Renewing our Vision

Last Sabbath I shared a few of the Teamwork Laws in my sermon and I must emphasize again the importance of sharing common vision as a family, as a church, as a team.  Until all members see the Big Picture of why we are here, there will be no motivation to collaborate together.  When the Big Picture, the Vision of preferred future, the ideal dream is shared, then people team up, work together for that common purpose.

The church ideal is being the Theater of God’s Grace, where every member is a loving servant.  When God’s Grace transforms our nature, our characters to be Christlike, it would be habitual, customary, normal for all believers to minister to each other, to serve one another according to the gifts we receive. God’s Grace blesses us to be a blessing to others. Our bulletin carries the new vision statement as a reminder for all what we are here for.

Over the past few months I had interacted with people from different groups who had left the church for some reasons.  The common factor is that the church was not good enough and they looked for a better place elsewhere.  They either got involved with schismatic groups, or started their own independent house gathering, or just disconnected from the organized church.  Most of the time conversations in such groups circle around seeking for the pure truth, discovering unadulterated gospel, dissecting doctrines to avoid possibility of errors.

Recently I got an email from one person, and I will quote here just some sections, to preserve anonymity and confidentiality.  The individual writes “…Among this movement there have also been a lot of schisms; each accusing the other of not preaching the truth; or of preaching heresy on some point. The desire to have the truth exactly as the pioneers had it has consumed them so that this is all that is talked about. But is there more love amongst them because of it? Is there more preaching the gospel to the poor or reaching out to the lost? No! They reach out mainly to SDAs and create discontent and criticism within the church. So, instead of the church uniting together to preach to people who are hungry for the gospel; hungry for meaning and purpose in life; hungry for unconditional love, they are divided and contentious…”

Truth is not mere prepositional statements, but the Person, Jesus.  The Truth we are to offer people has to be a good news for them.  Theoretical understanding of prophetic charts is not the gospel, but Loving Presence of God in Christ offering us redemption (Romans 5:8) and God’s Love poured and our lives through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) changing our nature, behavior, conduct and producing the Spiritual Fruit of Love in us (Galatians 5;22-23) – this is the Gospel that the world needs.  Live this Love toward one another!