If you were to visit the tab at the top of the blog, "Mission: Kona Coast," you'd see various links that explain Kona Coast Nazarene's Mission, Vision, and Motto. I want to take a moment here to flesh out the mission of KCN: Reaching the Lost, Discipling the Found, Modeling the Kingdom. You'll notice that after each phrase, there is a carefully placed comma and not a period. This is intentional because reaching the lost is not mutually exclusive from making disciples. And, modeling the kingdom is the embodied witness of why and how disciples live for the sake of the world (reaching the lost).
Reaching the Lost
At the heart of the Christian faith is the confession that God sent Jesus in the power of the Spirit. In fact, from a trinitarian perspective, God exists within God's self as a Divine Being of movement- sending and receiving love. This love overflows into creation and reaches its revelatory high mark in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And, Jesus then sends his disciples to do and to teach everything he has done and taught. In other words, as God has sent Jesus for the sake of the world, so has Christ sent his disciples- the church- for the sake of the world. This is what we mean when we talk of "reaching the lost." The church extends itself, reaches into the lives and communities of others, in order to share Christ's life, love, and healing presence. One does not need to go far to see the multiplicity of broken relationships that exist in our world. We believe that "reaching the lost" is fundamental to God's nature to heal and restore all things, and therefore fundamental to who we are as disciples. KCN has commissioned local missionary-pastors to lead the effort for the church to embody and proclaim the Good News in each unique community.
Discipling the Found
Discipleship is the life to which Jesus called his followers and the end to which he sent them before he left. Discipleship is a commitment of the church to engage the process of learning and growing in the obedience to the will of God. Further, discipleship offers a genuinely alternative future because discipleship is transformation- transformation into the likeness of Christ. Discipleship is transformation into a new pattern of living. It is the content of faith, a living belief focused on God's Kingdom come. KCN commits to discipling in the way of Jesus- focusing on the Kingdom of God. KCN will disciple toward the transformation of individuals and communities; discipling kingdom-focused disciples to multiply disciples and bless their community.
Modeling the Kingdom
The church is an alternative community that puts into practice the words and actions of Jesus. The transformation that takes place for disciples manifests into a new way of living that demonstrates the reality of Christ's love and grace in local neighborhoods. One's faith is made real in its practice with others. This distinct community models in the present moment what God intends for all creation. This is why we practice forgiveness rather than vengeance, suffering rather than violence, sharing resources rather than hoarding, and mutual submission rather than hierarchical domination. The church, in its faithfulness to the calling of God to follow after the cross of Christ, remains a potent and powerful tool for communal transformation and social change. Through its very presence and unique way of living, the church absorbs the sins of the community, offers reconciliation within its body, and sends forth the community to be agents of God's redemption in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment