Several years ago, Mark went on a vision tour of Christ for the City’s (CFCI) ministries in Costa Rica. One of CFCI’s projects is Transformations, a multi-faceted ministry located in the San Jose slum of Guararí where drugs, prostitution, and gangs are rampant.
Transformations is dedicated to offering the people of Guararí, many of whom are illegal Nicaraguan immigrants, a chance to experience the transforming power of Christ. They feed children, offer tutoring and after-school programs, play sports with the youth, teach adult sewing & art classes and lead Bible studies. Hugo, the director of this ministry, was physically attacked and slandered by neighbors who sought control and wanted him to stop ministering in the neighborhood. Hugo’s vision is to send teams out and equip people in other “needy” neighborhoods to do what he’s been doing.
The key in all of this is the fact that the ministry is not solely based on what Hugo is doing. Instead, it’s teams of Christians coming together for a common purpose, and that is to reach their communities for Christ.
In his book, The New Reformation, Greg Ogden says that the first Reformation of the early 1500s placed the Bible in the hands of the people and the Second Reformation will place the ministry in the hands of the people. He goes on to write that this new reformation will seek a radical transformation of the self-perception of all believers so that we see ourselves as vital channels through whom God mediates his life to other members of the body of Christ and to the world.
This change is already being felt in different parts of the world, such as slums of San Jose, as Mark found out personally. There is a healthy shift happening in many churches and many areas where congregations are moving to a people-centered ministry instead of a pastor-centered ministry.
The church must see itself in God’s master plan to know its purpose. Ephesians 3:10-11 says, “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The church shares Christ’s reconciling work by being the fruit of Christ’s reconciling love and the revelation of God’s manifold wisdom. The church is the agent of God’s plan to see about his will on the earth.
It’s not just the pastor, but every Christian doing their part for the Kingdom of God.
