Vision for Ministry

author: Mark Jackson

What It Means To Be A Church
We, the church, are a people, screwed-up and fallible, creative and created in the image of God, who have thrown ourselves headlong into a passionate pursuit of being like Jesus Christ in every part of our lives. It doesn't matter what kind of hell we've been through or put ourselves through -- we are secure in the promise of God to pick up the shattered pieces of our lives, blow on them of the breath of the Spirit, and infuse us with new purpose and life. I am willing to give up anything and everything - stuff, relationships, cash, even our lives - in order to clear the way for this reanimation to become a reality for each of our lives.

Church is not another obligation to satisfy some petulant deity or mollify some man-made set of rules and regulations. I see the gathering of the saints as a privilege, a community of like-minded believers in Christ, broken people fit together into a stained glass window of epic proportions... shot through with the light of God's love. I do not see the Church (or any local church) as a completed work but a masterpiece in progress, each broken person being fit into the place where they can shine most brightly when the rays of the Christ illuminate them.

I also believe that there are no barriers keeping people from God - save ones that they erect themselves. Occasionally, people have raised barricades and walls to limit the flow of grace... and when I find these man-made walls, I resolve to tear them down so that the maximum number of people can experience what I've experienced - the healing power of the grace of Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, I believe that telling others our stories is part and parcel of our passionate pursuit of Jesus. Our hope is that our story will point people to the Ultimate Story... of God sending His son to die for our shattered, screwed-up lives, lavishing His forgiveness and life eternal on us, then sending us into the world to lavish love and forgiveness on others.

What It Means To Be A Pastor
In order to make that vision of an authentic Biblical community a reality, a pastor has a number of important tasks. He must preach and teach Biblical truth in the cultural language of the people of the church. He must lead the church to make bold choices in starting new ministries and reaching the surrounding community for Christ. He must lovingly push and prod the church to move beyond being comfortable into prevailing against the gates of Hell. He must encourage and challenge believers to use their spiritual gifts and passions in ministry, and stay out of the way while they do exactly that.

My vision for my personal ministry as a pastor is to do those tasks to the best of my abilities and God's provision. Coupled with that is a deep desire to work with staff and laypersons who are strong in my areas of weakness, so that we truly can be the body of Christ so brilliantly revealed in 1st Corinthians 12.

Why Any Church Exists
A local church exists to proclaim and live out the incredible story of God's love in the context of the culture God put it in.

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, non-religious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized ­ whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ ­ but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it. I wanted to live it!
1 Corinthians 9:19-23, The Message

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modified: October 4, 2002

PageSpinner Mark Jackson

3416 Country Hill Road
Antioch, TN 37013
E-Mail: gamemark@bellsouth.net