11 Aug The 7th Mark of A Complete Christian: Impacts the World
THE 7TH MARK OF A COMPLETE CHRISTIAN IS THAT HE IMPACTS THE WORLD.
Because God loved the world and gave Himself for it, so should we. Therefore, a complete Christian serves the world through humanitarianism and evangelism.
John 17:18 says, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” This tells us that God sent Jesus, who then sends us, to minister to the needs of the world, which fall into the two categories of humanitarianism (meeting temporal needs) and evangelism (meeting eternal needs).
Christians are humanitarian in order to help meet the temporal needs of humanity.
James Kennedy wrote a remarkably enlightening book entitled What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? In it he chronicled the extraordinary contribution that Christianity has had on the welfare of humanity, including:
- Championing the value of all human life
- Helping the poor
- Providing literacy for the masses
- Expanding democratic principles in government
- Advancing civil liberties for minorities and the unprotected
- Advancing science
- Advancing health, health care and medicine
- Creating and promoting great art
The purpose of humanitarianism is to
- Fulfill the creation mandate to govern the world according to God’s values, having been created in His image (Genesis 1:26-28)
- Make the world a better place in which to live (James 2:15-16)
- Create a hearing for the Gospel (Matthew 9:2-6)
Jesus made an historic impact on the world through His followers who took His teachings to their logical conclusion in their time and place. That is what Jesus wants from all of us – to take His teachings to their logical conclusion in our time and place.
Christians evangelize to meet the eternal needs of humanity.
In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus gives His disciples the Great Commission. This is the charge to do what is in our power to take the message of the Gospel to as much of the world as possible in our generation.
Scripture makes it clear that God does not need us to evangelize to accomplish His purposes (Acts 9:1-17). But He wants us to evangelize, not out of a sense of obligation to Him, but out of love and concern for the lost, as we reflect His heart (John 3:16). Therefore, all Christians should accept the Great Commission as their own Personal Commission. As we do, we commit to evangelize, not the way God has gifted and called someone else to evangelize, but the way He has gifted and called us to evangelize.
Historically, it has been common for Christians to focus on one of these responsibilities and neglect the other. However, the challenge for the complete Christian is to keep both humanitarianism and evangelism as priorities and to hold them in balance.
Because God so loved the world and gave Himself for it, the 7th Mark of a Complete Christian is that he impacts the world through humanitarianism and evangelism.
If you missed any of the overviews 7 Marks of a Complete Christian, you can begin here with Mark #1.
For an in depth look at all of the 7 Marks of a Complete Christian and what it will take to cultivate your spiritual well being in a culture driven world, get my book, Brave New Discipleship.
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