ORDINARY CHRISTIANS GOD'S PRIMARY CHOICE!

"Just because I'm ordinary doesn't mean I'm secondary ordinary Christians are God's primary choice fordoing His extraordinary work"Jay Moore

This is a little saying that I like to use!  However, I have found that it gets a lot of mixed reviews.  Some people when they hear that slogan feel that I am bashing Christians by calling them ordinary.  They say things like, "Now that we're Follower of Christ and the Holy Spirit lives in us we are no longer ordinary."  And I wholeheartedly agree with them that our new life in Christ does make us extraordinary.  But with that said I must remind all of us that intrinsically, in and of ourselves, there is nothing good about us!  Our only goodness comes from Christ in us.  

A second reaction I get from people comes from what I like to call the professional minister.  This is the guy who has gone through Bible college and seminary; they have gone through an ordination process; and now make there living from doing the ministry.  This group of people also feel insulted but for a different reason.  When they hear that statement they get the idea that I am trying to down play their importance and strip them from some place of honor they feel they should have.  I feel this attitude interesting since I also have a Christian college education majoring in religion and a seminary theological education with a master's degree.  

But then there is a third group of people who are actually energized by this little quote!  These are the people who have never been empowered, encouraged or even equipped to live a significant life on mission with Christ.  These are the people who have felt there only role in church was to come and attend.  These are some of God's children who've wished they could be involved in some project that would have an eternal impact but have never felt it would happen because, after all, they're just ordinary and why would God want to use them when He could use someone else more talented or educated.

But I'm here to tell you God not only loves to use Ordinary Christians but that Ordinary Christians is God's primary choice for doing His extraordinary work.  The Biblical record is filled with such examples.  All of the apostles were ordinary men, King David was the youngest of his family and Gideon was a fearful coward.  Over and over again we see God choosing that which the world would have never considered to do His amazing work.  We discover God using ordinary people is not the exception but the rule as we study the Bible.

So why?  Why would God choose ordinary people as His primary choice for doing His work?  The answer is simple!  God chooses men and women like us, ordinary people, because he wants to confound the wise of this world!  When people look and see what God is able to do through ordinary people the explanation for its success has to be GOD WAS THE ONE WHO DID IT!  That's right, God loves to use the ordinary of this world so that He will get the credit for what was done!

The truth is that God is always the one who accomplishes His work but He just chooses to do it through people.  If God always used extraordinary men to do his work the world would try to explain away the results saying that it only happened because highly talented people were in charge of it.  But when some ordinary person does something that turns out great the only explanation will be GOD!

So are you an Ordinary Christian?  Do you feel like there are others more talented and more gifted than you?  Do you down deep inside long for  God to use you to accomplish something amazing?

THEN I'VE GOT GOOD NEWS FOR YOU!

You are exactly the kind of person that God loves to use to accomplish His extraordinary work and the only requirement is that you must be a person of:

FAITH!

Do you believe that God can do anything?  Do you believe that God can do anything through anybody?  Do you believe that God can do anything, through anybody, including YOU!  Now that's what I call faith!

If you are that kind of person I want to invite you to check out a group called THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN and see how they can help encourage, empower and equip you to be an ordinary christian that God uses to do extraordinary things.  

CLICK HERE

CHAPLAIN OR COACH: The Primary Role Of A Pastor

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,  to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up  until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to 

the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  

Eph. 4:11-13

If the goal of every pastor is to be obedient to this passage of scripture of equipping the saints to perform the works of ministry then pastors should be more like a COACH than a CHAPLAIN!  In North American many Christians have come to the idea that the primary role of the pastor is to be there for their church members when they are going through a difficult time and provide emotional support. And then when they are through the crisis what happens?  They go about their normal daily living just as they had before the crisis, which means playing the church game of going to worship once a week and maybe a few other activities at the church campus with the rest of the time being lived out for their own self with no real regard to God's activity around them in the community.  In other words the pastor exists to provide support, encouragement and compassion when people are having a hard time but not necessarily to prod, poke or push people to live the missional life that Christ has commanded all believers to live.

But is that really the job description a pastor is suppose to have?  Not according to Ephesians 4:11-13. According to the Bible pastors along with the prophets, evangelists, apostles and teachers are to equip the saints, God's People, Ordinary Christians to do the work of ministry.  That's right they are to equip and train Ordinary Christians to do the work of the ministry that Christ himself gave us to do.  In other words pastor should act more like a coach than a chaplain.   Chaplains will hold your hand when you're not feeling well but Coaches are their to train you and if need be get in your face to hold you accountable for your poor performance.   You may feel better with a Chaplin at your side but you will accomplish more and perform better with a Coach by your side.  

If our goal is to win a championship then we need a person who believes in us, sees the potential in us and trains us but who will also push us far beyond what we think we can handle, get in our faces when we are slacking off and make us do over and over again those things, we hate, that will make us more competitive.  Coaches are hated and despised during practices but they are admired and appreciated at the end of the season when the championship has been obtained.  

Ordinary Christians who are to live an effective missional life don't need a chaplain they need coaches. They need a coach who will raise them up, train them up and then unleash them to perform the works of ministry back into this dark world.  Ordinary Christians don't need someone to come hold their hand and talk about their feelings! THAT WILL ONLY STIFLE THEM FROM EXCELLING!  They need someone who will kick them in the butt, get in their face and demand they to run another lap.

The mission of Christ is accomplished by Ordinary Christians who have been well coached and trained to press through the momentary pain and to perform with excellence the ministry of Christ so that when Christ returns they will hear him say, "Well done good and faithful servant."  It's on that day - the day of Christs return - you will be grateful for a pastor who believed in you enough to get in your face and demanded more from you!

ARE YOU AN ORDINARY CHRISTIAN NEEDING ENCOURAGEMENT TO LIVE AN EFFECTIVE MISSIONAL LIFE WHERE THE LIGHT OF CHRIST SHINES THROUGH YOU?  THEN I INVITE YOU TO JOIN ME AT MY FACEBOOK PAGE CALLED:

 

THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN