I remember the day well. I was preparing my message for Sunday
morning and had been laboring with a concordance and lexicon, jotting down
thoughts into my notebook. I love the word of God. I have a burning passion
that my words might be drawn from that holy river that flows, "clear as
crystal," from God's throne (Rev 21:1). At the same time, however, I had spent
far too much time preparing this sermon.
Suddenly, the Lord interrupted my prolonged
study and set my eyes upon the greater picture.. .
He said, "I have called you, not merely to prepare sermons, but to
prepare people."
Yes, there is a difference between preparing a message about God and preparing
a people for God. Obviously, sermon preparation is very important, but it is
not an end in itself. The goal is to equip and train people to represent
Christ.
As we approach the end of this age, I believe the Father's heart is fervently
working to train people who will represent Him prior to the worldwide
tribulation period. Thus, as no other time in history, we must become people
who truly and accurately reveal Jesus Christ. We must know not only that He
heals, but who He wants to heal. We must possess His wisdom as well as His
power; His meekness along with His authority; His love and His judgment. It is
time for the church to "grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even
Christ" (Eph 4:15).
The Purpose of Leadership
The primary reason the Lord provides ministers in the church is for
training and equipping. As Paul wrote, ministers are given by Christ, "For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ" (Eph 4:12 KJV). It is one thing to deliver a person from
oppression; another thing altogether to train the delivered to become
deliverers themselves. Indeed, it is important to lead people to Christ, but
how much more important to teach others to lead multitudes to Christ.
We have made "salvation" an end-all experience. Salvation is a beginning, a
first step toward attaining "the measure of the stature which belongs to the
fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-13). This verse, which speaks of our
transformation, is not given as a hope of an afterlife with Jesus, but
attaining the present life of Jesus. Consider it deeply, for there is no truth
more profound than this: God's expressed will for us is nothing short of the
fullness of Christ! All that Jesus did, all that Jesus was in His earthly
character, and all that Jesus purchased--Christ in divine fullness--is the
mandate spoken by God for the church.
As He Is
As pastors, we feel successful if people under our charge are nice.
However, God did not create us to reveal the
"fullness of nice," but the fullness of Christ.
Our task, as ministers, is not merely to keep
the church from sin, but to labor to conform the church to Him. At the core of
our destiny is one source of fulfillment and power: ---Christ in
us.
Regardless of the task given us--whether we are
in leadership or support, whether we are evangelistic or intercessory in
assignment--we all draw our life from Christ. The task is not the issue;
conformity to Christ's nature is the goal.
John confirms this when he says, "As He is, so also are we in this
world" (1 John 4:17). And again, "By this we know that we are in
Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same
manner as He walked" (1 Jn 2:5c-6). Jesus Himself said that we were to be
students whose goal is to be "fully trained," until we become "like [our]
teacher" (Lk 6:40).
To the testimony of the Scriptures, I add with full authority: there is no
lasting fulfillment in life apart from Christ like transformation; no success
will ever truly satisfy, no personal attainment will find permanent
satisfaction.
David said, "I shall behold Thy
face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake" (Ps
17:15).
In whatever study or course of training you embark upon in your spiritual
life, ask yourself one question: Will I become more Christ like in the
process? This is the goal of our "In Christ's Image" training program: to
present the singular source of our destiny: Christ likeness. God's goal with
us is not merely that we prepare anointed teachings, but anointed
people--disciples who shall reveal the fullness of Christ as we enter the
fullness of time.
ITINERARY:
Check out Francis' entire conference schedule
at
http://www.inchristsimage.org/ConferenceItinerary.asp
We invite you to visit our website at
http://www.frangipane.org for more information on our training center
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AT THE THRESHOLD OF DESTINY"
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