Becoming A World Christian

Becoming a World Christian

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.” These are the words of Luke in the first chapter of Acts concerning becoming a world Christian.

It is assumed that all of us who call ourselves Christian have a basic understanding of what it means to be a Christian. However, I have found that I often get into trouble when I begin to make assumptions; especially when it comes to what someone may or may not know about the bible. Therefore, the formal definition of “Christian” is simply: “one who professes a belief in Jesus Christ or follows the religion that is based on the life and teachings of Jesus.” In the simplest sense you might say that a Christian is one who is Christ-like. This now brings us to the question that is at hand. What does it mean to be a “World Christian”?

In order for us to understand what it means to be a World Christian I would like for us to take a look at three perspectives. First, a historical perspective, so that we might look back and remember our beginnings, and consider how we have arrived at the place we are today relative to world missions; secondly, a current perspective, that we might take a look around to see and consider our present state of world missions. Finally, a futuristic perspective that we might look ahead in anticipation of the things that are to come.

A Historical Perspective- as we look back I would like to bring some things to our remembrance concerning the passion for missions that existed in our church in the early days. R.M. Evans had such a passion for missions (Bahamas) that he and his wife sold all of their possessions and bought a wagon and team of mules. They drove this team to Miami, Florida where they sold them and bought tickets to the Bahamas. On January 4, 1910 Evans and his wife became the first missionaries to be sent abroad by the Church of God.

Another wonderful example from the historical perspective is that of William J. Seymour, the famed pastor of the Azusa Street Mission. While he was pastoring in Houston, he met Charles Fox Parham. Parham was already teaching the full blown Pentecostal experience. Shortly after meeting Parham, Seymour was invited to preach in Los Angeles at the Azusa Street Mission. It was said that Seymour was given a one-way ticket by Parham; for he never returned to Houston. For the rest of his life he lived in Los Angeles; it is there that he pastored, he lived, and he died. But men and women have been sent around the world because of the fire that burned at Azusa Street. This fire brought with it a desire to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This is what Acts 1:8 was talking about when it said, “To the farthest parts of the earth”. I believe that this is further evidenced by the way God arranged the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. It was a day where there were “devout Jews from every nation under the heaven were residing in Jerusalem”. They were there because of the feast of Pentecost, and it was on this day that God poured out His Holy Spirit upon those believers in the upper room, in fulfillment of Joel 2:28. I believe that God had the world in mind when He arranged it this way.

Perhaps these men were to carry the fire back to their own countries as Spirit-filled missionaries. Now because of the power that came with the infilling of the Holy Spirit they could truly be World Christians.

One only needs to look at the Old Testament and see the compassion that God had for the city of Nineveh. He sent Jonah, the reluctant missionary to a city that he didn’t want to go to, that he might preach repentance and judgment unto them. Here I believe that God taught this missionary a lesson about what it means to be a World Christian. See, it is more than just looking after our own concerns in our own countries. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, and He desires that all men everywhere come to repentance. He desires that no man perish, but that all would have eternal life; that is why He sent His Son to die; that we might live.

The apostle Peter, a man that was no doubt a Christian, however, he was very close-minded about the mission of God to reach all people everywhere, until seeing a vision one day (Acts 10); a vision that would change his outlook forever. I believe that it was after this vision that Peter began to become a “World Christian”. Listen to his words to Cornelius: “You know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, yet God has shown me that I should call no person defiled or ritually unclean. Therefore when you sent for me, I came without any objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?” Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my house, and suddenly a man in shining clothing stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your acts of charity have been remembered before God. Therefore send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter. This man is staying as a guest in the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come. So now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us.”

It was the Apostle Paul that traveled extensively preaching the gospel everywhere he went; declaring that he did not want to build on another man’s foundation, thus implying that he would carry the gospel where it had never been heard before. In Acts 16 Paul saw a vision of a man beckoning him to come to Macedonia, saying, “We need your help!” After seeing this vision Paul concluded that it was the will of God to preach the gospel in Macedonia. This is yet another indicator of the apostle being a “World Christian”.

A Current Perspective- as we look around the scenery of the mission field has changed significantly over the last couple of hundred years. A little more than a century ago people in this country (USA) lived in rural areas; Augustus Cerillo states: “The United States was born in the country and has moved to the city.” Due to automation and industrialization coupled with the technological revolution, America has been urbanized. Today 75 percent of all Americans reside in urban areas according to the Census Bureau. Timothy Monsma has declared: “Cities are the new frontier of Christian Missions.” So if we are going to reap a harvest in these last days, we will have to learn how to evangelize the cities.

Another fact to consider, a hundred years ago America was sending missionaries to third world countries to preach the gospel, and we are still doing this today. However, while we have carried the gospel around the world, our own homeland has by and large forgotten God. Jesus asked the question: “What is a man profited if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?” I wonder if we in America have reached the Majority World, but have lost our own homeland. America is now, at least arguably, the third largest mission field in the world.

In the early days the pioneers of missions were driven by, and motivated by the power of the Holy Spirit. When they were filled with the Spirit they felt called to “go and tell”, and they became evangels of truth. They had the return of the Lord constantly on their minds; they knew they had to work while it was day, because night was coming. This passion for the return of the Lord drove them to sell houses, land, and personal possessions to do the work of the Lord until He comes. I wonder now, where has this passion gone? It seems to me that we have lost sight of the return of the Lord. We are so busy doing our own things, even church things, that we fail to realize that time is running out, and Jesus really is coming back for His people.

If we really believe that Jesus is coming soon we will act like it by becoming a “World Christian”. Could it be that we have prospered so much in this country now that we feel like we don’t need God anymore? I wonder if this may be the reason we are seeing unprecedented growth in the Pentecostal ranks among third world countries; especially among those who are extremely poor; yet we are declining in this country. We had better shake ourselves and wake up to realize that we are living in the last days. Therefore we must renew our passion for the lost of this country and the world. We cannot renew it ourselves; it will only happen when we have a true revival of the heart; then and only then, we will become a “World Christians” who are concerned about the lost of this world.

A Futuristic Perspective- taking a look ahead. What if we preach the gospel to others and evangelize the world, yet ourselves become a cast-away? According to statistical data, 88 percent of the Assemblies of God and 75 percent of the Church of God’s membership reside outside of this country. They live in what is called the “Majority World”. This tells me that there is a lot of work to do right here in the homeland.

According to Dr. Grant McClung, in his book “Globalbeliever.com” he gives us four reasons four hope concerning the future of world missions. According to McClung, God is giving us “New Places” that we have never gone before, and this is evident if you check out the Church of God World Missions website (http://www.cogwm.org/). God is giving us “New People”; un-reached peoples who do not have a church operating and proclaiming the gospel in their land. God is giving us “New Personnel” that are widely diverse, multiethnic, and transnational, and these are emerging as the latest breed of Pentecostal missionaries. Finally, God is giving us “New Power”. It’s really not new, says McClung, but it is experienced in new and different ways.

In order for us to truly become World Christians we have to become concerned with more than just what we can see around us. The largest group of un-reached people in the world live in what is called the 10/40 window; we don’t see them because they are “out of sight, out of mind”. This window is from 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the equator and almost two-thirds of the world’s population lives here. Most of the people that live here earn less than five-hundred dollars a year. According to Bryant Myers of World Vision, “The poor are lost, and the lost are poor.”

In the light of this, we have taken a look back to remember, we have taken a look around to see where we are, and finally, we have taken a look ahead that we may plan properly for the future of world missions and evangelization. With this said, I would like to challenge you, not to be a Christian, but to be a “World Christian”.