The Future of the Faith; “Three Commissions for the Church of the Future:"

By Kenneth C. Ulmer, D.Min., Ph.D. [bio for event]

The Lord has called us to the Kingdom, “for such a time as this.” A time of transition, of political upheaval, of war and rumors of war. A time of poverty, disease, and even wickedness in high places. Yet, this is our time—a time when vast opportunities have opened up to expand the Kingdom of light in this world of darkness.

In these last days, we hear a great call for the church to come out. Come out from the comfort of the padded pews and stained glass windows; and come in to an atmosphere of praise and worship as the coming of the Lord draws near.

We live in a culture more diversified, more cynical, more humanistic than at any time in history. Theological-religious and ethnic-racial pluralism has, in many parts of the world, disintegrated into devastating walls of division. Tension between the great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is poised like a sword over the necks of future innocent victims of the coming storm. However, in these perilous times of spiritual sectarianism, sociological despair, and ethical disparity, God still calls to the church, “Go ye into all the world and make disciples.” In fact, God’s marching orders to the church can be summarized in three commissions: The Great Commission, the Greater Commission, and the Greatest Commission.

The Great Commission
We must never forget the mandate of the great commission: To Go. It is a call to decry the status quo, and do. It speaks of the church as more than a bit player in a chaotic moment in time, or a mere “movement” that comes and goes. Indeed, the Lord is calling us to be the move of God, to be a dynamic organism moving by His empowerment as Head of the Church, and to go into all the world as witnesses for Christ’s Kingdom.

In John 17:4, Jesus prayed, “Father, I have glorified you.” This verse gives the most succinct definition of what it means to glorify God than any other passage in scripture. Jesus is saying that He has glorified God because He completed the work God gave Him to do. Therein lies Jesus’ definition of “glorify”: To do the work of the Lord! There is a sense in which we only glorify God if we do the work He gives us to do. Eugene Peterson captures this revelation in The Message when he cites Jesus as saying, “I glorified you on earth by completing down to the last detail what you assigned me to do.” That’s what it boils down to. We glorify God by doing our assignment. If we do not do what He has called us to do, it doesn’t matter how well we do what we do!

The church has for so long emphasized the “thou shalt not” of the Word and has neglected the positive exhortations to “do.” We only glorify Him to the degree that we do our assignment. Jesus glorified the Father by what He did.

What has God called you to do that you have not yet done? What are you neglecting while concentrating on other things? What has He given you that you are not doing because you are putting your energies into something He called someone else to do? If you are still drawing breath, you still have work to do. Go forth and do it! We are not called to open the window of spiritual pomp and wave to the pilgrims admiring our ecclesiastical laurels. We are called, assigned, and commissioned to “go” into all the world with the love, compassion and power of the Gospel, and make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our mandate. That should be our motive. To go should be our method.

The Greater Commission
Jesus added an important condition to “go.” As He met with His disciples for the last time before He returned to the Father, He told them, “Wait…” For what? For the coming empowerment of the Holy Spirit. This is the Greater Commission. Jesus has said, “Go.” Yet, He knew He was calling them to the extraordinary task of changing the world by making disciples of Himself. He acknowledged their limitations by telling them they were not quite ready to go. He says, Wait and I will add something extra to your lives: The promise I told you about. And when He adds His extra to your ordinary, you have the power to do the extraordinary.

To go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit is the second commission the Lord presented to the church today. If we go forth in our own power, academic achievements, political connections and personal determination, then the moral, ethical, and spiritual failures the world has watched the church struggle with for two thousand years will only continue.

The Holy Spirit gives us a practical power that enables us to live a God-honoring life before a sin-filled world. Even with the current emphasis on praise and worship, it is not the pseudo-entertainment atmosphere of upbeat music and quasi-spiritual gyrations that changes lives. Lives are affected by the Word of God given by the Spirit, the Will of God revealed by the Spirit, and the Way of God as guided by the Spirit.

Therefore, go—but before you go, wait for God’s power, which enables you to do what you are called to do.

The Greatest Commission
Finally, Jesus gives the Greatest Commission. In Acts 1:8 He says, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me, in Jerusalem, in Judea, and the uttermost parts of the world.” Did you catch that tiny word? He said that above all we shall “be witnesses.” There it is, the greatest commission: Be!

The tension that the church faces today as we consider what we are to “be” in the world is the fabric of separation between being both attractive and authentic. In an attempt to be attractive, we too often sacrifice authenticity, therefore representing nothing different to a world craving something better. To the other extreme, some of us have become so “authentic” that we drive away a dark and dying world. Yet, it is not enough that people leave church “feeling better;” the goal is that they leave being better.

We are called to address the issue of poverty and must minister to the poor. But, do we? We must respond to the millions who are dying in the worldwide pandemic of AIDS/HIV. Yet, do we? The church—especially in America—must address the economic disenfranchisement of the masses by using our resources to create jobs and economically empower communities on a level that monopolizes our combined influence greater than individuals alone can achieve. So, are we? Such ministry, such aid, such economic empowerment must be done in the context of a message that is both authentic and attractive.

We are called to do ministry in the most exciting time in history. We are called to go into all the world with the message of the Kingdom of our Lord. That is the Great Commission. We are called to wait, and then to go in the power of the Holy Spirit of the Living God. That is the Greater Commission. We are called to change the world by penetrating it in the power of the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us, and by His presence we are called to be His witness. That is the Greatest Commission.
…Shall we?

The Future of the Faith:

By Dennis Peacocke [bio for event]

Every believer has a “duty watch,” just like a soldier. That “duty watch” is determined by God, and encompasses what He wants the generation we have been born into to accomplish as God moves history towards Christ’s return. We are all therefore called, like King David, to “serve the purposes of God in our generation” as Acts 13:36 reminds us. We are also responsible to contribute to the fulfilling of the Great Commission of Matt 28:18-20, lending our lives in some meaningful way to the discipling of the nations. Our faith is to “cast light” and offer others the “salt” of Christ’s preserving love and possibility of living a significant life.

Every generation has a defining challenge and a set of problems that requires courage, faith, and self-sacrifice to resolve them. For my parents, it was living through the Great Depression, World War II, the rebuilding of the nations under the shadow of the “Cold War,” and the possibility of nuclear annihilation. For us, it is an equally compelling challenge; it is the challenge of answering the following question: Is the Church really a relevant social force, or should it be marginalized to the point of overt persecution? Should the Church’s role and influence be expunged as the historical core of Western Civilization? In short, does the Church love people enough to truly bring value to their lives and communities? The fate of the Church in our lifetime therefore hangs on our response to these questions. We retreat, and be further ghettoized, or we engage. It’s really that simple.

While we hear constantly about the “war on terror,” we really do not believe that it is the “root issue” assigned to our generation. The deeper issue is the response our generation takes to our own Judeo-Christian civilization’s roots which helped create both our historically unique freedoms and wealth. Will we care enough about the fruits of that civilization to make the hard choices to defend it? Do we believe enough in our own historic values to not simply defend them, but rather to extend them? This is the challenge which will require heroes and leaders, and “A-Level” players. The unprepared and the untrained cannot, and will not, survive on this battlefield. It is a clash of civilizations. It is a war in the heavenlies. It is a place for men and women who willingly risk their lives for Christ, and the influence of His name and power, in the streets of the nations.

What I am here to talk about is how and why Christians must get into the public conversation as “fishers of men” (Mt 4:19). If we continue to focus on the questions we want the world to be concerned with instead of what they are concerned with, we will continue to see our increasing marginalization under the guise of “the separation of church and state.” A relevant church, dealing with root-level issues, will be a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is awakening us in a generational sense.

So come on. What could we possibly be waiting for? This is the “real game,” the real place of growth, the spiritual incubator which will help make world changers of our children as they follow us. Welcome to our focus at Strategic Christian Services. We recruit and help equip A-Level players, for the A-Level challenge which God has dealt to our generation.

The Future of Faith – For A Changing Church In Uncertain Times:

By Eddie Gibbs [bio for event]

The Bible emphasizes time and time again that the life of one who follows Christ is a life of faith. It was so from the day in which Jesus called His first disciples to follow Him. Then He gave no indication where He was heading and there were no assurances. Yet they followed without question because they knew they would be with Him. Faith ever flows from the relationship believers have with their Lord as apprentices in the school of discipleship.

Such risk-taking faith can degenerate into complacency when life becomes too predictable and comfortable. Alternatively, it becomes a narrow religious category, by which we place our trust in Christ for eternity, while living day-by-day with a rationalistic, calculating, self-assured mindset. However, as we move from the false assurances of modernity into the increasingly precarious and chaotic world of the twenty-first century, it is imperative that we learn, again, to live the life of faith one day at a time. But we can only do this so long as we keep the Big Picture in mind. And the story of the redemption of humankind and God’s unfolding plan for the universe as recorded in Scripture provides that Big Picture.

We need a faith perspective as we review the trends of the church throughout the Western world. For the past four decades we have witnessed the serious and relentless decline of church membership and attendance in all of the traditional denominations. In Europe, some of these historic and once influential churches have declared their own demise as they project their statistical trends into the next twenty years. It is all too easy to succumb to a gloom and doom mindset, which becomes self-fulfilling prophecy.

Yet, there are a growing number of congregations within these declining denominations that are exceptions to the overall trend. And their numerical growth is not entirely due to members transferring from other churches. They are providing a hopeful sign of what “church” should and can be like, to a generation that has abandoned the church through boredom or disillusionment. Leadership that is inspired by a faith-generated vision characterizes these churches.

We are seeing “fresh expressions” of church both in Europe and North America that have woken up to the fact that they are facing a missional challenge on their own door-steps as never before. They see the church not just as an inspiring place to which to invite the seeker, but as a place where the disciples themselves become seekers – seeking out the people with whom they come into contact to introduce them to Jesus, in whom alone can be found peace, wholeness and fulfillment. As they see lives transformed by the gospel, which is the power of God to salvation, their own faith is strengthened and renewed.

Faith is also required to see the hand of God at work in a troubled and disaster-prone world. The Bible does not provide us with off-the-shelf answers to our personal tragedies or to the horrendous scenes that we see on our TV screens from Darfur or Iraq for which humans are responsible, or of floods, fires and earthquakes, which we refer to as natural disasters. We often do not know what God is up to, but God’s people caught up in those tragedies discover that God is with them, and that faith triumphs in the midst of suffering. And we in the cushioned West need to learn the hard lessons of faith, because we are neither remote nor immune from acts of violence and devastation.

Faith cannot be narrowly defined in terms of assurance of the individual’s eternal security, though we must never lose sight of that central gospel truth. It must be related to the whole of life. This is especially the case as we face an unpredictable future. Social scientists describe the times through which we are moving as characterized by chaotic change. We can no longer make long-range plans and steer them to fulfillment by a step-by-step strategic goal achievement. Institutions across the board, whether political, business, educational, military, or religious are finding that you cannot plan for an uncertain future. Yes, they need a guiding vision and strategic thinking, but their planning has to be on the basis of possible alternative scenarios playing out, and when the completely unanticipated occurs, just-in-time planning. Competence is no longer enough, but must be combined with faith that is constantly re-defining reality in the light of God’s Big Picture. Faith, biblically defined is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

For the past five years I have been meeting with a large number of younger leaders – under 35s who have given me insight into the future of faith. They are risk-takers who are passionate for God and prepared to give whatever it takes to demonstrate the relevance and power of the gospel to the generations most alienated from the institutional church. But the future does not lie exclusively with these young leaders. There are also older leaders who are engaging with the profound changes taking place in our culture. They are reaching beyond their denominational structures and sub-cultures to create ground level combined mission task forces. In the midst of cultural turmoil there will be much confusion and not a few casualties. The key to the future of faith is not just in the hands of the younger leaders, but with older Christians who are committed to ministries of intercession and mentoring. Many under 35s did not have a good relationship with their preoccupied parents, but they love their grandparents!

Perhaps the challenge of faith is strongest for the Boomer generation, who may be tempted to rely upon the financial and institutional securities they have built up around them. In middle age there is a strong tendency to “circle the wagons.” I am reminded of the old saying; “Once, by faith, I set my goal further than the eye can see. Now I am near to my goal. I have moved it nearer me.” But with the uncertainties of the twenty-first century God is removing the goalposts!