Good Morning:
When most managers are hiring new employees for their business, they have a single, though complicated, question: Will this applicant help the business? Managers will evaluate past work history, level of reliability, and many other factors trying to discover if the applicant will be an asset or a liability. This is a fine business practice for businesses, but not so much for the church.
A Christian’s perspective on who should come to church ought to have nothing to do with whether that person can help the church. This was the mistake that Paul originally made about Christ and wrote about in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Paul thought that Christ according to the flesh was weak. He had not overthrown the Romans. He did not have high and mighty connections in the Sanhedrin. He even ended up dying an excruciating and humiliating death on the cross. But on the road to Damascus, Paul received a new perspective. According to worldly advancements Christ may have been weak, but according to eternal outcomes there is none stronger.
This new perspective of Christ gave Paul a new perspective of others as well. The worldly importance of others was no longer a concern, for the mission of the church was and is to make new creations in Christ. When you are in Christ, the old outlooks and perspectives on life have been torn down. No longer is your time on earth merely focused on advancing on this earth. For now, you look forward to the time when your old Adam is done away with forever and the new perspective, which God gives you through faith, is whole and complete. Thanks be to Christ, whose worldwide forgiveness makes you a new creation with a new perspective.
In Christ, Pastor Naumann
