponding ministry we need to help people naturally move from one aspect of the process to the next, we will recruit and develop team leaders, according to the spiritual gifts and ministry passions God has given them, to implement and lead those ministries. Those team leaders will meet with me individually and collectively to hone our understanding of the process and our ability to seamlessly help people move through it so that they can experience, not just talk about, the fullness of life found only through Jesus Christ.
