I was reminded the last couple of weeks of why the church
exists. Jesus calls us the salt of the
earth and the light of the world. He
told his disciples to make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teach them to observe everything
he commanded them. Paul says that we
are ambassadors for Christ. Peter says
that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for
God's own possession, so that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who
called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.
There are those who claim that these instructions do not
apply to us, but only to the apostles and the people of their day. If this were true, then we would have
difficulty explaining how ANY of the scriptures apply to us. It would be nothing more than an arbitrary
choosing of what applies to and what does not.
The truth is that the scriptures have been passed down to us and are for
us. John said in the conclusion of his
gospel that many more things could have been included, but what had been
selected is there so that we could believe.
Paul said that all scripture is inspired of God and profitable for our
instruction. The church does not exist
merely for itself, but for the world.
It is through us that the world will know that God had indeed sent
Christ into the world. It is through
the church that the world hears the Gospel.
It is through the church that people experience the love of God. No wonder the churches of the world are
depicted as lampstands in the book of Revelation.
The last couple of weeks I once again participated in an
evangelistic campaign. Forty people
responded and obeyed the Gospel. Forty
people were baptized into Christ and had their sins washed away. Forty people were rescued from sin. Nothing is more precious than to watch a
person being born again.
It also seemed as though many of us were under attack. The bad news kept on coming. Campaign workers were dealing in some cases
with deaths in the family, loved ones that had been murdered, some missing, and
on and on. It reminded me of the
ministry of Christ. It seemed that all
kinds of demonic and satanic activity was on the rise because they knew Jesus
was on the march. I was reminded that
the church is on the march. In spite of
all this bad news, campaign workers kept sharing the Gospel and bringing people
to Christ. It was the most important
thing to do. Satan would have preferred
we lose our focus, that we retreat, that we stop in our sorrow and despair. However, God has made it clear that Satan
will lose. The gates of Hades will not
prevail as the church storms her gates.
Satan will lose.
I was also reminded that ministry takes place
everywhere. On our way to and from the
campaign, I was so focused on getting to where I was going, I was passing up
opportunities to share the Gospel. My
Dad talked to waitresses, hotel clerks, bystanders, and any one else that would
listen. My first reaction was that this
was slowing us down, but then I remembered this is what we are here for. That is what Jesus came for. Jesus' travels were always filled with
"interruptions," and what great interruptions they were. Jesus did some of his greatest ministry in
those interruptions. I need to slow
down and allow myself to be interrupted as Jesus was, and focus on people
wherever they may be.
If I am ambassador for Christ entrusted with the ministry of
reconciliation, I need to stop and notice all those who need to be
reconciled. They are all around every
day. I need to not be so busy that I
fail to make opportunities to connect with people in the way Jesus did when he
was just sitting by a well when a woman came to get water.
