Christian Living Project

An Article Analysis about the Mission of the Church

Submitted by: Karen Pahunang IV- Guadalupe

Submitted to: Mr. Henry Pabualan C.L. Teacher

The Mission of the Church

To Reproduce the Character of Christ One of the missions of the church is to provide in its members the kind of person that Jesus wants to see. The objective of every church is to produce the likeness of Christ in the lives of its members. Is the church doing that for you? Do you have the humility that Jesus manifested while on earth? Do you have the burning zeal and love for men's souls that Jesus had? Can you turn the other cheek and go the second mile as Jesus did, and as Jesus taught that we should do? Do we stand for the things that Jesus taught? The apostle Paul commanded: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). That is the purpose of all our worship and work - to reproduce in our own lives the character of Jesus Christ. I once read the story of a preacher who went deep into the interior of China, to a village so remote that they could know very little about modern life. This preacher began to tell the villagers the story of Jesus - how he went about doing good, healing the sick and feeding the hungry, how he lived such an unselfish life in the interest of others, and the people said: "We know that man! He lived in our village." "Oh no," the preacher said, "this man lived in Palestine, and died hundreds of years ago." The people said, "No, this man lived among us. Come, we will show you his grave." With these words, they led the preacher to the grave, and showed him the remaining effects of an English medical doctor, who had "thrown his life away" on this remote village. This man had so exemplified the life of the Christ that when the people heard the story of Jesus, they immediately thought of the doctor. My friend that is one of the purposes of the church - to reproduce the character of Jesus in its members. May it is said of every Christian, as it was once said of the apostles long ago, when they were brought in before the authorities that they "took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus." There is no argument that can answer that kind of life. If you and I live so that people can take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus that will be the most powerful influence we can ever have for the advancement of truth.

- www.newtestamentchurch.org/html/Elmore/mission_of_the_church htm

Analysis
The Article above states that one of the Mission of the Church is to reproduce the Character of Jesus Christ in each one of us. Reproducing the Character of Jesus is not just the mission of the church but it is part of our mission also. To live our life to the fullness and goodness of Jesus. Living without complains and to spread the good news, which is the Gospel. To live our life with faith and good deeds. We should follow Jesus way of living, to become obedient with the commands of his Father. In doing good, healing the sick and feeding the hungry, how he lived such an unselfish life in the interest of others. The preacher, lived a life just like Jesus, he also proclaim the Gospel in a very remote area.

Recommendation and Reflection

Gods ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing your personality or becoming mindless clone. God created your uniqueness, so he certainly doesnt want to destroy it Christ likeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality. The Bible is about Jesus Christ, about the love of God demonstrated in His gift of Jesus Christ, for love comes from God and God is love. In this sense then, every page of the Bible reflects the character of god and the love of Christ, and we should retain this evaluation as we study the scriptures. Spiritual growth, as we seen is a process of transformation, and the ideal goal of that process is the formation of the character of Jesus Christ within each one of us. To accomplish this heady goal we need to imitate Christ and put on Christ until he dwells into our hearts. The command to imitate Christ is given a context of self sacrifice.