Planting Churches Among the City's Poor - Volume 2

56 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 2

D. The Mission : a representative faithfully and with great discipline engages the task.

1. A representative subordinates his/her will in order to fulfill the task.

2. Obedience is the mark of a faithful representative.

3. The key virtues of a representative: loyalty, integrity, and wholehearted engagement.

4. The mission is about achieving results , not about possessing intentions .

5. The Pauline example : the evangelization of the Roman world, Col. 1.21-23 (ESV) – And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been pro claimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister .

E. The Reckoning : a representative is answerable to the one who sent him/her.

1. A representative reports back to the sending authority for evaluation and review.

2. The review is formal, comprehensive, and decisive.

3. Both the work product and personal predisposition during the work are evaluated.

4. The Pauline example : the Bema Seat of Christ

a. Paul as a minister accountable to the Lord for his work, 1 Cor. 3.5-9 (ESV) – What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to