Today’s Thought “A Season of Servitude” G. Ward

“In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, ^but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior.” Titus 1:2-3

 

We’ve heard it conveyed a gazillion times, “what then is the vision of your church?” Generally, that vision is introduced by the pastor of a local fellowship by extending a thesis statement unto congregants for adherence sake. Often, there are grandiose ideas predicated on glorifying Holy God and formulating an all-inclusive agenda to satisfy the needs and desires of the people. When thoroughly stated unto a generation of seekers, it becomes the nail in the coffin that seals the deal and makes them join without ambivalence. Some churches experience fast growth and are quickly able to make manifest an ideology presented, while others (for no apparent reason) move slow, making them synonymous with the illustrious “building fund” syndrome (that syndrome is renowned for a constant appeal for monies, without experiencing results for many years).

I believe that many leaders become terribly misguided in their first steps in setting forth this kind of “miracle agenda” (cf. Hos.4:6). Every agenda belongs to Holy God and the ones of us surrendering to His lordship need not consider seeker friendly mentalities to win the lost. Our message of reconciliation is transcendent to economic prosperity; very particularly that in which we can see or touch. I know this as truth because many are being won to Christ in third world countries without regard to vision of better facilities and programming (cf. Jn.3:16). More imperative to consider, is making Christ known and challenging others in the same (cf. Mt.28:19, Eph.4:11-12). We’re all experiencing great numeric growth, but it’s not entirely successful. We’ve violated first precepts by allowing programming and great appeal as the substitution for a message of Sufficiency, whereby men would never thirst again.

Happy Monday!