Author: ChristianHolinessDaily

The Mission of the Church is Multifaceted.

July 24, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

Here are some interesting facts: according to Barna, 20% of Americans claim no faith (no religion). 1% were not sure if they had faith or not. 6% were something other than Christian. 73% identified as Christian Faith. Out of those who identified as Christian, only 31% claim to be “practicing Christians.” The question is, how can you be a non-practicing Christian?

I don’t know, but reaching non-practicing Christians should be a part of the mission of the Church.

Here is the mission statement from the Nazarene World Headquarters website.

The mission of the Church of the Nazarene is to make Christlike disciples in the nations

I. What is the Church and What is our purpose?

The best place to find the purpose of the church is to look in the Bible. If we look at the book of Acts, chapter 1, verses 6-9:

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

One can see the semblance between these verses and the mission statement of the Church of the Nazarene. The Nazarene Church doesn’t mention Jerusalem, Judea, or Samaria, but does mention the nations.

I could simply say that those verses are the mission of the Church and dismiss us. But that is not sufficient. The tension in the church today rests not in the mission, but in how it is implemented. Let me give you an example: At Christian colleges and universities, there are three routes that students can follow: 1) Study Theology and History of Theology; 2) Study to work in the mission field, whether at home and abroad; 3) Study arts or sciences and take only the required minimum number of religious courses. Why is that a problem?

Because nowhere in the Bible does God say that the Mission of the Church should only apply to a CHOICE few.

If so, Acts would read like this:

Then they gathered around him and the Simon called Peter asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority, so why don’t you stick to just leading the church and leave the prophesying to John. John, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and so I want you to be a theologian who specializes in eschatology; Matthias, Andrew, Nathaniel, Stephen, you guys just don’t have what it takes to be a preacher and don’t have the capacity that John does, so you will work secular jobs and be my witnesses by the way you act. Oh, and if anyone asks you why you act differently, then feel free to tell them about me. But only if you are not imposing, and only IF they ask first. And whatever you do, don’t sound preachy.”

After he said this, he was taken up a cloud and within a few years they wondered if what they had seen was real or a mass delusion.

The problem doesn’t lie solely in Christian Colleges. Theologians rarely think about how to spread the Gospel. Missionaries and pastors in the field rarely think deeply about theology. The rest of us, don’t realize – or don’t want to admit – that we too are supposed to carry out the Mission of the Church. Yet, a theologian who doesn’t care about missions is about as useful as the G in Lasagna. A missionary or a pastor with no theological grounding is nothing more than a community organizer.

That is a little of the problem with the way the Mission of the Church is carried out. We will look deeper into the situation tomorrow.

The Mission of the Church

July 23, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

I once went on a job interview and one of the questions asked me was if I had ever read the company’s mission statement. As a matter of fact, I had, for I had just researched that company, soaking up everything I could learn. When asked what I thought of it, I did not want to tell him that I frankly thought it was gobbly-gook because it had little to do with the company’s true mission. Here is that mission statement: see if you can figure out what type of company it is:

Collectively, we are proud and passionate about providing the world’s best customer experience. This vision aligns with our mission — that we are earnest about achieving superior results. Our associates are inspired by their belief in the motivating principles of the Dynamic Organization and are determined to deliver an outstanding customer experience. – This is from a cellular phone company.

Here are a few more mission statements from the world’s top companies. See if you can identify the company:

“To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” – Facebook
“To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to differentiate its content, services and consumer products.” – Disney
“Dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.” – Southwest Airlines
OUR MISSION GREATLY EXCEEDS OUR GUESTS EXPECTATIONS

We Shine in Everything We Do by exhibiting God’s love in every interaction with guests and team members.
We Keep our Guests Safe by…
- Loving one another as we do ourselves.
- Thoroughly training every member of our team.
- Thoroughly training each and every guest.
We Achieve Excellence through…
- Teamwork.
- Constantly encouraging and rewarding team members.
- Recognizing team members who go above and beyond.
- By doing all things in a manner consistent with the values and morals exhibited by Jesus Christ.
We Constantly Improve by…
- Encouraging ideas from our team members and guests.
- By reading online reviews of our guests and learning from them.
- By managing safety and cleanliness.
- By presenting a clean, family-friendly, and safe environment.
- By setting the example for others both on the job and off.
The last statement is one I created for a business I manage.

So today, I ask you, “What is the mission statement of the church?” What do you think?

Here is the mission statement from the Nazarene World Headquarters website.

The mission of the Church of the Nazarene is to make Christlike disciples in the nations.

We’re studying the mission of the Church this week

on Christian Holiness Daily.

R•E•S•P•E•C•T

July 21, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

According to author Michael Munn in his biography, James Stewart: The Truth Behind The Legend, after the actor’s first western movie, many movie-watchers complained that the actor had broken movie tradition. The movie was not full of shootouts, renegade Indians, and larger than-life heroes. Stewart played a sheriff who vowed to never wear a gun, something previously unheard of in the land of Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson. The movie, Destry Rides Again (1939), paved the way for such classics as Shane (with a similar plot) and The Shootist, and such parodies as James Garner’s Support Your Local Sheriff.

Destry, may have been a role that Stewart relished, for both the character and Stewart stood up for right against seemingly insurmountable odds. In real life, Stewart’s foe was mobster Bugsy Siegel, who had helped transform Las Vegas from a sleepy western town into a gangsters paradise and then moved his operation to Hollywood. Stewart detested the mob and thought even less of Siegel. Several times the gangster and the movie star faced off – over a girl, over treatment of a mutual friend, or over general principles. Each time, Stewart stood up to the mob boss, and never showed fear. Friends Henry Fonda and Burgess Meredith urged him to stop making waves, afraid it would cost him his life, but Stewart never gave an inch to Siegel.

Eventually Siegel was gunned down by his own people and Stewart lived to a ripe old age. Stewart is quoted as saying that he believed Siegel respected him, even if he didn’t like him.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:12, Paul encourages Christians to be sanctified. One of the reasons for sanctification, he says, is

so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

The world may hate us. They may persecute us. They may make martyrs of us, but they should respect us.

Why should they respect us? Because we will stand strong – in all cases – in the power of God through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Because if Christ’s love shines through us, we even will represent all that is sacred, pure, and holy. We will stand apart from the world. We will be God’s children, and the world will know this because of our undying love for them. Yes, we will love even they who persecute us.

We will love them and not be afraid, for example do not fear the one who can take the life of the body. We fear the One who, after the body has died, has the power to throw the soul into hell. (cf. Luke 12:4-5).