By James
Henderson
By James
Henderson
What will it be like to attend a congregation of the Worldwide Church of God in 2005? And what will our worldwide fellowship be doing then?
These are questions to which all of us would like to know the answers. What we need to understand now is that our future is being shaped by our present--what we do today and in the months to come will affect us in the new millennium. On a human level the future of our fellowship is in our hands.
The other day I heard a negative comment about the church. Of course, negativism has always abounded wherever we have human beings--it is human to see the dark side of things and to expect the worst events.
The comment was to the effect that we (the Worldwide Church of God) have come all this way just to break up and dissipate into nothingness. It reminded me of the Big Bang theory of the universe--that the world began with a bang and will end in a whimper.
I don't see the point of such a universe, nor do I adhere to the idea that our fellowship needs to finish in disarray. Is that what will happen? That we end with a barely audible squeak?
I am reminded of what the mother of Samson said to her husband when he thought pessimistically that God would end their lives: "If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would he have shown us all these things, nor would he have told us such things as these at this time" (Judges 13:23, New King James).
If God had wanted to end the WCG, he could have done so during the time of our doctrinal confusion, or just have left us in it.
Instead, he has accepted our corporate and individual repentance. He has shown us many things, and through his Word told us many things. Has he done so just to see us throw in the towel and call it a day, or so that we cease to be a force for his kingdom?
What has God done in our midst? A great deal, even though we sometimes forget it.
God has re-established our faith in Jesus, has delivered us from our mistakes, and in shaking us has left good things that remain (Hebrews 12:27)--our zeal for his word, our strength of commitment to make Christianity our everyday way of life, our bonds of international fellowship (for which some denominations would give their right arm), our corporate skills and expertise in media.
Added to these God has blessed us with a renewed vigor for meaningful worship, a desire to be responsible for community evangelism, a continual focus on and awareness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Quite a package! Do we value the gifts that God has given us?
At a
ministerial conference in South Africa we had a guest speaker, Abel Govender, who works
for Radio Pulpit, a Christian media ministry. Mr. Govender speculated that God has
prepared us as a fellowship for such a time as this.
I do not know if God has an over-riding purpose for us other than to feed the flock he has given us and to preach the gospel, but those are reasons enough for me.
Abel went on to explain that we have much to offer, and warned us not to get embroiled in our own problems. We are often blinded to our potential in Christ by getting distracted by our internal congregational, and sometimes denominational problems.
Samson was distracted from his purpose by domestic matters and by his selfishness. He also let occasions go by when he could have fulfilled his mission, but he used his giftedness whimsically or as it suited his own agenda.
It was not until it was almost too late that he let God use him, and his mission was accomplished.
There are lessons in this for us, both personally and as a body of believers. God has given our fellowship historical and present gifts, often expressed through individuals--do we value those gifts? Above all, do we value the gift of his Son, through whom we can do all things?
God is already doing many great works through our worldwide fellowship. Past editions of The Worldwide News illustrate this, and no doubt many of you can cite examples in your areas.
Do we want to be spectators or participants in this work God is doing among us? Spectators cheer the team when it is winning and judge the team harshly when it is not winning.
Participants or players join in and seek to achieve the goals of the team, winning or losing. With our church, be it your congregation or the international body, with what level of involvement are you most comfortable? Spectator or participant?
Jesus said, in discussing our involvement with him, that we should be participants, not observers of the "dance" he has invited us to. "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance" (Matthew 11:17, NKJ).
Jesus tells us that we need to take up our cross and follow him. Christianity is active, not passive. It is something Jesus does as he lives in us, not something that just happens to us.
How does this relate to how God works in a fellowship, or in a group of Christians banded together by force of circumstance, choice, preference or whatever reason?
We can choose our fellowship or denomination or lack of it, but wherever we function as a Christian we need to dance. A waltz, a jive, a foxtrot, a shuffle, free style--whatever, just get out there and dance! Do you dance in the fellowship of the WCG? Or is it easier to sit this one out and watch and criticize from the floor?
These may seem like strong words, but they are not mine--Jesus has told us to dance--that is, to take our part in his work in the world and to get personally involved. How we dance or do not dance now will affect our future as a fellowship. If we are not to be of use to God, then we are of no use.
Assuming we join the dance, let's go back to the initial questions. What will it be like to go into a congregation of the WCG in 2005? And what will our worldwide fellowship be doing then?
How can I begin to answer this? I can only say that I have a dream for us, and I would like to share with you that dream. I don't think it is just my dream--I believe many of you have it too.
What will it be like to go into a congregation of the WCG in 2005? What will the format be like? Four songs, prayer, announcements, special music, sermon, more songs, and will the songs be new or old? And on what days shall we meet? Wrong questions, I think.
Form is not an issue of godliness. Of course, there will be form of some sort, as there always has been in any congregation. And hopefully the form will enhance our joy of salvation, not obstruct it.
That's what Paul was referring to in his letter to the Corinthians when he wrote, "Let all things be done decently and in order."
The form may be there, but not get in the way. The Corinthians had put their form before their celebration of Christ.
When I was growing up there was a program on television about two slightly corrupt tailors. They sometimes used bad quality material but stressed to their customers that there was good value in buying from them all the same. They had the catch phrase "Never mind the quality, feel the width."
My vision of our congregations has not to do with the amount of things we allow or disallow, but with the essence of what we will be as a group of believers. Not the width, but the quality.
What are some of the qualities that I envision will exist in our congregations? Pastor General Joseph Tkach has stressed the need for the "upward, inward and outward" in our church life, and these qualities exemplify those ideas.
It is my dream that people who visit our congregations in the future will find a good degree of the following spiritual qualities.
Restoration. People can come to us and be restored to God and each other. Life gives out its share of ways in which relationships are broken, and we come together to worship God, so that our relationship with him and with each other can be healed. Our worship in all its varied forms will enhance the concept of restoration.
Sanctuary. We need to escape from the cares of this world. We can do this regularly in our daily walk with Jesus, and our meetings can also provide a time and a place where people can be safe in the presence of God.
Relevance. Whatever his or her situation is in life, the preaching and the services should be relevant to each individual's spiritual journey. Needs are met, and there is the knowledge that in coming to our congregations God has reached out to them in some way. This relevance makes them want to come back again.
Instruction. People come to services and hear a personal message from God for them--be it in the sermon, music, prayers or fellowship. God speaks to us, and by his great power we are led--one of the important ways he does this is in collective worship.
Diversity. God has given us the gift of diversity, and it is evident in our congregations. Diversity allows for cultural variety in approaches to worship and topicality. As relationships are restored daily within the setting of our services, embracing of diversity becomes one of our unifying factors.
Joy. Church is a happy environment where people celebrate the joy of their salvation. This joy goes across generational boundaries, and there is a place of emotional warmth for everybody within our congregations.
Involvement. There is the possibility of involvement for everyone in informal or official congregational ministries. Activity is evident --"always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Outreach. Each congregation seeks ways to reach out to the community with the gospel message and is actively making a difference in the community.
Belonging. There is a feeling of belonging to Jesus, to each other, to the greater body of Christ, and to the activities of the fellowship of the WCG. People have a sense of arrival in their spiritual journey and are moving from being seekers to being contributors.
What will our worldwide fellowship be doing? We occasionally have mixed up the idea of being different with the concept of making a difference.
It is a fact of life that differences exist and will exist--but strife arises when people use difference as an indication of superiority. Are we Christians because we are different, or because with Jesus in us we make a difference? Hopefully we can accept the reality of each others' preferences and differences and cease to use them as boundaries or separations.
To concentrate on what makes us different within the body of Christ is to concentrate on form. To let Jesus make a difference through us in whatever situation we are in is to preach the gospel. Form is not holy; Jesus is.
Down through the ages many humans have seen form in Christianity as an expression of holiness, and in so doing have missed the point and given the name of Christ a bad reputation.
Some in the Galatian church sought to impose legalism on new converts. What mattered to them was not the difference Jesus makes in you, but the difference customs and traditions can make in your life. "O foolish Galatians!" Paul said, "Who has bewitched you?"
In his Message adaptation of the New Testament, Eugene Peterson phrases Galatians 1:4 in this way: "Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we're in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God's plan is that we all experience that rescue."
We are not rescued by form, but by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And God's plan is that all of humanity be rescued. My vision for the WCG is that we are used by God in that rescue mission.
How will God use us? First, we sacrifice ourselves to him and offer ourselves up as instruments for his purpose of salvation. Then God will help us use our individual and corporate gifts and add to them as he sees the need.
I see us corporately involved in the following activities as the years progress:
l Training. Spiritually equipping and physically resourcing Christian leaders and ministers for pastoring and missionary needs. This goes across gender, generational, cultural and, in some instances, denominational divisions.
l Missions. Recognizing new mission fields and old mission fields that need to be revisited. Using our resources wisely to allow optimum opportunity for the gospel in these areas.
l Evangelism. On the local, national and international level using print, media, rallies or whatever door God opens for us.
l Interdenominational exchange. Joining in appropriate initiatives and exchanging evangelical ideas with other denominations within the body of Christ in order to promote the gospel. We can learn from others, and they too can learn from the tapestry of our experience.
l Charity. Assisting in principle or in kind as we are able in selected charitable outreaches in whatever nations we are represented.
For me it is exciting to see that we are already happily involved in all of these, albeit to a small degree.
For example, we conduct on a regular basis training sessions for our ministers and new leaders. Occasionally new groups send leaders whom we have never met to these conferences, as happened when pastors from the Kitgum area in northern Uganda attended our East African conference. All potential leaders are included in such meetings--men and women, old and young alike.
New mission fields are beginning to be recognized. Our new mission in Benin, the work of mission in Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique, the Ghana church sponsoring a missionary to eastern Ghana, the church in South Africa focusing on youth mission--this is just scratching the surface, there is so much more mission work we can do for God.
A good number of our congregations and national churches are active in evangelism. Plans for church planting are in place in Qwa-Qwa and in the Northern Province of South Africa.
In Cameroon every week our church broadcasts a gospel message in the local language, and this broadcast is heard in surrounding countries. In western and coastal Kenya our members work with small groups, raising them gradually to fully fledged congregations. Wherever I travel, the Christianity of our brethren is becoming contagious! Glory be to God!
Interdenominational exchange is occurring in different ways. Some of our members have joined interdenominational choirs to unite in music ministry. Some of our ministers go to weekly or monthly fraternities where they give and get counsel and encouragement.
We have guest speakers from other denominations, and our leaders are from time to time asked to speak in other fellowships. Our members join with others in the body of Christ to help with special Christian rallies.
At the council of Jerusalem it was decided that Peter, James and John would take the gospel to the Jews, and that Paul and Barnabas would be commissioned to preach Jesus to the gentiles.
In addition, Paul says, "They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do" (Galatians 2:10, NKJ).
Wherever I go, my observation is that our members are also eager to do this very thing. Internationally our churches help as they are able. In Malawi and in Madagascar, our congregations sponsor and work with orphanages. In Kenya, we are involved with conservation and self-sufficiency projects.
These are only a few of the many projects we are involved in. And these projects help. For example, let me tell you the touching story of a young boy called Like, who was part of the Harare, Zimbabwe, church care ministry.
The care ministry was started by Sylvia Harrison, one of our deaconesses. It has been financially supported by the Zimbabwe members and by charitable donations from other sources, notably our Australian churches.
The focus of this ministry has been the care of young children in a ward at an eye hospital. An orphan, Like, had already lost one eye when our group first met him. His other eye was cancerous and was scheduled to be removed.
How did our group reach out to four-year-old Like? His aunt, who had two children of her own, tried to feed him and look after him. Our group gave her used clothing and money to buy food. They would also talk to Like and laugh with him as he reached out his hand to get some goodies.
Like died a few months ago. Did our people make a difference in his short life? I think so. Through them Jesus reached out to him and in the life to come, whatever you think that might be (and it won't be limited by our present imagination), Like will remember their kindness. Of course, God remembers now, as he did with the charity of Cornelius (Acts 10:4).
Spiritually speaking, the world is blind and poor and desolate. Not just the world far from you, but the world down your street and in your workplace.
The beggars on the corner, the people at the market, your colleagues in the office--they all need to be rescued by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As Romans 10 suggests, how will they hear the good news unless someone is sent? The response of the WCG is "Here we are, Lord. Send us."
The earth is so beautiful and so full of potential, and yet it is also a playground of religious confusion, infected by superstitions and false doctrines.
Look around you. There is so much to do for our Lord. With Jesus we can make a contribution and a difference--there are gifts we bring. Above all, we bring the precious gift of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Thank you for your faithfulness to Jesus Christ, and for your prayers for and continuing support of the Worldwide Church of God. May God bless you all!
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2000