REDISCOVERING OUR CORE MANDATE

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

It is very possible, from the above scripture, to be called a Christian or to even identify yourself as a Christian and still live below Heaven’s expectations of you. Your righteousness; your holiness; your worldly goods; your knowledge of the scripture, your confession and profession of faith can only be eternally valuable if your pursuit of your core assignment as a Christian is unbroken.

Christians are not a group of purposeless individuals. Rather, there is a purpose for being called a Christian; there is a responsibility attached to that identity. Christians are individuals who have been divinely mandated and are therefore on a heavenly mission to reconcile the world back to God—2 Corinthians 5:19-21.

No Christian is a Christian until he is living out this sacred mandate. The disciples of Christ were first called Christians in Antioch—Acts 11:26, not because of their oratorical skills or their ability to work miracles but because they identified with the Way. What is this the Way? The Way isn’t a what but a “Who”. So, “Who” is the Way? In John 14:6, Jesus saith unto him (Thomas), I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jesus came to show us the Way back to the Father and we are here to continue the legacy of our Master by showing the world the Way back to God.

So, what is our core mandate as Christians? To answer the question, we need to look up a few scriptures:

Jesus, calling out some persons in Matthew 4:19 says, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men! He didn’t call them to be political, economic and social heavyweights. He simply needed them to become “fishers of men”, not just fishermen.

Rounding off the earthly phase of His Ministry, we read about Jesus and His disciples in Matthew 28:16-20, Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Those were His final words according to Matthew. Mark and Luke didn’t differ much.

Concerning the Holy Spirit, or on the purpose of Pentecost, Jesus has this to say, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Right before this, Jesus made it clear that our focus shouldn’t be on interpreting the times. Our focus should be on becoming witnesses of Him unto the ends of the world, not witnesses of the end of the times.

Time won’t permit us to consider more scriptures but we know that ‘in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall a matter be established’. Clearly, therefore, our core mandate as Christians is to tell the world about Christ—teaching and preaching His Gospel to them and making disciples of same. This is why Jesus came and that is why we are still here.

Sadly, however, many have lost sight of this all-important mandate. “Where there is no vision, the people perish...My people perish for lack of knowledge”. Today, it is not just the lack of knowledge but the rejection of it that has brought us where we are now.

What Happens when we Lose Sight of our Core Mandate?

Persecution...as soon as the disciples of Jesus began to rest on their successes after the harvests of souls in Acts 2, following the release of the Holy Spirit upon them, persecution followed. This persecution became more pronounced from Acts 4. Interestingly, persecution eventually led to the disciples spreading as they were originally commanded. This also resulted in the spread of Christianity. Not all persecutions are evil. Some persecutions are allowed of God to get us back to Him and to get us to fulfill our true calling. Persecution against Christians is on the rise, not just locally but, globally. Just as Jesus foretold, a time is coming, and the time is now, when those persecuting Christians will think they are doing God a service. This is not going anywhere soon. We must therefore brace ourselves to do the unthinkable to realize the unimaginable. We must earnestly redefine our priorities as Christians. We can’t risk becoming murderers of posterity.

Bishop Dag-Heward Mills adds Church Divisions. Like persecutions, denominationalism has been another consequence of letting our core mandate take the back seat. Church splits are as old as church history. There is a positive side, though. When a church splits, more church assemblies spring up and spread out.

So, it’s either we carry out our core mandate willingly or we are compelled to—1 Corinthians 9:16-17.

How do we Respond?

¨ Hear what the Spirit says for the hour...Revelation 2:29; 3:22. Every true revolution in the Body of Christ started from listening to the voice of the Spirit. The days of doing Christianity as usual are over. God, through His Spirit, is calling us out to do great things for His Kingdom. Many of us pray for “power as of old” but very few are ready to pay the price required. “Power as of old” will respond to commitments as of old and nothing less. In reality, we shouldn’t be praying that prayer if we understood the significance or weight of John 14:12, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Reading further to verse 23 will make you understand that you must do what is required to get what is desired. The reverse is never the case.

¨ Trade with Your Talents...in God’s Kingdom and in Christianity, you never gain by hoarding. Rather, you lose everything—Luke 19:16-26. That which you see Me do, also do. You are expected to teach others what you have been taught. In fact, God and Jesus are disappointed when, with all you have been taught, you still remain unmoved, unlearned, unprepared to teach—Hebrews 5:12. You become a better Christian by telling others about Christ and what He came to do for them. You enjoy increased anointing; increased favour, increased dominion; etc. But you need to start by trading what you currently have through soul-winning; then, you can have what you desire.

¨ Make a Covenant Resolution to Promote the Kingdom of God...seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness is one portion of scripture that will eternally remain true—Matthew 6:33a. In 2 Chronicles 15, a genuine reconnection to God by the Israelites opened up limitless doors of opportunities for them. Abraham is much celebrated today because he was absolutely sold out to God. Apostle Paul called it “this one thing I do...i press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling”—Philippians 3:13-14. We all have a high calling but we don’t all press toward that mark. A commitment is required.

In conclusion, you are not here because God has no place for you in Heaven. You are here because God has an assignment for you that can only be carried out by you. Christianity is not a feel good way of living; it is God working through man to reconcile the world back to Himself—Christianity is Responsibility. No man will do your assignment for you the way you would do it for yourself. So, let us all wake up from our sleep and resume our duty posts as soul winners or, as Jesus puts it, fishers of men! —2 Timothy 4:5, But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.