Author Archives: Edgar Bazan

Shalom And The Character Of The Kingdom Of God by Edgar Bazan

If there is one aspect of Jesus’ life that can help us gain insight into his mission, it is when he said: “My peace I [give] to you.” (Jn. 14:27) After his resurrection, this was a very particular way in which Jesus greeted the disciples: by saying “peace be with you.” Note John 20:21, when Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” This is a significant statement that helps us realize the nature of the mission of God here on earth.

This concept of peace has profound missional implications for learning what it means to witness the salvation brought by Jesus Christ and to bring life through his teachings—the essence of our Christian faith.

The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. This is the word we translate as peace in our language, but the meaning of this word is totally unlike our concept of peace. Our concept of peace is basically the absence of trouble, whereas Shalom means everything which contributes to the wellness of people’s lives. When the word Shalom is used as greeting it does not simply mean that you wish a person the absence of bad things, but it also means you wish them all possible good things.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:33, “for God is a God not of disorder but of peace.” The end goal of God’s Shalom is to bring order to our lives and to align us not only with what we consider spiritual wellness but with everything that contributes to our well-being in every area of our lives to experience the fullness of life. Such is the power and aim of the kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed and manifested in powerful ways. Every healing, every forgiven sin, every act of reconciliation, and every act of justice against evil oppressors is an act of Shalom, of leaving his peace with us.

The presence of God – Jesus’ bringing of his kingdom – brings forth actions of peace, healing, and salvation. This is how we know that God is active in our lives and ministries: if we are peacemakers in this way. (And this is not the same as pacifism that avoids conflict or struggle; rather, it happens as people seek justice through acts of redemption in the way Jesus did.) Opposition and persecution are to be expected when dealing with opposing forces against the kingdom of God, for the evil in this world abhors God’s Shalom.

The mission of God that the church has been entrusted to steward and carry on is for the “healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2). This is an idea that is rooted in the Shalom of God. This is the hope the church ought to proclaim. In the midst of and in spite of the opposing evils of this world, the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus and the manifestation of God’s kingdom is the light overpowering darkness, the healing overpowering death, and the Shalom overpowering condemnation.

Transformative Mission And The Purpose Of The Kingdom Of God by Edgar Bazan

How do we understand and define what the church is constituted to be? To answer this question, one must first ask: what is the mission of the church?

The Missio Dei

The first thing to notice in this question is the assumption that the mission is of the church. Here lies significant misunderstanding and misplaced value: the mission is not of the church but of God. To answer the question, “what is the mission of the church?” we need to learn that the mission is of God, who invites and commands the church to accomplish it together. Proclaiming Jesus as Lord, sharing his teachings and doings – this is an act of God that the church undertakes as a witness.

From here, we can say that the church is constituted to be an agency of God’s work in the world. To further explore what this agency looks like, we start by studying what is it that God is doing in the world, his missio Dei.

In The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission, author Chris Wright explains, “It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world, as that God has a church for his mission in the world. Mission was not made for the church, the church was made for mission –God’s mission.” (Wright, Chapter 1)

The mission of God precedes the church, and the church came into being for the sake of accomplishing such mission. Missio Dei refers to “all that God is doing in his great purpose for the whole of creation and all that he calls us to do in cooperation with that purpose.” (Wright, Chapter 1) There must be a fundamental understanding that the mission of the church does not belong to the church, nor does it proceed from the church; it is the acting of God through the church.

This is deeply significant because it shows us that the church does not define its mission, but rather learns it, and assumes it by discerning what God is doing.

More Than a Ticket to Heaven

For example, the church has vastly appropriated what the mission is by defining it merely as an act of sharing the gospel, often disregarding many other aspects of peoples’ lives that need healing and formation. Consider that when we use the words “missions” or “missionaries,” we tend to think mainly of evangelistic activity; however, if the task is to procure God’s mission, this understanding must be expanded. God does not only care about the salvation of peoples’ souls, but also for their feeding, care, healing, liberation, protection, defense, and justice.

In this framework of the mission of God, everything the church ought to be doing must be mission-oriented, for there is no other task for the church but to carry the works of the kingdom of God.

This definition of the mission of the church as the missio Dei sets Christianity apart as intrinsically a missionary faith, one that exists for the purposes of accomplishing the works of God in this world. This is what Jesus did as he was sent; he left succinct and character-defining instructions for the church when he sent it by saying, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19-20)

The “command[ing]” of Jesus refers to much more than just the salvation of souls, but indeed to all the acts of healing, reconciliation, liberation, and justice that Jesus heralded in his life and throughout his ministry. This “command[ing],” is precisely the inauguration of the presence of the kingdom of God: now we know what God wills and does for humanity (a reconciled, healed, saved, and new creation born again of the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ).

The missio Dei, therefore, is not a specialized ministry of the church, but the realization of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. And what is in heaven is life and not death; wellness and not illness; fullness and not brokenness. Hence, the kingdom of God, the missio Dei, can be explained in the brief statement that Jesus made: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10)

If Jesus’ arrival initiated the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven, and if his mission was to bring life, then the mission of God as revealed and demonstrated by Jesus (and that he has entrusted to the church to embody) is characterized by bringing life and everything needed to sustain it on earth right now, and not just salvation for tomorrow as an eschatological provision.

God’s Will on Earth as It Is in Heaven

This missio Dei is not a new movement or cause, but the sovereign rule of God over all people and nations, interjecting into history and each person’s story, giving and sustaining life. It is the manifestation of what God always intended for the earth since the beginning of time and now has been brought back by Jesus into the alienated and broken humanity in order to restore God’s order (kingdom).

In this regard, the purpose of the kingdom of God is to bless everyone, and to bring into completion the Father’s will: “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” The kingdom of God is the reality of God’s continual work in the world, not leaving it behind or to its own devices, but effectively engaging in its redemption. Thus, the Father sent his Son to manifest this kingdom and to open it to the eyes and ears of mortal human beings; and the Son sent his church to do likewise.

In The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission, Lesslie Newbigin explains this imparting of God’s kingdom by saying,

Mission seen from this angle, is faith in action. It is the acting out by proclamation and by endurance, through all the events in history, of the faith that the kingdom of God has drawn near. It is the acting out of the central prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to use: “Father, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Newbigin, Chapter 3)

If the mission of the church as the missio Dei is fundamentally about bringing and proclaiming the kingdom of God to restore life in humanity, what does this look like? Newbigin talks about it as love in action. (Newbigin, Chapter 5) This love in action refers to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus as not just a matter of words, but the very presence of the kingdom of God which is revealed and experienced through redeeming acts of compassion and reconciliation. The proclamation of God’s kingdom is in the embodiment of the teachings of Jesus in everyday life. Those who follow Jesus, calling him Lord, are sent into the world to carry on this mission as the bearers of his kingdom teachings.

If we know Jesus as Lord and do what he says, that makes us the church, a constituted body for salvation and healing in the world.

Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” His statement requires us to ask the question: what is it that Jesus was sent for? What did he do? How did he relate to people? How did he treat people? How did he speak to people? What did he say? What was his behavior around those in need, his friends, and his enemies? These questions are paramount to our understanding of why we are sent and to what we are sent.

If we are sent as he was sent by his Father, then it is critical for the church to assess the life of Jesus not only in relation to God but in relation to humanity. If we believe who Jesus is, if we do what he says, then we are on a mission alongside him. And this sending has a particular purpose: to bring peace.

Transformative Mission by Edgar Bazan

The church has always been challenged in maintaining an effective and healthy witness of the faith beyond the walls of its buildings. Every revival throughout the history of the church was started because the fellowship of believers was awakened by the Spirit to witness to their faith in public settings. This movement from the private (or inward) faith behavior to an intentional engagement with the needs and well–being of the secular community is what has kept the church alive, bringing renewal and revival to the body of Christ. Without the public witness of the faith, the church has no purpose other than slowly dying.

This writing aims to start the conversation about what it means to be a missional church. It addresses the theological question of what it means to believe in Jesus and follow his teachings; the end purpose of the mission of the church; and the challenges that the church faces regarding the privatization of the faith. These topics will be presented in a series of six reflections.

Do As I Say

In Luke 6:46 we read, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” Jesus said this to a crowd that was following him, questioning how they were witnessing to their faith. This, indeed, is a hard question that lands with a punch. Jesus was challenging his audience not only to believe in him but also to do what he was teaching them and live in the way he was modeling because by doing what he said, we will find life and wellness for ourselves. Jesus uses an example: those who listen to what he says are like a strong and well-built house, and those who ignore him are like a weak house poorly built on the sand.

This statement reveals that acknowledging Jesus as Lord is not the whole of the gospel – hence the challenging question. These people were claiming to know Jesus but were failing in doing what he was telling them. Evidently, this bothered Jesus, for his mission was not just so we may be saved, believe rightly, or have the right religion, but to show us the way and truth towards the fullness of life through his teachings and doings (Acts 1:1). Jesus is not only concerned about what we believe about him but about what we do with what he has given us.

Do You Know Me?

To grasp the significance of this passage further, consider why Jesus repeated the word “Lord” two times. There is a reason for this within the context of the whole Bible. When the Bible repeats a person’s name it is to imply a sort of intimacy. This is both a cultural and Hebrew language dynamic. Examples of this are found in stories like God speaking to Abraham at Mount Moriah; as Abraham is about to plunge a knife into the breast of Isaac, God says, “Abraham, Abraham.” When God encourages Jacob to take the trip to Egypt in his old age, God says, “Jacob, Jacob.” When Moses was called to free his people: “Moses, Moses.” And when God calls Samuel in the middle of the night, “Samuel, Samuel.” We also have Jesus’ cry of desperation from the cross, “My God, my God.” In each case the names are repeated for intimacy’s sake, strongly implying: “I know you.”

So when Jesus asks the question, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and then do not do what I say?” it seems like maybe he was trying to say, “Why do you act like we are close, why do you pretend to have this deep relationship with me and then do not do what I say?” This was a question for those who claimed to follow Christ yet whose actions showed differently or at least did not go far enough.

From Salvation to Spiritual Formation

This is also reinforced by Jesus choosing the name “Lord” to refer to himself. It is theologically significant. The title “Lord” refers to someone who has dominion, control, and influence over others. For someone to call Jesus “Lord” implies that Jesus has dominion, control, and influence over his or her life; that one has surrendered wholly to him. In other words, the title of Jesus as “Lord” needs to be more than a word on our tongue because calling him “Lord” only and without doing what he says doesn’t make him so in our lives.

This is one of the most critical and consequential lessons for our faith: God is not only concerned about our salvation but also about our formation and wellbeing. Of course, one must confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but then this confession must also be followed by doing what Jesus says. His lordship is not only for confessing what is right but for living rightly. Jesus is basically saying: “You got me right, I am ‘Lord, Lord.’ You believe and confess right. But, come on, now you have to live up to it!” The confessing is for our salvation, but the following is for our formation (sanctification) and accomplishing God’s mission.

One of the main struggles of the church is believing and doing. To talk about the impact of a theology of transformative mission in the life of the church – public and private – is to challenge our understanding of what it means to be in mission not just for the sake of salvation (believing/confessing right) but for the sake of transformation (living/doing right).

It is a critical concept. Many churches seem to be mostly concerned about the salvation of people, and because of this, they struggle to be relevant to the everyday needs of their secular community. One may argue, “but isn’t salvation the most important aspect of our mission?” It is, indeed, but by looking at Jesus, we learn that he was also fully engaged in meeting the needs of all people whether they care about his message or not. What he said and did were one and the same thing. His speech and deeds were congruent.

The question to ask is this: is the church called to be and do more than salvation? In the next post, we will explore the purpose of the church in relation to its mission.

Bibliography

Addison, Steve. Pioneering Movements: Leadership That Multiplies Disciples and Churches. IVP Books, 2015. Kindle.

Branson, Mark and Martinez, Juan F. Churches, Cultures and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2001. Kindle.

Breen, Mike. Leading Kingdom Movements: The “Everyman” Notebook on How to Change the World. 3DM, 2013. Kindle.

Newbigin, Lesslie. The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission. Revised Ed. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995. Kindle.

Newbigin, Lesslie. Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991. Print.

Okesson, Greg. “Why Public Theology (PPT-Class).” 2017: n. pag. Print.

Seamands, Stephen. Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005. Kindle.

Seamands, Stephen. “Trinity Ministry (PPT-Class).” 2017: n. pag. Print.

Volf, Miroslav. A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good. Brazos Press, 2011. Kindle.

Wright, Chris. The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission. Zondervan, 2010. Kindle.

Integrity In Christian Leadership by Edgar Bazan

Leadership is a critical key to the success of an organization. John Maxwell explains, “Everything rises and falls on leadership…leadership determines the success of the organization.”

If leadership is a key for an organization to thrive, Christian leadership is essential for the works of Christ being accomplished in the church and world. Thus, the essence of Christian leadership is its focus on what God is doing in the world and joining alongside to accomplish it together.

As Christians, why do we want to become leaders of the church or any other settings? What is it that we are trying to accomplish? What is the motivation of our hearts to lead?

The apostle Paul answers these questions in theological and practical terms. Everything he did was for the sake of the gospel with the goal of telling and sharing the story of Jesus Christ, and making disciples of those that decided to follow Jesus. He had a clear goal: “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Cor. 9:23) and “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (2:2).

Hence, when we talk about Christian leaders, we are stating that they are Christians from core to crust and that their motivation to lead and serve comes from their Christian character. While leaders, in general, may have diverse reasons to lead, the essence of Christian leadership is modeling Christlikeness (living, acting, and interacting as Jesus did) and accomplishing God’s mission: the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A Christian leader ought to lead for the sake of Christ’s love and God’s mission and not personal ambition.

From here, the integrity of Christian leadership is measured by the commitment a Christian leader has to Christ and the mission of God since Christian leaders are specifically called and entrusted to be stewards of the church and God’s mission.

I used to believe that good Christian leaders were the most charismatic, skillful, and influential people in our midst. Although these characteristics are not self-excluding of good leaders, they are not enough nor are they the main rule of Christian leadership. It took me a little while to discern that to identify good Christian leaders one must look beyond what is apparent and pay attention to the integrity of their character: what’s in the heart.

Henry Nouwen shares a story in his book Spiritual Formation to speak to the notion of recognizing what is in the heart:

A little boy was watching a sculptor work. For weeks this sculptor kept on chipping away at a big block of marble. After a few weeks, he had created a beautiful marble lion. The little boy was amazed and said: “Mister, how did you know there was a lion in the rock?”

He explains this story this way, “Long before [the sculptor] forms the marble, he must know the lion. The sculptor must know the lion by heart to see him in the rock. The secret of the sculptor is that what he knows by heart he can recognize in the marble. A sculptor who knows an angel by heart will see an angel in the marble…What do you know by heart?”

This is a daring and uncomfortable question for all Christian leaders: What do we know by heart? According to Nouwen, the answer is revealed in what we project and impress into others, in the trails we leave behind every way we go, what we are able to see in them even when nobody else does.

Christian leaders must see in everyone the possibility of them becoming Christ-followers too. To put it bluntly: are more people loving God and following Jesus because they crossed paths with us, Christian leaders? Are the people around us committing to Christ because of our witness to them?

If we take this assessment, then to recognize the integrity of a Christian leader one must pay attention to how they minister and serve others, and what kind of impact and legacy they leave in people’s lives. One can fool others with eloquent rhetoric and impressive, charismatic skills, but investing in the wellness, healing, and salvation of others requires a deep sense of commitment to God and Christ’s gospel.

Christian leadership is not a synonym of being ahead or on top above everyone else, but it is about the emptying of ourself for the sake of the other.

As a pastor and Christ-follower, I pray for everyone to love and follow Christ, and then be moved to serve and be in ministry alongside God too until Christ comes back in final victory.

Works Cited

Maxwell, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You. Nashville: Nelson, 1998.

Nouwen, Henri J. M. Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit. HarperCollins, 2010.

Letting God Continue Your Education by Edgar Bazan

When we think about the story of Creation in the Christian faith, we typically do it within the context of Genesis, the story of the past and how things came to be. One may think this creating process was settled at the beginning of time, and that God transitioned from being an entrepreneur to a manager, or worse, a mere aloof supervisor.

However, if we pay close attention to the backdrop of the biblical narrative, we find a God who is actively engaged with Creation, with the people, and progressively constructing new realities. These realities are singular and communal stories, our callings, the reasons for which we exist. In other words, God continues to create for us and through us, making us participants in the not-yet-settled continuity of creating.

As it is in God’s character to be actively creating new things, we were given the ability to do likewise. Thus, we lose meaning and purpose when there are no more goals to be achieved or finish lines to cross. And what comes next is the tragedy of settling, reducing, and subjugating the passion in our blood and soul for the new. Our dreams dwindle and we tell ourselves “I am done,” becoming a mere memory of the past, of the “good years,” with no more to look after, for life has turned into a duty rather than a journey, like a great movie that leaves you with an eager expectation of what “comes next” but there are no sequels. It just ends without ending.

How does this relate to continuing education? Well, the pun is well-intended.

As a person, I have always had curiosity and hunger for the new. I was never afraid of exploring possibilities for my life. I could tell many stories of the types of jobs I had in my teenage years, the wide array of people I have met, and the precious life lessons I have learned. I was not aware of this until I was an adult and reflected on my journey of life and faith. Of course, we all are different, each one with unique personalities, preferences, and characters traits, but if there is one thing I can share that I believe can make a difference in others regardless of how similar or different we may be, it is the power of education.

How could my curiosity or hunger for life have made any difference if I had not at the same time pursued my education? We can spend our whole lives knocking on doors, but until we realize that it is our education that has a vast power to open them, we may never experience the fullness of why we exist.

A great danger in life is as I mentioned before “settling.” This can also be understood as plateauing, becoming a flat line with no pulse.

In Immunity to Change Kegan and Lahey share their life-long journey of studying and testing their thesis of how the adult brain can evolve in how one perceives the world and acts in it. They talk about the common problem of “plateaus in adult mental development” and how as we grow older we not only resist change but also lose any interest in it (by “change” I mean new learning, aspirations, and new or updated life-goals). The majority of adult people function in these plateaus, a sort of outdated mental pattern, and have given up on all desire to learn new things.

Continuing education has the power to awaken us and recreate in us new ways to pursue and find meaning in life.

What will distinguish your leadership from others’ in the years ahead? Your ability to continuing developing yourself.

In my personal life experience, I have learned that I could not be where I am now if I had stopped pursuing learning. Because of this realization I know now that I must never stop learning, growing, and being transformed in and through the development of new abilities; I must feed my mind with new and fresh ideas, especially if they challenge assumptions and behavioral patterns that have not led me to anything new in my life and ministry; and conformity is not a strength necessarily, but a dull and fruitless waste of creativity and talent.

I am a 35-year-old husband, dad of two, a pastor with 13 years of serving churches, and a student of life and church. When I was 15 years old, I thought “this is life!” Then, in my early 20’s I thought, “now, this is life!” But then again in my 30’s, although at the time those earlier memories felt they were “it,”, I now feel again that my life has just begun, and I want to be excited, intrigued, and challenged for what still lies ahead.

If you are a pastor too, a leader in the church, we share a responsibility to expand our minds and renew our faith, for the continuity of God’s work in us is, in many ways, contingent upon our mental, spiritual, and emotional development.

The ever-changing world demands an ever-adapting leader who not only looks ahead but also leads into the future by being well-informed of the past and present, and with an imagination for the future. This is a constant pursuing of the calling of God into new ventures as we move on in life and as the world moves on and reshapes itself around us. The challenges and opportunities of ministry can’t be met by settling down in our learning. Indeed, the nature of the Christian faith is to be an organic one, an ever-growing and moving creature, and not a relic.

Jesus said, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” (Jn. 5:17)

Could it be that God has not finished creating you and that this continuing creating process includes new learning, revelations, strengths, and dreams? Perhaps God’s idea of sanctifying us includes nurturing our brains with new and better ideas.

Let’s be students for life.

Amen.