A Club or a Mission Agency?

Here is a good working definition of a Christian: A Christian is someone who thinks acts and feels like Jesus. Paul said that they have “put on Christ.” They resemble Christ. In 2005, Gene Carlson, now the pastor emeritus of Westlink Christian Church gave a message on what a Church might look like. He stated: “We are not a club that gathers to serve the needs of the members. We are a mission agency preoccupied with reaching those who don’t want anything to do with the church, are skeptical of Christians, and have been hurt by the church.” About 30 years ago, Westlink intentionally set out to move from ministry to the saints to reaching the seekers for Christ. Following that decision they progressed from gaining from 25 to 40 people a year to more than 200 a year. Could that happen to your church and congregation if you made the decision to “put on Christ?”

Pastor Carlson identified five characteristics of a person who “puts on Christ.” See if these fit you.

CHRISTIANS WHO PUT ON CHRIST:
Demonstrate Compassionate Acceptance for the Lost
See the Divine Potential in the Most Unlikely Person
Intentionally Reach Out to the Scum of the Earth
Will Not Be Swayed By the Religious Elite
Will Be Abandoned to Christ’s Purpose

I am convinced that God blesses churches and people who get outside themselves, who give outside themselves, who reach out in evangelism and who lift up the majesty of God. Mary Nordstrom wrote, “It is our privilege to have world evangelism as a passion… not our responsibility to have as a burden.”

The churches of Evangelical Friends Church Mid America will see significant growth and make a huge difference in their world when we act intentionally to “put on Christ.”

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