Working Together (Urbana 79)
page 1 of 6by Luis Palau
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Believers working in partnership other believers is central to God's strategy for redeeming the world - not just the lost, but also for those same believers.
Four thousand leaders of the church of Jesus Christ made a public confession.
They had spent ten days studying world conditions in Lausanne, Switzerland.
They then printed their confession and it has been spread around the world under
the title, "The Lausanne Covenant." It includes these words:
More than 2,700 million people, which is more than two-thirds of mankind, have yet to be evangelized. We are ashamed that so many have been neglected; it is a standing rebuke to us and to the whole church ... Missionaries should flow ever more freely from and to all six continents in a spirit of humble service. The goals should be, by all available means and at the earliest possible time, that every person will have the opportunity to hear, understand, and receive the good news. We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice. All of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the injustices which cause it. Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple lifestyle in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism."
We are ashamed," they say. "All of us are shocked," they confess. Why?
One of history's most unforgettable and notable missionaries was Dr. David Livingstone. He was used in a mighty way to reach thousands for Christ and open up a continent to the good things that the gospel brings. He was moved to become a missionary, to reach the unreached millions, when he heard another missionary to Africa, Robert Moffat, say, "I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been." What a shame it is that a hundred years after that statement, so many people have still not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. We ought to be shocked!
I ask you, can't we team up with one another to reach the unreached millions? Can't we work together to attain that goal? Yes or no? Can't. we promise God that by his grace we shall try to reach those thousand villages and many more where the gospel has never been heard?
We believe this generation could be evangelized thoroughly and biblically, but it will take cooperation, team work, respect and sacrifice.
Recently Dr. Jeffrey J. Wiebe declared, "World War 3 has already begun: It is a battle for the minds of the masses - not the individuals, the masses." I believe he is right. And you and I, as caring Christians, are involved in that battle for the minds of the masses.
Before tackling the biblical call to work together, however, you and I must have certain convictions. First, we must have the conviction that it is God's will and purpose that this generation hear the Word of God clearly.
Second, we must have the conviction that it can be done by the power of the Holy Spirit as a body of believers.
Third, we need the conviction that it must be done in our society and it must be done urgently. Os Guinness stated recently; "Our generation is in a shopping mood for answers." Therefore, it is urgent that we move now.
Fourth, we require the determination that we shall do it by faith. We ought to be able to cry, "It shall be done!" There must also be the determination to plan to do it, under God, and the determination to rejoice over any methodology that the creative Holy Spirit of God may lay on anyone's heart to accomplish the job.
Take a look at Romans 12:1-13. You will notice three major emphases: the foundation
for working together (vv. 1-2), the
functional basis for working together (vv. 3-8) and the fuel to keep us working
together (vv. 9-13).
The Foundation for Working Together: The Upward Secret
I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom. 12:1-2 RSV)
Verses 1-2 relate what I call the upward secret of working together. This is a personal relationship with God. 1 Corinthians 3:9 calls us God's fellow workers. What an amazing statement that is. Workers with God himself! And this is properly so. For we must first be workers together with God so that next we can be workers with each other. This is the identification of the Christian: with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, and his Holy Spirit. For the rest of your life and mine, if we are to work together to obey Jesus Christ and reach the nations with the good news, we must carry it out, conscious that we are, first and foremost, workers together with God.
A living sacrifice is a glad and lifelong surrender of the body as worship to God (v.1). The body is a symbol of the total personality. God calls us to "a living sacrifice." What does "a living sacrifice" mean? This is one of the deepest biblical principles revealed in the inerrant Holy Scripture. It is a concept that is not easy to understand in a practical, daily manner. But there are parallel passages. For instance, 2 Corinthians 4:10 says, "always carrying in the body the death of Jesus." And in John 12:24 we read, "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." And the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 16:24: "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." What does that mean? Isn't that also parallel to Romans 12:1?
A living sacrifice, the death of Jesus, the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying, taking up the cross - all teach the same biblical principle. I like to explain it this way: Every time my will crosses God's revealed will, and I choose his will over against my will, that is the living sacrifice, that is the death of Jesus at work in me, that is the grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying, that is taking up the cross. It is my joyful privilege, as a Christian, to choose God's revealed will in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit over against my own notions when these contradict God's revealed will.
A missionary who helped me immensely in my youth in South America was Edward F. Murphy. He helped me understand this principle when he taught that the walk of the Christian can be stated in two principles: a crisis and a process. Crisis takes place either at conversion or sometime later, when the Christian realizes that he or she must make a profound and far-reaching decision. Is he going to serve God for the rest of his life or will he lead an egotistical, ego-centered, self-pleasing sort of life? "That is the crisis," Dr. Murphy stated.
"But then comes the process," he went on to say. "The process is this very teaching of Romans 12:1. When you have come to the crisis point and have decided that God shall be first in your life, from then on every day of your life you will be choosing, choosing, choosing."
This daily choosing, which we are free to practice because redemption makes it possible (Rom. 6:12-22), is what the Apostle calls, "your spiritual worship." It can be translated "spiritual" or "rational." It is obviously both. This is what the life of our Lord Jesus so vividly demonstrated during his walk here on earth. Before we speak about working together we must be sure that we are seeking, day by day, to choose God's will over our own. Will you do this? That is a crucial question, and the answer will determine the effectiveness of the rest of your life.
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