Guest Editorial: Portland International Church of Christ evangelist, Kip McKean
This article, written almost three years ago still challenges and inspires me. I remember reading this when I was doing the same thing the couple spoken of here tried to do. I was intent on doing whatever I could to help the struggling and weak church I was a part of, for just over 10 years, turn around. Sadly, the leadership at that time did not want to pay the price to make disciples and have a church on fire for God with only sold-out disciples. To this day, over 2 ½ years later, that congregation continues to struggle to stay alive and without radical change, the entire city and region will lose hope and have no opportunity to hear the word of the Lord. I prayed for my brothers there today and it brought tears to my eyes as I remembered so many who studied the Bible there and were baptized only to be sucked back into the world. I remembered those who became disciples and are still faithful. I prayed for their leadership and that the congregation there would become a light, with disciples on fire for God! There are dozens and dozens of men and women (thousands around the world) who have fallen away or who still attend church but do not “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength”. (Mark 12:30) If there is a constant call from leadership of any church in any city in the world to truly “obey” (Matthew 28:20) and not just listen to the word of God, then that church could radically change and their region of a state or country could have hope. The cost is high- the cost is discipleship. (Luke 14:33). We do not condemn that church or any others who are giving their best- we pray for them to be restored and for God to be glorified in their city. We believe that the 5 million lost souls of the Valley of the Sun- Phoenix- must have hope and that we are here to humbly and powerfully bring it to them. (Luke 4:14-21). Our passion is to have a church of only sold-out disciples working heart and soul to keep each other strong and faithful and continue to reach the lost in this great city. Phoenix church- please carefully consider the following article and “examine the scriptures every day”. (Acts 17:11) Let us give glory to God with our lives as he stoops down to make us great (Psalm 18:35).
In Him,
Matt Sullivan
The Mandate of God for World Evangelism
Part V: Shock and Awe
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:9-14
In this frightening passage, Jesus preaches to His disciples what will happen to His Kingdom, the then “modern day movement of God.” Encouragingly in verse 14, Jesus prophesies that indeed the “gospel of the Kingdom” will be preached around the world in their lifetime, and then the end will come. “The end” is not the end of time or the second coming of Jesus, but the end of the temple and the physical “Jewish nation” in 70 AD. Jesus’ prophecy of taking the gospel to the whole world is fulfilled by the time Paul writes Colossians in 62 AD! He exclaims, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing.” (Colossians 1:6) However, Jesus tells the apostles while preaching to all nations, they will be “persecuted and put to death” and “hated by all nations because of Him.” Then came the passage that shocked me. In verses ten and eleven Jesus said when the Word was preached around the world, “many will turn away from the faith,” they (fellow disciples) will “betray and hate each other,” and “many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” These two verses describe what is now taking place in so many of our family of churches.
Recently, I received this email feedback from the article “The Mandate for World Evangelism Part III: The Lost Plan.”
This disciple wrote:
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Amen, amen, amen! My husband and I are so encouraged! We are in _________, USA and are deeply concerned about the recent decisions our so-called leaders have made. True discipling has ceased, evangelism is spoken like it is a dirty word, autonomy had occurred (dis-unity) and more. My husband and I have been praying about all this and finally tried to approach the leader of the church today regarding these things. Sadly, Satan had a tremendous victory. My husband and the evangelist were speaking with highly elevated voices. My husband got angry when the evangelist said he would not call people to evangelize or challenge people to date only disciples. The leader told my husband, “If you don’t like the way things are being done then you can leave.” He also told us we have not contributed at all to the church. (Totally a lie and very hurtful.) At that point the leader said that the conversation was over. Anyway, reading your article made me cry because ________, USA has forgotten the Word of God. Please pray for us. We have been disciples for 13 years and love God. Our church here is unraveling before our eyes. Some see, others are oblivious and sucked in. We don’t know what to do, except pray! Help! We literally are stuck in the desert! Love your true brother and sister in Christ, ____ and___ _________. |
The above disciple couple realizes that the work of God, building a unified brotherhood of churches around the world through discipling, is being destroyed by those who preach autonomy. Many preach autonomy motivated by bitterness from the mistakes and sins of our past. They too are deceived by Satan because they refuse to see their own sins of rebellion and severed relationships. They label the heroes of our past as pharisees and criticize their “leadership style.” Yet their own congregations continue to shrink and have little zeal for souls. Once more I stand in awe of God, as Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:12 ring true, “The love of many will grow cold.”
The email asked for help. So I called and talked with the brother. I shared Matthew 24 with him and gave him the advice of Jesus in verse 13, “But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned these past two years is to draw close to God. Too many of us have confused God and the church. Do not get me wrong, I still want to be in a church that loves and trust each other with our lives. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) However, the church is imperfect and at times will utterly disappoint us. Why? Because it is full of imperfect men like you and me. God is perfect and he will never forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)
In Hebrews 13:6, I have gained courage to boldly preach the Word remembering, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” At the end of the conversation, this brother asked, “What more can I do?” I simply said to seek out a congregation where God is honored, discipling is practiced and many are being baptized. That night, they called me back saying they are traveling several hours to come to Portland’s married retreat in April! They are willing to do whatever it takes to stand firm! We should not be shocked by this kind of commitment. This level of commitment should be the ideal and the standard! Therefore, let us always be in awe of God and His unwavering love for us – by this faith, we will stand firm.
Kip McKean
