FROM
THE SERVANT GENERAL
THE
WAY FORWARD IN CHRIST
(Part 2)
January
5, 2009
Today
the gospel is Matthew 4:12-25. It is about the beginning
of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus issued his
call to repentance, started forming his core group,
and began moving around Galilee doing his work.
This
Bible passage brought me to a book I had written
in 1998, “Witnesses to the Ends of the Earth.”
I started that book on May 16, 1997, while waiting
at the airport for my flight to Port Moresby, Papua
New Guinea. It was based on the mission of Jesus
as written in Matthew 4. That hour I wrote the whole
basic outline. But I did not start writing the book
itself until December 16. I wrote on and off, and
finally finished it on October 29, 1998.
“Witnesses
to the Ends of the Earth” is about Jesus’
mission, and also about the mission of CFC. Written
ten years ago, it had warned about CFC being at
the crossroad, that there was real danger of losing
its anointing. Here is the text on the back cover.
“Today
we are at the threshold of the third millennium.
And the people of God face a momentous challenge.
It
has been 2,000 years of Christianity, but the
commission of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring the
gospel to the whole world has not been accomplished.
In fact, the Church itself is being buffeted by
dark winds and sinister forces, both from without
and within. Spiritual warfare continues to rage
in the heavens and on earth. At stake are the
billions of souls on the face of the earth.
In June of 1981, God raised up a new army to participate
in the war. God raised up a movement to work for
global evangelization and renewal. That movement
is Couples for Christ. Now, 17 years later, Couples
for Christ has made and continues to make a tremendous
impact throughout the world.
But all is not well.
Now, towards the end of the second millennium
and at the threshold of the third, Couples for
Christ has come to a crossroad. Its future usefulness
to God and his work is threatened. The dangers
are very real, but the opportunities also continue
to be tremendous and exciting.
-
Will the members of Couples for Christ give
in to the ravaging attacks of the flesh, the
world and the devil, or will they continue to
move on in the power of the Holy Spirit?
-
Has the zeal of Couples for Christ grown cold,
or will it continue to blaze with the fire of
God’s love?
-
Will the work of Couples for Christ end the
millennium with a whimper or with a bang?
-
Will
God discard Couples for Christ, or continue
to use it mightily in accordance with his will?
Now, more than ever, there is a great need for Christ’s
witnesses to be sent to the ends of the earth. Will
Couples for Christ be counted among them? Will Couples
for Christ be part of the victorious army of Jesus
Christ, as history races into the third millennium
and closer to the end of time?”
We
did not truly heed the prophetic word of the Lord
at that time. And so slowly but surely, the downward
spiral continued. God warned us again entering into
2007 with our theme of Lamentations. But again we
were hard of heart (and hard of hearing) and did
not learn the lessons God wanted to teach us. In
fact, some openly rebelled against the Lord, marginalizing
Jesus in our work with the poor, acting in unchristian
ways against brethren, and attacking even the hierarchy
of the Church.
God had had enough. He then allowed the crisis to
result in a split. He was going to start all over
again. He raised a remnant, the restored CFC faithful
to its authentic calling, now CFC-FFL.
I
had very high hopes for this restored work. I had
hoped that the painful split would truly teach us
the lessons of Lamentations. And indeed there are
many hopeful signs. But the old flesh is still at
work. There are still conflicts among top leaders,
unfaithfulness to our life together, a lack of passion
for evangelization, and a general failure in growing
in holiness.
Read
the above text again. The prophetic word remains
true even now.
So
this is our third chance, and possibly the last.
If we do not shape up, then God can indeed discard
CFC-FFL altogether.
I
invite you to read “Witnesses to the Ends
of the Earth” again, and to take up in your
household meetings the discussion topics given in
the Guide at the back. But take up the topics yourself
in your prayer time, just between Jesus and you.
If you did not read the book before, then that explains
partially why we plunged into crisis in 2007. If
you read it but did not amend your life accordingly,
then repent. If you read this invitation of mine
but do not heed it, then may God have mercy on us
all.
This
book explains God’s call to us—to be
witnesses, to repentance, to community, to discipleship,
to evangelization, and to global ministry. It points
the way to our personal posture in Christ, the way
of humility. It pinpoints the threats to our work—pride,
unfaithfulness, lack of faith, selfishness, weariness,
preoccupation with other things, complacency, disunity,
and a lack of growth in holiness.
These
are all the aspects of our life and mission that
we need to continue to learn, and to live out accordingly.
If our baptism in the Spirit does not result in
our becoming witnesses to Jesus, then we cannot
be fully empowered to accomplish a worldwide work
of renewal.
God’s
mission in the world is so important that we cannot
just respond casually, or halfheartedly, or grudgingly.
We need to give it our all. We need to totally belong
to Jesus, and to totally commit ourselves to his
mission. If we are but willing to do so, then God’s
grace is sufficient to overcome all our shortcomings
and fears.
If
we have not yet truly started on that path to total
commitment to Christ and his mission, then let us
start now.
God
bless you all.
Your
brother and servant,
Frank
Padilla
