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You ever have somebody say something to you that leaves a soul tattoo? Just as we have physical tattoos on our skin, oftentimes God will use people to give us a soul tattoo in the depths of our heart. And usually, it's from somebody older and wiser. Well, one of my mentors, probably my primary mentor, Dr. Norman Geisler, I would call him Yoda.
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The man wrote over 100 books. Even up to the time that he passed away in his mid-80s, he was still writing books. But what Dr. Geisler told me when I was working on my master's underneath him was this. It's a profound truth.
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Let this mark your soul too. He said, this all truth belongs to the triune God, even when truth comes from a non-Christian. So truth from a non-Christian is just God's common grace. And truth is important because truth allows us to see reality. Truth corresponds to reality.
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Well, in the 1920s, Methodist missionary to India E. Stanley Jones was having a conversation with his friend Mahat Gandhi. And as the two were talking, Jones said to Gandhi, I'm very anxious to see Christianity naturalized in India, so that it shall no longer be a foreign thing identified with a foreign people and a foreign government, but a part of the national life of India and contributing to its power to India's uplift and redemption. So the time frame is in the 1920s, right? So about 100 years ago. And it's interesting in what Gandhi says, and there's much that we can learn from this person who didn't follow Christ.
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Oftentimes some of the best critiques come from people who are outside looking in, and if we're wise, we'll take time to listen. Gandhi responded with four truths. If you and I implement as ministry leaders and as those who care about Jesus and his desire to reach the world, these four truths, if implemented through the Holy Spirit's power, will be used to transform local churches into communities of everyday missionaries. So let me pause here. One of the things that you're going to grab from this podcast is this.
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Every single follower of Jesus is a missionary. Please understand this. We have a God who is on mission. God is reconciling the world unto Himself. We're a disaster, we're broken, we're rebellious, we're hurting, we're afraid, we're alone.
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We've made a mess of things. So what does God do? God sends His son. Jesus was sent into the world to reconcile the world unto Himself. The Holy Spirit was sent to indwell us to give us character or the fruit of the spirit and the gifts of the Spirit so that we can be sent into the world to say, we've got really good news.
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There's a loving and good Father who sent His gracious Son to die the death we should have died on the cross to raise again, to give us life, forgiveness and life and righteousness, and also the Holy Spirit's power in us to make us a family. We've got some really, really good news. And every follower of Jesus is a missionary. Wherever your feet are, that's your mission field. Your school, your job, your gym, whenever, wherever we are on mission, because we serve a God who is the original missionary. So Gandhi said this, and here are these four truths that is important for us to grab ahold of, and they're going to seem kind of obvious.
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And oftentimes we miss things that are in clear sight. But Gandhi said this to Jones. Number one, be more like Jesus. He said it in these words. I would suggest first that all you Christians, missionaries and all, must begin to live more like Jesus.
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Gandhi's words still ring true. If we want the ringing sound to be silent, pastors and missionaries, ministry leaders, and those of us who follow Christ, we must embody this gospel. But this isn't something we do in our own power. It comes from the power of the Gospel to begin to reflect Christ more and more and more. So let's pause here.
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The Gospel is more than simply, I get to go to heaven when I die. The reality is God is renewing all things. Not only is there going to be a new heavens, new earth, where there's no sin, where there's no brokenness, but human beings are going to become genuine God reflectors. Jesus and His humanity was the prototype of what human beings were to be. That's what God is forming us into by grace.
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Okay? So understand this, that Gandhi is saying, listen, number one, if you want to reach India and for us in 2023, if you want to reach in 2024, if you want to reach people, it's important that they see something in us, but we cannot make ourself shine light. The light has to be within us and shine through us. So Gandhi's words ring true. Now, pastors, I'm going to challenge you in this.
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Those who disciple other Christians, ministry leaders, I'm going to challenge you in this. An anemic Gospel produces anemic christians. Anemic pulpits and discipleship strategies have often reduced the magnificence of the Gospel to simply a trip to heaven when we die, our only forgiveness of sins. Those things are true, but they're not the fullness of it. The Gospel we preach is the churches we get, and the churches we get is the Gospel we preach.
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So if we don't have churches that are set ablaze, lit up with love of Christ, what is it that we are giving them to receive? So let's take a trip back a couple thousand years, and this is really important. We have an ancient faith that reaches way back. The Gospel is a royal announcement that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Lord of the universe, who won a decisive victory over the powers of sin, death and the powers of darkness. Jesus' life, His death, His resurrection is victory over that which destroys us.
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Jesus' resounding victory was achieved through His sinless life. Think about it. He lived a sinless life that humanity could not live. His perfectly obedient life is accredited to us. His sacrificial, substitutionary, atoning death on the cross and His death defeating, eternal, life giving resurrection.
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This Gospel, if received and lived, will form communities of faith that participate in the ministry and mission of Christ as the body of Christ. And so we need a, here comes a big word. We need a missional hermeneutic. That scripture moves us to mission because it moved us to worship. And how could we not worship when we've received such grace?
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Number two, Gandhi, in essence, said this to Jones, teach and live a robust theological vision. Second, Gandhi said, I would suggest that you must practice your religion without adultering or toning it down. Let's pause. When I first became a follower of Christ in the late 90s, kind of the ministry model was mimic the culture as much as possible. Right?
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And that never set well with me. Now, we're to be relevant. We're to meet people where they are. But the whole purpose of following Jesus and his kingdom is that it is so different. Think about what Jesus said, things like this, forgive your enemies.
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Things like, for God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son to live a life of blessed are poor in spirit, for there's this kingdom in heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they would be comforted. Blessed are peacemakers, for they'd be called sons and daughters of God. Blessed are those who seek righteousness, for they would be satisfied. The kingdom of God is vastly different.
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And what Gandhi is saying is, don't adulterize your faith. Don't synchronize it, make it different and beautiful as it is, because people want something different. The one place where people should come to get a whole different understanding of reality is the local church is in covenantal relationship with the living God of the universe. So watch this. In our post christian culture, living and proclaiming a robust, theologically informed faith is essential.
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The late, great Dr. Tim Keller says this. In a society like ours, most people only know of either a very mild, nominal Christianity or a separatist, legalistic Christianity. Neither of these is, may we say, the real thing. But exposure to them creates spiritual antibodies, as it were, making the listener extremely resistant to the Gospel.
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These antibodies are now everywhere in society. Therefore, teaching and living with a robust theological vision inflames the hearts of Jesus' people. True revival is normal Christianity, a life of faith, hope and love. An attractive feature of the kingdom of God is how it is different from the culture. More forgiving, more gracious, more generous, more compassionate, more kind, more loving.
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For you will know my disciples because they love one another. Love is deeply rooted in a theological vision of the God who says I am love number three. Gandhi emphasized love. Gandhi said to Jones, I would suggest that you put your emphasis on love, for love is the center and soul of Christianity. Isn't that amazing that a non Christian pointed to the Christian and said, the center and soul of Christianity is love?
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Jones responds by saying he did not mean love as a sentiment, but love as a working force. The r1 power in the moral universe. He wanted it applied between individuals and groups and races and nation, the one cement and salvation of the world. Jesus was resoundingly clear. You will know my disciples by the way they love one another.
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The God who loved us loves His enemies, even comes to indwell and love enemies and turns them into friends. The God who forgives us his cosmic rebels indwells us to forgive our betrayers. The God who came as a Hew died for Jews and Gentiles indwells. This multiethnic blood-bought family, fulfilling God's covenant with Abraham so we can be a foretaste of the kingdom to come. Love is the mark that bears witness that we belong to Jesus.
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Fourth, seek common ground. Be humble. Fourth, Gandhi said, I would suggest that you study non-christian religions and cultures more sympathetically in order to find a good that is in them, so that you may have a more sympathetic approach to people. This is really important in our rapidly gaining post christian culture and what that means. It doesn't mean that at one time the entire United States was Christian.
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There's no nation on the earth where everybody was a Christian. What it means is that people understood christian stories, they understood the resurrection, understood the cross, they understood the Old Testament. Now people don't know who King David is. They don't know who Jonah is. They don't know those framing stories.
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So in a post-christian culture, it is very important to understand people's stories. So imagine this. Imagine going to the doctor and you walk into the office and he immediately begins to prescribe medication to you. X rays, MRI, all types of stuff, and you haven't even told him your symptoms. Oftentimes that's what we do as followers of Christ.
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Before people tell us their pain points, we already have a prepackaged of Christ pulsating with you, inflamed, lit up with the love of Christ that you're on mission, seeking and saving the lost, communing with God, intimacy into me, you see. And when you see God, people can see God in you because you're intimacy with Him. So we want to find common ground. That's what everyday missionaries do.
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There's a lot of unknown gods in our culture. And in the midst of people searching for these unknown gods, they're searching for the true God. And you and I have an opportunity to represent the beauty of Jesus to a dying and hopeless world. Gandhi points out four incredible truths. One, man, be more like Jesus.
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Two, teach and live a robust theological vision. Three, emphasize love. And four, seek common ground and be humble. We should be the most humble people on the face of the earth because we understand, at the foot of the cross, we all need grace. I want to conclude this episode with this.
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I want you to imagine that you're a fireman and you get a call and a fire bell goes off, and you rush and you get to the house, and there's people in the house that are in the fire and they can't escape. And your job is to run in that house and pull them out despite the fire. You've been trained, you've been prepared. That's what you do. You are a fireman.
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Well, in many ways, we are spiritual firemen and fire ladies. That there is a world that is burning in hate. There's a world that is burning in sexual immorality. There's a world that is burning. And God says, listen, you are my firemen.
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Run into the burning house. I will protect you. Go save the lost.
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Think about it. Some of those people are family and friends. What if we trusted God so much so that we ran into the burning house? Hey, let's take these lessons from Gandhi.
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Let's apply them through the Holy Spirit's power. This is Dr. Derwin Gray. I want you to marinate on that. And when the church is transformed, the world will be transformed.