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Matthew 4:19 (NASB): “And He said to
them,
‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men’.”
Our mission is to lead all U. of A.
students to become fully devoted followers of Jesus, and to join with them as
fishers of men.
Four major reasons why we have this mission statement:
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1. |
This mission statement clearly
puts forward our 2 Pillars of Purpose: Discipleship and Evangelism. |
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A. |
The concept of discipleship in the
New Testament basically means following someone for the purpose of
learning and imitation; Jesus’ call to Simon, his brother Andrew, and to
the crowds was simple, “FOLLOW Me”. A follower of Jesus is a disciple,
or pupil, learner, apprentice, of Jesus. Easton’s Bible Dictionary
defines a disciple like this: “A disciple of Christ is one who (1)
believes his doctrine, (2) rests on his sacrifice, (3) imbibes his
spirit, and (4) imitates his example
(Matthew 10:24;
Luke 14:26,27,33;
John 6:69).”
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B. |
The second part of Jesus’ call to
Simon and Andrew was a promise: “…and I will make you fishers of men.”
In other words, God would use followers of Jesus to call peoples to
Himself (2 Cor. 5:18-20). |
| Everything the BCM
does as a ministry aims at these two things: Discipleship (Follow
Me) and Evangelism (“…and I will make you fishers of men”).
Another way to put this: our 2 Pillars of
Purpose are Following and Fishing. The BCM has no other goals, but to
effectively disciple students and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ
to every U. of A. student. Following and Fishing. |
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2. |
This mission
statement defines our relationship with the local institutional church.
The BCM is not an institutional church, but it is a part of the church.
The BCM is an outpost, or arm, or mission of the local institutional
church. Therefore, we have a specific focus and precise aims that are
only a part of the aims of the local institutional church. While this is
very important, it is also important to understand that we are part of
the church. The church is the “body of Christ” – although we may be an
“arm”, we are still part of the body.
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3. |
In my opinion, the
college experience is unique for at least two major reasons: |
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A. |
Never is life as defining as
during these college years |
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B. |
Never do so many people of so many
different types so constantly surround us.
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Therefore, this mission statement is perfect: When Jesus said, “Follow
Me”, he was implying change in our lives. Transformation. Jesus desires
to be the primary Definer of our lives. Is there a better time for this
total-life defining than college? And when Jesus said, “I will make you
fishers of men”, the natural implication is that a fisher of men must
live among men. You must be among fish to fish (see the importance of
this word, “among” in
2 Cor. 2:15 and
Col. 1:27). Is there a better
opportunity to live among nonbelievers than in college?
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4. |
The last phrase in
our mission statement, “and to join with them as fishers of men”, is so
sweet for at least two reasons: |
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A.
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It emphasizes the importance of
mentoring, or discipling. Our aim is not to teach and to show others how
to fish, but to actually join with them and let them learn from
imitating us (1 Cor. 11:1). We don’t teach people how to fish and then
go home – we are to fish with them.
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B.
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God has placed many
“fishers of men” already on campus. Our mission is not only to lead
students to become fully devoted followers of Jesus, but to encourage
them to fulfill their calling (see
2 Cor. 5:18-20) not only in Christ-like
living (1 Cor. 1:2) but also in reproductive living (see the example of
Paul,
1 Thess. 1-2
and
1 Cor. 4:16). But here’s the cool thing: God has
been making fishers of men in so many ways and in so many places – they
might call themselves Episcopal, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Methodist,
Catholic, or nondenominational; or they might attend StuMo or Cru or
ChiAlpha, etc. etc. etc. Blah, blah, blah. These are just names (see
1 Cor. 3).
Christ is the head of the church (Col. 1:18). The church is a
body (see
1 Cor. 12:12-31). And the body is like one major fisherman –
everybody, altogether, for the glory of Jesus Christ. Our mission is to
join with the rest of the body of Christ at the U. of A., the church, in
fulfilling our calling as ministers of reconciliation, or ministers of
bringing people to peace and friendship with God (2 Cor. 5:18). |
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Matthew 4:19 (NASB): “And He
said to them,
‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men’.” |
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