“I will do so, the Lord being my helper.” This is the response in all phases of ordination in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Although the unordained people of God may not utter these words, it’s a good practice to remember where our help comes from.
Brian P. Stone’s Evangelism After Christendom helps us to rethink evangelism by asking the question, "Whose mission are we on when we consider the seriousness of evangelism?"
I ask you/us the same question, but some would argue it is the mission of the church. Could this be the reason local church evangelism is not effective, because we are on the Church’s mission and not God’s? Stone suggests the focus of the church should be:(1) the power of God demonstrated through obedience, (2) the love of God and neighbor demonstrated through the Holy Spirit, and (3) the beauty of holiness aesthetics more than just apologetics involving an epistemology[1].
Are we wrestling with the same question posed earlier, "Whose mission are we on?" Much more than individualistic thought, the local church community must become and remain the church that is on a mission for the Lord. The Lord being my helper propounds that we depend on God and the Holy Spirit to direct us as leaders of the church and the community of believers. We must practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, forgiveness, repentance, worship, and what Jesus said is the greatest of all commandments, love.
I asked Rev. Robert J. Williams Jr. Pastor of Williams Memorial CME Church, High Point, NC. How do you continue to grow your congregation? His response “Preach the Word of God, love the people of God, and serve the community.”
We must love God with every fiber of our being and love our neighbors with the same love we have for ourselves. When the church practices the love, peace, joy, and victory that it preaches, then we can live out its true meaning for assembling. However, we cannot do this alone; we need the help of the Lord.
In addition, as the mission becomes more perspicuous, we will not need gimmicks and tricks to compete with the love and concern for the reign of God to bring others to Christ. The Lord will help us when we call upon the Lord. So, Whose Mission are you on?
We are The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church recognizing the importance of Christ in our daily lives.
Dr. Leon C. Moore, Jr.
General Secretary of Evangelism and Missions
Anderson Chapel CME, Holly Springs, MS
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[1] Brian P. Stone, Evangelism After Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian Witness (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 31.
