Thoughts from a time of celebration …

One of the blessings of being a missions director …

Back at the start of December I was invited to attend a 40th Anniversary celebration with the Asian Christian Fellowship in Wolverhampton. WEC workers have been, and remain, involved in the planting, growth and development of this fellowship and today, ACF is a vibrant fellowship of people worshipping God, and being discipled, in their own mother tongues. Wonderful!

The celebration was an opportunity to share stories and recognise the people who had/are involved in the Church. A time to mark their contribution and give thanks to God who has been at work to build His church. A time to celebrate God’s faithfulness and the faithful ministry of men and women over the past four decades.

During the service I was struck by two things:

 

The need for faithfulness

This was a celebration of faithfulness. Of people, walking by faith and not by sight, of trusting God, of keeping on doing what the Lord has given them to do. 

Church planting and discipleship takes time and are only worked out through life-long commitments rather than quick fixes/programmes this takes perseverance, the steady persistence in a course of action, purpose or status, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragements.

Or, as Samuel Johnson wrote ’Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance: A palace is built stone by stone but it becomes a great spacious building.’

 

The need for contentment

Alongside perseverance must also come contentment the 'state of mind in which one's desires are confined to his lot whatever it may be, without envy, avarice or anxiety.

Contentment in Christ and in His call upon our lives, particularly through the difficult seasons when, perhaps, we are most tempted to think that the grass is greener elsewhere and move on!

Discontent is a killer and we need to be alert to the invasive influence of the consumer culture around us, where image is everything, success in measured in numerical growth and we are constantly being urged to bigger, better, greater market share etc. Of course, we can be spurred on by the fellowship of God and the working of the Holy Spirit, but we must discern the source of what motivates us, and this takes prayerful consideration.

We must be rooted in Christ. In his book Astonished, Mike Erre writes: “We are to be a prophetic counterculture where weakness is welcomed and people are loved how they are. We must repent of our endless obsession with numbers, rankings, and achievement. Those who rank churches according to growth, popularity, or influence only reinforce the Hellenism implicit in American (Western) culture.” 

 

This is not easy, at least for me …

I ponder this and I know that it is right to be faithful to, and content in, God’s call. During the ‘good’ moments I therefore desire to be like this. I also recognise how easy it is to fall into discontentedness and move into a place of working for the approval of men rather than humbly ministering before the Lord or of questioning God’s wisdom and ways rather than simply resting content in, and faithful to, Him.

It is also challenge to consider how much we are being influenced by the values of the world rather than the wonderfully liberating values of kingdom living.

Where do you think you see worldly values 'misshaping' the work of church or mission? 

Still, whatever your current situation, be encouraged and press on!