replicate

It is Our Mission to Replicate

It is our mission at Wilkesboro Baptist Church to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus. We fulfill our mission by worshiping, learning, serving, and replicating. In just a couple of weeks, we will revisit our mission and these steps in our worship services.

But now for some news about replicating. In order for us to make disciples and replicate the life of Jesus in others, we need to invite others to serve alongside us, share responsibility, and send out followers of Jesus to lead other groups, classes, and even churches. We now have the privilege of sending our Minister of Communications, Gary Buffaloe, to begin a new church.

Gary has been instrumental in the life, mission, and health of Wilkesboro Baptist Church over the past few years. His development of media leadership, editing and posting videos, and keeping us engaged on social media platforms have helped WBC navigate the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. Gary is a gifted servant with a pastor’s heart.

When we hired Gary, he let us know that he had a burden for church planting. It seems as if God is opening a door for Gary and staffers at YMCA Camp Harrison to plant a church in Boomer, NC. He and others have been praying about this opportunity for several months, and Gary will be stepping away from his role here at WBC at the end of the year.

We will miss Gary, his expertise, and his pastoral heart. He was a God-send to our church at just the right time. But we are excited for him and the future work that will begin sometime in 2022. We will have a formal service of sending Gary and his family later in October.

In truth, this step for Gary is also an opportunity for WBC to fulfill our mission. It is our mission to replicate. In Gary’s case that has meant replicating the life of Jesus into a fellow pastor and sending him out to plant a church. For WBC, sending Gary and his family provides us the privilege of replicating a new church in the Boomer area.

For us to fulfill our mission, we cannot just stay and enjoy the blessings we have. We have to share and send the blessings God has given us to others.

If you have any questions about this transition, feel free to reach out. You’ll likely see a post in the near future as we seek to replace Gary’s responsibilities at the church. You’ll also get a chance to hear from Gary before he steps away at the end of the year. It is also likely that this new work will become one of our annual mission partners.

For now, pray for Gary, his family, and his team as they continue to plan for this new work. Pray that WBC will know how to best support this new church plant. And pray that WBC will find the right person to help us with our communications and media ministries.

“It’s not about you.”

Rick Warren opened his bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life, with these words, “It’s not about you.” Warren was talking about purpose and mission in life. He’s right.

Since the beginning of summer, I’ve been preaching from the book of Proverbs. The last several weeks I’ve dealt with several convicting subjects according to the book of Proverbs: pride, words, and anger. You can listen to the podcasts of recent sermons by searching for Wilkesboro Baptist wherever you find podcasts or by visiting our podcast page here: https://www.wilkesborobaptist.org/podcasts.

That sentence, “It’s not about you” covers the basic truth behind the character and virtue that the book of Proverbs is attempting to teach us.

We live in a “have it your way” culture where advertising, marketing, and media are aimed at making your life more convenient or happier. Just observe the self-help section in a bookstore or watch carefully the next set of commercials on television. If you listen to the subtle (or not so subtle) messaging, then it is easy to think that everything is about us. If I want a new car, then I deserve one. If I want to fit in, then I must have the newest iPhone. If I want to have a happy lunch, then I’ll get it “my way.”

I don’t mean to pick on advertising and marketing so much. It is just an illustration of a far deeper problem with humanity.

Let’s just take the subjects of the last three sermons I preached: pride, words, and anger. The vice of pride tells us that everything is about us. And when our pride is damaged, we act out. Our words are not necessarily good or bad, but most often they are about us. It is so easy to get caught up in the I, me, mine culture where everything I communicate in spoken or written word is about me. Think social media. If you want a convicting exercise, look back through your social media feeds and reread your posts. How many of them are about you? How many times did you write, “I,” “me,” or “mine.” And then there is anger. Most of the time, my anger is caused by something or someone that doesn’t match my expectations. I get angry when “I’m” impatient, frustrated, disappointed, etc. Essentially, these three topics are symptomatic of self-absorbed thinking.

We need to tell ourselves over and over again, “It’s not about me.”

If it’s not about us, then what on earth are we here for? In short, we’re here as reflections of the Creator. God made us in his image, for his glory, to accomplish his purpose. God made us to make us like Jesus (Romans 8:29).

To put it one way, we exist to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus. At Wilkesboro Baptist, we do this by worshiping, learning, serving, and replicating. These steps are good reminders that life is not about us.

In worship, we focus our attention on the Lord who is worthy of our praise. In true worship, our preferences and desires take a back seat to the praise and glory of Jesus Christ.

In learning, we humble ourselves to be taught. As followers of Christ, we realize that we are on a journey to learn more about God, ourselves, our world, others, and our mission.

In serving, we put others first. Instead of being consumers of church culture, we are servants of others. We give our time, talents, and tithes as investments into the lives of others: be it people in our church, community, or across the world.

In replicating, we realize that the mission of making disciples is our priority. To replicate is to reproduce the life of Christ in someone else. We can’t replicate the life of Christ in someone else if the life of Christ is not the controlling presence in our own lives. And if we live each day as if it is about us, then we are actively working against the purpose of Christ in our own lives.

Is your life about you? If your behaviors, habits, and decisions say “Yes,” then maybe it’s time for some life analysis.

This message series has been convicting to me as well. Over the past several weeks, God has reminded me of ways where I have behaved as if my life is about me. May we learn to follow Christ and let the life of Christ live within us.

May Paul’s affirmation to the Galatians be true of us:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

Galatians 2:2O

Photo by Ben Robbins on Unsplash