Vision4Living

Last fall I started an in depth look at the whole concept of missions. After a break during the holidays, I am ready to tackle this subject again – especially since our theme this year for P4C will be on missions. So, I invite you to join me in the study of what the Scriptures have to say. I can promise you this: I am going to try and make each post a little shorter. My desire and hope is to value your time and interest. So let us begin again…

Before the break, we considered what the motivating focus of missions was. Our conclusion was the gospel [see previous post]. But now we want to understand ‘why missions exist’. In reality, they both have the same answer.  In the ‘Motivating Focus of Missions’, we saw that we could not be moved away from the gospel. The gospel must be at the core of motivating missional work. It demands the center of everything we do.  But lets go deeper in the motivation of missions. Why does it exist? Why are we commanded to GO unto the entire world?

Simply and profoundly: missions exists to glorify our God by making much of his great and matchless name.  To understand this, we will take a look at Psalm 67:1-6 [ESV].

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; Let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!”

A quick look at this passage may cause some to say, “but what about the blessings that are spoken of in this passage?” This is true – blessings are spoken of. But, let us conclude that the blessings are only a byproduct. What is this passage really saying? Why are we being blessed?

The answer lies in the following portion of text: “that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” This is speaking of the gospel being made known – proclaimed. To what end? That “the nations be glad and sing for joy…” God’s blessings exist so His people will glorify His great name. God blesses to the end that His “saving power” is proclaimed among all nations and in so doing He is glorified. The ultimate end is that God is glorified in the hearts and minds of His people from every tribe, tongue, and nations. And, we can further say that true joy is discovered in the glory of God.

So missions exist, not to rid the world of social injustice – though that is a worthy endeavor – or to just bless people, but it exist to let God’s people of every nation “be glad.”  And what is it we are glad in? Our great God. So, when you engage the world with the gospel, whether in another country or your own backyard, GO make disciples with the gospel as the core motivation. Let the end be that God is glorified in the gladness of those who know Him from every nation. May our prayer of blessing and praise be: “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!” Amen.

New Year’s resolutions are being made. After all, its New Years and that is what we do.  We are committed and determined to accomplish them with every ounce of human ability that is within us. We write them down. We set achievable goals to step us toward success.  We begin the process to achieve success – to become that better person that everyone expects us to be. For the first 2-3 months, we often find success. We are accomplishing what we set out to do with much fervor. Then, before you know it, it’s the holidays again, and we find ourselves looking back wondering what happened to the resolutions. Where did we sidestep? When did we take that first bite of junk food? When did we start hitting the snooze button multiple times only to find no time left to hit the gym? When did bible reading and memorization weasel its way out of our busy schedules? What happened to all those great things we were going to do to better ourselves so that God would be pleased?

I don’t know about you, but I have found myself in this spot more times than I really wish to admit. We try and try only to discover failure over and over again. But herein lies the problem: we strive in our own strength for our own glory – painful to think about, but true all the same. However, are resolutions bad? No. I am not saying that at all. But often at the root of these resolutions is our pride – the promotion of self. Sure, we cloak it in “God terms” but in the end, it only produces, at best [even when achieved], promotion of self. For the believer, this is not what he or she strives for. We live for something bigger and far more magnificent. We make resolutions, but we make them from a different perspective – from a different motivation.

As I think on the idea of New Year’s resolutions, there are some basic and profound things from God’s word that I think we should remember when making “New Year’s Resolutions”.  We find such convicting yet reassuring truth in Philippians 2 so let’s take a look.

First and foremost, as a believer, you can do nothing apart from the grace of God. We have been saved by grace and so we are sanctified by grace. Scripture tells us: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” [James 4:6 ESV] Yes, we are to “work out our own salvation” but don’t forget that it is “God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” [Phil. 2:12&13 ESV] Remember this: you can do NOTHING apart from God’s grace.

Secondly, if we can do nothing apart from God’s grace then it must not be about us. It’s all about Christ. It is for His glory that we breathe and move. It is for His glory alone that we live. As its states in Philippians 2, it is for “His good pleasure”.  We were created for the pleasure and glory of God. We were redeemed and made new for the pleasure and glory of God.  Revelation 4:11 sums it up beautifully: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” [ESV]

So as you make your “New Year’s Resolutions” remember that they are a resolve to glorify our great God. I am not sure that we can say that Paul is speaking of “New Year’s Resolutions” in Philippians 2. But, he is telling us to “work out our own salvation”. We can’t just sit around. We are to be about our heavenly Father’s business. We are to be as Timothy and “fight the good fight of faith”.  But never forget that it is through His grace for His glory that we strive. This resolve is a lifelong pursuit.  Any striving not found through and in the person of Jesus Christ is at best striving that will amount to complete and utter failure.  It will find you looking back asking: “What went wrong?” But, a life lived for the glory of a sovereign, holy, yet loving God– now there is something worth a believer’s resolve.

‘Behold Your God’

Hebrews 1

What comes to mind when you think of Christmas; presents, decorations, shopping, bustling, parties, family…? I think of these things. I enjoy the traditional elements of Christmas.

But these are (or should be) but the by-product of something much more thrilling, much more eternally significant. For those who know Christ, these are the expressions of an incomprehensible reality. Christmas is a man-made holiday with some pagan elements. But for believers, it is much more: the celebration of the incarnation. So come with me brother and sister in Christ, and “Behold Your God”.

That God would stoop to reveal Himself to man is incomprehensible. But the Old Testament is full of testimony of such communication. From Adam in Genesis through Malachi, God has spoken: through sacrifices, Noah’s Ark, the Passover, the mercy seat, and many prophets. But God’s ultimate communication of Himself is in a Son; His Son. What the Patriarchs anticipated, and the Prophets announced, was fulfilled in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Old Testament saints were saved by faith in the coming Christ, a faith completed in Christ and New Testament believers (Heb. 11:39,40). Never let it be thought that Old Testament saints were saved any other way. They were saved by faith in Christ. The Old Covenant revelation was partial. The New Covenant revelation in Christ is perfect. God Himself has put His “Selah” on it. He has spoken in His Son, with Whom He is well pleased. Hebrews 1:2,3 expounds this great truth. (1.) Christ is the possessor of God’s creation (heir to all things). (2.) Christ is the projector of God’s glory (the brightness of God’s glory). (3.) Christ is the personification of God’s self (express image of His person). (4.) Christ is the power of God’s order (upholding all things by the world of His power). (5.) Christ is the purifier of God’s people (when He by Himself had purged our sins). This is the Christ of Christmas, the Babe in whom dwells all the fullness of God.

God is not only revealed in the Son. He is revered in the Son. Christmas, the incarnation, is about the manifestation and glorification of God in Christ. All the fullness of God dwells in Christ He is no “lesser” God or mere God-like man. He is God of very God and worthy to be worshiped.

He is worthy by His Divine relationship. “He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than (the angels).”They were created, but He is the Firstborn (v.6). Firstborn is a designation of rank and importance, Christ is the eternal “Firstborn” of the Father: the Son.

He is worthy by His Divine right. That was a term used by kings of old to assert their right to rule. They saw themselves as appointed by God to rule. But the Father Himself says of Christ: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever…” “Let all the angels of God worship Him (vv. 7&6).” Christ says of Himself; “…before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58).”

He is worthy by His Divine righteousness. God chose David to be king because he was a man after God’s own heart. David loved righteousness. But he sinned. But when God sent His son, He provided a righteous King; One who loves righteousness and is perfectly righteous. He was not only able not to sin, but more importantly and essentially, unable to sin. He is worthy of worship.

God is revealed in the person of Christ. God is revered in the person of Christ. And God remains in the person of Christ, for Christ is the co-eternal second person of the God-head (vv.10-13). Christ is the co-eternal Creator of all things, and the co-eternal conqueror of all things. The writer of Hebrews draws a stark contrast between the Creator and creation. There is no blurring of the lines, no room for pantheism. The creation is likened to a garment, subject to wear and decay. Christ the Creator is everlasting, unchanging, ageless. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).”

The eternal Creator is also the eternal Conqueror. No angel has ever been told by the Father; “sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies your footstool (1:13).” Christ is the ruler of heaven and earth. “He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love. “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life…(Heb. 7:3).” The Christ of Christmas is the eternal God. “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man with men to dwell; Jesus our Emmanuel.”

Perhaps no uninspired writer has expressed the glory of Christmas and the incarnation better than H.R. Bramley.

“A babe on the breast of a maiden He lies,

Yet sits with the Father on high in the skies,

Before Him their faces the seraphim hide,

While Joseph stands waiting, unscared by His side.”

“Oh wonder of wonders, which none can unfold!

The Ancient of Days is an hour or two old,

The Maker of all things is made of the earth,

Man is worshipped by angels, and God comes to birth.”

“The Word in the bliss of the Godhead remains,

Yet in flesh comes to suffer the keenest of pains,

He is that He was and forever shall be,

But becomes what He was not for you and for me. “

Merry Christmas,

Charles Cavanaugh

On this Thanksgiving holiday, I have been reflecting on what families should be grateful for as they gather together to give thanks and reflect within themselves on the many blessings of God. It’s safe to say that we live in a society that, even in our “thankfulness”, lends itself to a self-focus. And further more, we very rarely give thanks to the Creator and Giver of all things. However, for those of us who are believers this should not be so. Everything in life is seen as a mercy gift from our gracious heavenly Father who loves us. The Psalmist gives us a command to give thanks: “Oh give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: because His mercy endures forever [Psalm 118].” In verse three of Psalm 118, the Psalmist tells the “house of Aaron” to give thanks. As a household, we should be giving thanks and not just on this holiday week but each and every day. I encourage you to read the rest of the chapter because I want to take a look at just a few of the many reasons this Psalm compels us to give thanks.

 1. He is Merciful   

The Psalmist repeats this phrase five times. It must be pretty important if it is given this much repetition. But why? Because he knows that without the mercy of the Lord, all of us, even the wicked, would not know the blessings we receive each day. It is only of the mercy of God that anyone in this world receives anything he or she has. Remember this as you drive your car. Remember this when you put on your clothes.  Remember this when you take a hot shower. Remember this as you feast on this Thanksgiving Day.

2. He Hears us

“I called upon the Lord in my distress: the Lord answered…v.5” Our God hears us. He is listening and answering. Live and pray as such. Pray often. Give thanks often. Ask often. Know He is and will answer. He will deliver you. He will be your strength. He will meet your needs. He desires to commune with you in prayer.

 3. He Fights for us

The Lord will and is fighting for you. He has helped and guided you.  He has been your strength. When you were surrounded by the enemy or compassed by much sorrow and fight, remember as the Psalmist says [v.10-12], “for in the name of the Lord I [destroyed] will destroy them…” Never give up, because the Lord has and will fight for you.

4. He is our salvation

Grace has been pored upon us in over abundance. Our God has lavished His grace upon us.  The Psalmist knows and proclaims it with confidence: “I will praise Thee: for Thou hast heard me and art become my salvation [v.21].” This, of all things, ought to make us most thankful: grace so rich and free. Give thanks for God’s grace. For by it you have been saved, and by it you now live.

From the Psalmist perspective, he tells a story of hardship.  He has been wearied and torn. The fight has been intense. Suffering and evil have compassed him on all sides. Yet, he knows he has been blessed even in the midst of it all, because his God has been at his side. So, maybe it’s been a hard year for you and your family. Maybe things have not gone as you thought or planned. But remember this: “His mercy endures forever”. This alone is reason enough to give thanks. At the end of the day, whether as a family or as an individual, we know that anything beyond God’s saving grace is more than we deserve. We, of all people, should be most grateful. What reasons have we to complain? Our souls are being saved; our lives are in the hand of a sovereign and loving master.  So, as you sit around the table with your family this Thanksgiving, remember that you of all people are most blessed and therefore have much to give thanks for.

Thanking Him with you,

Daniel Cavanaugh

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  Romans 12: 1-2 NKJV

Is this not the desire of every Christian who has given even a moment’s thought on how they should live in this world in light of the glorious Gospel?  Paul has spent time condemning every human under the Law of God so that every mouth may be stopped.  He has described God’s unfailing love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  He vividly describes the Christian’s struggle with remaining sin; however, even with the reality of the continuing struggle, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Further still, our salvation is as secure as God is, for it is He who preserves.  He has humbled us by describing the mysteries of God’s electing purposes; it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs but of God who shows mercy.  It is only after staggering us with God’s overwhelming grace in His gospel through His Christ that Paul then tells us to do something – that is, live worthy of the calling that God has called us to, as seen in Chapter 12: 1-2.  Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul gives us much guidance in very few words on how to accomplish that very thing, do not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

This exhortation seems easy enough, but the reality of roadblocks to our Christian walk is clear.  At their core though, most roadblocks are a result of our desire in our fallen nature to be autonomous.  Let’s give that statement, which is a mouthful, a few moments reflection.  First of all, the fact that there is such a thing as “human nature” is certainly not in vogue now.  Biblically, our nature goes to the very core of our existence.  We are the way we are because we are creatures created in the image of someone else.  God has instilled in us, in the very fabric of our being, certain characteristics that reflect our Creator.  For example, humans by nature are religious, worshipping creatures.  Even the most hardened atheist has things, ideas, beliefs, that they pursue with religious zeal – note the current crop of “New-Atheists” with their evangelistic zeal to convert people to their way of thinking.  We will worship something, even if it is the most irrational object or pursuit we can imagine.  But the point is that we worship because God created us as worshipping creatures.  It is in our very nature.  This has been challenged in the modern era by materialism and is codified in existential philosophy by Jean Paul Sarte by the phrase “existence precedes essence.”  This simply means that man is born with a clean slate into an absurd world and his environment and choices define who he is.  There are no pre-existing conditions within humans that give them a bent one way or the other.  If a man worships, it is because he has chosen to worship.

However, Biblically we see that man is created in the image of God and bears the mark of that image in himself by nature.  Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the evening and enjoyed an intimate and unhindered relationship with God.  The problem comes in the fall, when that image was ruined by sin.  Man became “dead in our trespasses and sins” and “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1-3). Man’s total being fell, intellectually, morally, psychologically, physically and emotionally and his separation from God was complete.  Since man by fallen nature rejects God, he becomes a law unto himself – in a word, autonomous.  This is the definition of “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

The solution to our separation from God is Jesus Christ alone.  And while our salvation that is found only in Christ does many wonderful and glorious things, we are not perfected in this life.  Christians personally experience this imperfection, as the Apostle Paul records his own experience in Romans 7. Its purpose is to keep us humble, clinging to the cross and grow in an ever increasing love for the Savior.  Yet Scripture demands that our lives should reflect something of the reality of God’s intervention in those lives because we are given Christ’s righteousness and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, Paul can exhort us to not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.  Our task is to flesh this out in our own lives and spheres of influence.  So we come to our question, how does one’s mind become renewed?  And how does the renewal transform us from conformity to the world?

It is interesting that Paul ties the manifestation of a changed life directly to the way we use our minds to think and reason.  So to begin this process of transformation, we must first acknowledge our natural desire toward autonomy and intentionally submit our minds and reason to the authoritative Word of God.  Simply put, the Revelation of God must inform our reason.  Our minds must be saturated by the Word of God so that we may reorient our minds from ourselves to Him.   Paul himself exhorts us in Colossians 3:16 to “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”.  All 176 verses of Psalm 119 are the Psalmists’ desire for God’s wisdom, knowledge and righteousness which only come through His Law.  And this is not isolated to a few verses of the Bible.  The entire book describes our need for God’s word to richly dwell and inform our minds, that we might think God’s thoughts after Him.  It is the Triune God that transforms.  It is His word that conforms us to Him and not the world.

It is this area, how we think, that we must reflect upon first if we are to not be conformed to the world but rather transformed with a renewed mind.  If we are honest with ourselves, we will find that our thinking usually goes in this order; first Modern, then Western, then American and then Biblically.  We really are products of our time and place.   I realize that at this point this is an unproven assertion that is just kind of hanging out there, however, if we give some thought to what or who influences us and to what end, the picture will become a little clearer.  Do we spend more time listening to our favorite radio talk show host than in the Word?  Do we read, understand and get more excited about constitutional republicanism or free market economics than we do learning about our Savior?  Do we have more interest in these modern ideologies than in people?  Are we caught up in some version of the “American Dream”, pursuing what we think is the good life?  Are we running from one self-help program to the next to improve our lives rather than meditating on what Christ has done for us?

One section of Scripture that God has put on my mind recently is Colossians 3: 12-15.

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

If you are like me at all, you see your need to improve in each of these characteristics.  You determine you need to be more kind, look for opportunities to display kindness, perform a few random acts of kindness and about a week later are more discouraged about your lack of kindness than ever before.   We then look for the “how to be more kind in 10 easy steps” program and try to implement it.  And again, after some period of time, our motivation wanes and we are back to our old routine, only this time loaded with more guilt because we see our lack of kindness and our inability to change ourselves.  What we overlook is the little phrase that Paul slips in: “as the elect of God.”  Do we take time to contemplate what Jesus had to do that we might be called the elect of God?  Do we think about His leaving His Father in Heaven, His Incarnation, His perfect life, His wrath bearing death on the cross, His taking the punishment that we deserve, His love for us?  Do we have any understanding of how sinful sin is and how gracious and merciful God is?  If you are looking for motivation to be more kind, humble, patient and all the others, look no farther than the cross.

The Gospel saves and sustains, it is all the people of God need to live righteous and godly lives faithful to their Redeemer.  Meditating on Christ and what He has done for you is the ingredient for the transformation of your mind and the breaking away from conformity to the world.  It is through the power of the Gospel that we are able to go into the world, using the gifts and influence that God has given us.  There is no easy formula for this.  We will all be given different gifts, different responsibilities and different spheres of influence.  We will face many situations that are not explicitly described in Scripture and will have to use our minds and reason to faithfully work the works that God has set before us.  But thanks be to God that He has not left us to ourselves, but has given us His Word that we might meditate upon His thoughts and principles.

Finally, as a Christian, it is easy to be conformed to the world.  It is easy to accept things as they are because it is just the way it is.  It is easy to absorb the world’s mindset about money, politics, entertainment, sports, lifestyle, or whatever the world has made an idol.  Conforming to the world makes getting through this world an easier task.  What is difficult is “above all these things put on love” because this means that you are going to start looking at people – the sinners you live, work and play with, the gross, rebellious God-haters, those that really don’t think they have done anything to offend a holy God – and love them.  This often means jumping into the septic tank where they live and getting that stink on you and sharing the love of God with them.  This is only possible if our minds have been renewed by the God that got into our septic tank and pulled us out.  Dwell upon His word and meditate upon His goodness to you, dear Christian.  This is truly mind transforming.

Mike Fendrich

In our last visit on the issue concerning missional focus, we jumped right into the methodology of missions. However, in starting with the methodology, we have begged another question that needs to be answer: what is the central motivating focus of missional work and why do missions exist? This blog will only afford us to answer the first part of that question in regards to the gospel. Although both questions are so very closely related that they cannot be separated, we will build the foundation so as to strengthen our answer to the second part of the question when we visit again.

Christ is Preeminent

Understanding the gospel is pivotal to understanding the implications it has on missional work. To assume that everyone understands the gospel is unwise at best because of how the gospel has been marred in modern evangelicalism.

Paul gives us the essence of the gospel in Colossians 1 in its simplest form: Christ is preeminent. If Christ is not preeminent in your life, preaching, or any aspect of you then it’s a sure bet that you may not have a biblical grasp on the gospel.

Christ has been and will always be the essence of all things.  Verse 17 tells us, “And He is before all things, and by him all things consist.” This is the basis for which Christ, the son of the living God, could come and pay the price of redemption for His people. “It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.” Looking to anything else as “good news” [i.e. gospel] is to mar and dismantle the very person of Christ. In Him all fullness dwells, and therefore as such, where else could the gospel come from? Christ is the essence of the gospel.  He is the consistency. The all.

Christ came to earth and died a brutal death on the cross to reconcile His people who “were sometime alienated and enemies in [their] mind by wicked works [v.21].” Through “the body of His flesh through death [v.22]”, He not only has saved the sinner who looks to him but is working out the implications in His life “to present [Him] holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight.”

My friends, this is what we had to look to in order to know and understand this grace in our lives, and it is what we continue to look to. It is what all of God’s people from every tribe, tongue, and nation must look to. This is what we must proclaim to every soul that our missional endeavors bring us in contact with. We must point them to Christ and none other. To quote a wonderful hymn, “In Christ Alone, my hope is found”.

Be not moved away

After clearly establishing that Christ is the essence of the gospel, Paul gives us a charge and a personal glimpse as to the implications this has made on his life. He charges the Colossian believers to “continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the gospel.”  And what is it that Paul is so emphatically saying that they must be grounded in and never move away from? The text is clear: the gospel; Jesus Christ and Him crucified; everything that Paul has just finished establishing is to be our bedrock. We are never to be moved away from this in anyway shape or form.  The implications are profoundly life changing for the believer because it is his life. Our faith was rooted at the beginning in the gospel and it continues to be rooted till Christ returns. Ephesians tells us, “as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus, so walk ye in Him.” We received the gospel by faith and we must continue in the gospel by faith.

Therefore you are a minister

The personal glimpse that Paul gives us at the end of this charge sheds incredible light on the implications that the gospel is motivating the believer’s missional work. After driving home the solidity that the gospel gives our lives, he builds on this by sharing with us that the gospel is the very thing that has made him a minister. Lets take a look at verse 23: “and be not moved away from the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.” Paul has just stated with all clarity that it is the gospel that motivates him, that drives him, that gives him vision to be the minister that God has called him to be. For Paul, there is no greater reason.  Paul was missional because of the gospel and so should we.

Proclaiming the gospel and its implications

We have talked a lot about the gospel being our driving motivation as a person who does ministry, but you may be asking: So where in God’s Word do we find the implication of the gospel toward “missional work”? Or, where is the GO in the gospel?

Well, in case you have not seen it already, Matthew 28:16-20 is the most obvious but in many ways the most profound place to turn in answering this question. It is here that we are commanded to, “Go ye therefore, teach all nations.” But what is it that we are to teach? The answer is found in verse 20: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” The reason this is so profound is because of the context in which it is being said. Realize that Christ has just died for the sins of His people. Remember that Christ has just spent three years teaching His disciples what the gospel is and all the implications it holds. Christ has just lived the gospel before them both in life and in death and now He is telling them to go and tell all nations the things you have heard, seen, and believed. He is telling them to move from where they now stand and go be missional. He is inspiring them with the pure and fresh unadulterated gospel they have just experienced. He is motivating them to go into all the world for the sake of the glorious gospel. And, the motivation is no less true for us: Let us be missional because of the gospel.

In all honesty, we have been building to one last question that I feel answers itself: is the gospel enough? Is the gospel the only thing that drives us to do missional work? Is it what makes us GO? My answer is simply, yes. And based upon God’s word, I will boldly say that any “missional work” that does not have the gospel as its core and sole motivation is not and will never be “missional work”. The gospel is our life. It is the essence of who we are as believers and should always have profound implications for what we do.  I leave you with this: eat, sleep, breath, and teach the gospel.

For His Renown,

Daniel Cavanaugh

When we talk about methodology for anything when it comes to evangelism, there is always the danger of looking to the methods verses the person of Christ we seek to proclaim. Furthermore, when it comes to missions, volumes have been written on methodology. It always seems there is a more affective way to do things. “Follow these steps and you will see success in your ministry.” However, as I write this article concerning missions and its methodology, I realize that I to am making a contribution to the numerous things written on this subject.  But I would like to ask a question that has been asked countless times: what is the biblical model for missions? Actually, let me rephrase this in a more personal way: Have we ever looked to the scriptures to understand what makes missions “affective”? How can true missions leave a lasting impact on generations to come?

There are many things that need to be addressed when asking the above questions, but for now I would like to focus on one aspect and Lord willing we will come back to the others.  Lets jump right into the method. Lets see what the doing actually involves. Lets take a look at the life of Paul – a man who reached continents for Christ even while he was in prison.  Lets dissect how Paul went into all nations with the gospel.  Lets see what he actually did when he went.

Over the last several centuries, the church has sent missionaries to other countries with the hope of spreading the gospel to the lost. After all, that is what we have been commanded to do: “Go ye unto all the world”. We have raised large amounts of money to support and send these missionaries. The Lord has blessed the work of our hands and His word has not returned void. Countless people have come to know Christ and many stories could be recounted to bring praise to the mighty work of our God through these efforts.  However, what happens when the missionaries “retire”? What happens when they leave the country they were serving? Does the work go on? Does it last? Many times it does and that is a testament to their investment to equip the ones who will continue long after they are gone. Lasting fruit can be seen in many countries today from past work of yesterday. However, is this the rule or the exception? It’s a fair question to ask and one that is not asked enough; one that is overlooked in modern missionary work, as we know today.

It is in long-term effectiveness concerning missions that I believe the Apostle Paul gives insight to what really is affective missionary work. Paul as we know was not a pastor but received the special call of the Apostleship. He was commissioned to write the scriptures and as such he had the authority to establish methodology. There are four things that I believe stand out about Paul and his missionary work; four things that stand out about His methodology to which we would do well to pay heed to in the church today…

He stayed for a time

During Paul’s missionary journeys in the book of Acts, we see many occasions were he stayed for long periods of time. Months at a time were the norm. He invested himself day after day to the building up of the saints. Many times it was even at the cost of putting his own life in danger or at the very least suffering brutal persecution in order that the gospel may be proclaimed and go forth in power.  Paul was committed to one thing: the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He gave up all – and by all that means completely and fully. His life was not his own, and His love for Christ and the gospel is unmatched and unparalleled anywhere in history. Some historians say that Paul may have even been married since He was a former Pharisee with one of there requirements being marriage. If he was, we have no idea what happened to her. Did she desert him because of His conversion to Christianity? Did she die? Who knows? We are not told. But what matters is that Paul invested his days into the furtherance of the gospel through His missionary work at a cost. He built the gospel in others through the sacrifice of his time. He was not a fair-weather missionary. He was faithful. He invested. He gave his time. He gave his life.

He helped plant churches

We do not have time to go into the theology of church planting. We will only say this: it is biblical and primary. Paul was a church planter. The first place we see him planting churches in the New Testament can be found in Acts 13 & 14. It was on his first missionary journey with Barnabas that we see the church plants of Antioch, Lystra, and Iconium [as well as others]. More specifically, in chapter 14:21-28, we see that he ordained elders for those churches on his return visit [fair assumption that he established churches on his first visit with the new believers seeing he was ordaining the elders on the second.]. Let us not also forget that most of the books that Paul wrote were specific letters written to the local churches that he had help to establish during missionary journeys [Acts] through the years. Paul was committed to the body of Christ and more specifically to the building up of the local bodies that he help to establish. He occupied himself with establishing churches with the new believers of his missionary journeys. He new that Christ had ordained the institution of the local church for the purpose of building the saints for the furtherance of the gospel. He understood the importance of the continued discipleship in the gospel long after he would be gone. And further more, there was no way he could do it all himself. Other saints must be equipped in order for the gospel to continue you.

He equipped local saints

You will notice that Paul dealt specifically with issues that the local churches were dealing with in his letters of the New Testament.  We noticed in Galatians, Colossians, and Ephesians him dealing with the heresy of the Gnostics, antinomians, or the Judaizers desiring to impose the laws and customs that had been fulfilled in the person of Christ.  Or we have in Corinthians the believers who were having a hard time breaking the old habits of former lifestyles, which he challenged them to die to.  And as we have already stated, he would spend months at a time exhorting the new believers that had come to Christ through the faithful preaching of the gospel on his missionary journeys [Acts 14:21-28].

He trained leaders

Throughout Paul’s life we see him not only proclaiming the gospel but also equipping other men to do so. He trained leaders to lead other people in the work of the gospel. Basically, he discipled, but more specifically he trained men who could fill the role of pastoral leadership within the local churches he established. The first time we see Paul taking someone under his wing is in Acts 16 with a young man by the name of Timothy. As we well know, Timothy would go on to be the pastor of the church of Ephesus. While in prison, Paul would write two letters [1 Tim. & 2 Tim.] to Timothy addressing him specifically as the pastor.  He encouraged and challenged him in doctrinal clarity, church matters, the importance of discipleship, how to conduct himself as a young man in leadership, and to not loose heart in the work of the gospel. We also see him doing the same thing with Titus in the letter he wrote to him. And though he is not mentioned in detail as much as the first two, Mark was another individual who received the discipleship and training of Paul [2 Tim. 4:11; Act 12:25; Philemon 1:23&24; Act 13:5].  These men continued the work of the gospel in the places he had done missionary work even after Paul was dead. He followed a biblical structure that would and still does leave a lasting impact.

Conclusion…

Paul reached continents for Christ. His missionary work covered most of the known world at that time. This is amazing considering he was in prison much of his life. However, he went unto all nations to make disciples, and everywhere he went he stayed for a time, planted churches, equipped the saints, and trained leaders who would continue the work of the gospel. He made disciples. This “methodology” was Paul’s life. It’s affective. It’s tried. It’s biblical. It’s the way God designed it and commissioned us to do it.

With this lifestyle, empowered by a gospel vision, he spent his life building the kingdom of God for His glory.  It was his passion. It was his call. It was his life work. It was lasting. And, it must be ours. Though we are not Apostles, his life stands, as a continuing monument to what our missionary work should be patterned after – preaching the gospel and making disciples in order for the glory of God to continue from generation to generation till He comes again.

For His Glory,

Daniel Cavanaugh

Continued…

Leading from the position of being under authority can sound incongruous or unrealistic. After all, being under authority is about obeying and following, not leading. And while those of us under authority should obey and follow, our preconceptions about relationships, leadership, and how God works can blind us to the possibility of leading from there as well. Esther illustrates how wise subordination set us up, as it were, to have proper and effective influence, with those over us. And wisely using any favor we may gain with those over us makes our influence effective.

3. There is a third requirement for leading under authority illustrated by Esther. Let wicked people “hang” themselves. All of us have known the helplessness and frustration of seeing people with selfish motives, or people who seem to have it out for others work their way into favor with the boss.  How is it that those in authority fail to see the bad character of the unscrupulous, or overlook significant flaws that affect others (I suppose the answer to that question would be a good chapter for a book). Our tendency is to want to expose such persons and, if possible, have a hand in their demise. While there may be a time for testifying against such persons for the good of the whole group, as we will see later, ratting can often be counter productive.

In Esther chapter three we are introduced to Haman the Agagite. Haman was a shrewd and wicked man who was put in a powerful position by the king. He proved to be the epitome of pride, hatred, and bigotry. His anger over Mordecai’s refusal to bow before him was the impetus for a devious plan of genocide to destroy the entire Jewish nation.

We do not always get to see the wicked and unscrupulous come to justice in this life. Sometimes it seems they get away with their wickedness. And for a time it seemed that way with Haman. His favor with the king seemed secure, but it was to be relatively short-lived. His arrogance and blind self-centeredness was setting him up for a great fall, which we will see in our next point.

4. There is one more requirement for leading under authority illustrated by Esther (and by her cousin Mordecai). As one under authority, there will come those times when you must stand for what is right and leave the consequences with God. It was mentioned earlier that there is a proper time for passing on information about those who are undermining and destroying. It maybe also be difficult to know when to stand for what is right and speak out against what is wrong. It is important that the Christian develop a biblically sensitive conscience and prayerfully approach such challenges.

In Mordecai’s situation, it became obvious that silence and inaction were no longer good and moral options. The wholesale genocide of the Jewish people was evil an crying out for opposition. In Chapter 4, we see Mordecai’s open identification with his oppressed and persecuted people. His action did not go unnoticed.

But there was only so much Mordecai could do. He had put his neck on the proverbial chopping block, and as things stood it was likely to be chopped off. Herein is the significance of Esther’s involvement. Her early attempts were to comfort and quite Mordecai, apparently somewhat convinced that their hands were tied in the situation (4:11). After all, what could she do under the authority of a tyrant like Ahasueras?

However, Mordecai knew this was no time for reticence or inaction. The time had come for Esther to come to grips with her priorities. There are some things more important that security, safety, or even life itself.  And this was Mordecai’s challenge to her, and what Esther had to come see if she was going to lead under authority. Leadership and influence are often about timing and how one can be at bringing glory to God where he or she is. Mordecai’s question to Esther and the question we should consider is: “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (4:14). God has put us where we are, at this time, for His purpose. The stakes may not seem as high as they were with Esther, but the challenge for you and me, if we are to lead under authority, is just as personally significant. This is no time for weak, reticent, security-seeking Christians. But for men, women, and young people who will stand for what is right and leave the consequences with God.

The rest of the Scriptural account though significant, is an addendum to the climatic turning point in chapter 4 v. 16. The nefarious Haman did hang himself. God changed the king’s heart. Mordecai was promoted to a position of prominence. And the Jewish people were saved from extermination. What would have happened if Esther had ignored Mordecai’s challenge? We are given a hint in chapter 4 v.13&14.  God can and will raise up those to use to accomplish his will and bring Him glory. He is not dependent on fickle humans. But if we fail to obey Him and stand for what is right, we will suffer the consequences and miss the God-given opportunity to be a part of what His is doing. Godly spiritual leadership is driven by a desire to do the will of God and to live to His glory. He has placed us where we are at the time in which we live. No matter what our position, leadership is not about us. It is about glorifying Him. Esther and Mordecai show us that the Godly spiritual leader stays focused on God and His glory and seizes the opportunity for Him. Wherever God has placed you, let this be a year of Godly influence and leadership, and make it your constant prayer that God will use you to exalt His Son.

Charles Cavanaugh

We pick up in part 2 where left of in our look at Esther…

The example of Esther as one who led under authority is significant because she did so in extenuating circumstances. She was involuntarily taken from the care of her cousin Mordecai and made a prospect to be Queen under the unpredictable, impulsive, and capricious king Ahasueras, or Xerxes of Persia. It is logical to ask why God would allow Esther to be put in such a position, but of course we could ask the same of some of the situations in which we find ourselves.

Nevertheless Esther shows us qualities and actions that are necessary if we are to lead while functioning under authority; sometimes an authority undeserving of respect and obedience.

1. Leading under authority requires wise subordination. The truth is that not ever one can be in front or on top. Most people will not acquire certain positions of leadership. In Esther’s case, she had the additional disadvantage of being a woman, and it was usually the case that women were subordinates in ancient times. Esther’s first line of authority came from Mordecai, her cousin, who became her guardian when she lost her original parents. Esther apparently took her relationship with Mordecai seriously, for her willing obedience to him is mentioned more than once [Esther 2:10,20 & 4:13,14]. Evidently this attitude carried over into her experience in the King’s court [Esther 2:15; 3:11]. Esther is an example of Biblical submission to authority. When the discussion concerning submission to authority comes up, we almost immediately hear concerns about blind obedience and abuse of authority. These are not invalid concerns. Almost all of us can sight examples of abuse and imbalance when it comes to the matter of authority. The tendency is to use these as reasons for disobedience or taking authority into one’s own hands. But abuses and imbalances are not good reason to explain away wise subordination. There may be times when we should respectfully disagree or disobey, but those times are probably not as frequent as we may think. Wise subordination puts us in a more credible position of influence with the one in authority and with others; a position that will be necessary if we are forced to conscientiously object or refuse.

In Esther’s case, she was preferred by Hegai, the one in charge of the women in the King’s court [Esther 2:8,9], and she achieved credibility in the sight of others [Esther 2:15]. She was then taken into the King’s house where she quickly won the favor or Ahasueras as well, and he chose her to replace Vashti [Esther 2:16-18].

If, as we have seen previously, leadership is influence, then those under authority can quickly lose their influence by exerting their own will and taking matters into their own hands. It is one thing to refuse obedience when to obey is to break God’s commands. It is quite another to be willful and proud. Wise subordination puts the serious Christian a far better position to “lead” under authority.

2. Leading under authority requires using the favor you have gained wisely. The old adage “fools rush in where wise men fear to tread” certainly applies at this point. Some will feign obedience, all the while intending to implement some secret agenda. That was the case with Haman, who appears on the scene in chapter 3 verse 1. From the beginning Haman works to promote himself and his wicked plans. He is the opposite of a humble servant and the epitome of prideful usurpation. Haman is concerned with the welfare of one person, and one alone, and that is Haman. He stands in stark contrast to Esther, and gives us an example to avoid. He is somewhat like Diotrephes of whom John said; “he loves to have the preeminence” [3 John 9].

On the other hand, Esther never presses her advantage nor attempts to use the favor God has given for personal gain, serving the King’s best interest when the opportunity arises [Esther 2:21,22]. The time will come, in the providence of God, that Esther will need to use that favor for God’s purposes and glory, and her previous restraint will serve her well.

When God shows us favor in the sight of others, we best not abuse it. If our purpose is to exert influence for His purpose and glory, then patient and faithful service where God has placed us is the best thing we can do. God may be pleased to give favor to such a one. The temptation will be to take advantage of such favor for personal gain and advancement. That is not leadership but larceny. To be entrusted with favor and opportunity is a great privilege, a great responsibility, and a great stewardship all of which require godly wisdom, if one is to lead under authority.

There are at least two other requirements for leading under authority which we will examine next time.

Charles Cavanaugh

Most of us are prone to believe that leadership is positional. If one wants to lead then he or she must strive to obtain a position of leadership. And while leadership, including spiritual leadership, may be positional, it certainly does not have to be. We learned that in our study of Joseph [see article “Leading Where You Are”]. John Maxwell’s quote is a helpful reminder at this point; “Leadership is influence. Nothing more; nothing less.” There are those who have lead from the most unlikely positions [like Joseph], who took advantage of God given opportunities, employed their God given abilities, and looked to the hand of God to accomplish His purposes. There is no reason why many should not do so in our day.

Perhaps no one more strikingly illustrates this concept in scripture than Esther, and it would do us good to spend some time examining her fascinating life and how she lead under authority.

Esther had a few curve balls [to use a baseball analogy] thrown at her that perhaps some among us could relate to. We are not told how, but she lost her natural parents. She was separated from the security, apparent safety, and comfort of her native Jewish land ( although it may be possible she was born in Persia). She was immersed into a culture completely foreign to her customs, beliefs, and strict religious upbringing. These circumstances certainly would make it understandable to most modern Christians if she became dysfunctional or displayed any number of psychological maladies from which modern Americans often suffer. But one thing Esther displays in the entire Old Testament account is an amazing steadfastness and stability.

This is significant also in light of the fact that she had not only been uprooted but placed in a country with a very unstable political environment not at all friendly to or supportive of Jewish cultural and religious life. The city in which she lived was Susa, the center of the Medo-Persian Empire and Ahasuerus, or Xerxes, was its king. Xerxes was known as one of the more ruthless of ancient kings. The story is told of a mother who had lost all but one son to war. She pleaded with King Xerxes to spare her last son from going to war. Xerxes supposedly ordered her son cut in half and his army to march through the two pieces. Whether the story is true or not, it serves to illustrate the nature of the man under whose authority Esther would find herself. In the providence of God, Esther also found herself involved in some significant tension in the palace at Susa. Read the account in Esther for the full story, but the bottom line is that Queen Vashti spurned an important order from Xerxes and was demoted as Queen. The King’s assistant is sent on a search for beautiful maidens from who would be chosen one special woman to replace Vashti. Among the women brought to the palace for this purpose was Esther.

The challenges that are lining up before Esther are growing, which make her leadership under authority all the more significant and instructive for us today. Many of the reasons we might use to excuse insubordination can be found in Esther’s story. We will see incompetence, unreasonableness, vile character, fear for personal safety: you get the picture. How does one lead under such authority? Can it be done? It can, and it was, as we shall see when we continue our study of leading under authority.

Charles Cavanaugh