INTRODUCING R.P.M.

Chapter 6

MISSION AWARENESS

Jesus Christ our Lord has commissioned us to make disciples of all the nations. That means we should evangelize, baptize and teach people His Word (Matt. 28: 18-20; Mark 16:14-16). He commanded that this work of evangelization be done first in one’s own nation – Jerusalem – (home missions, Luke 24:47) and then in other nations of the world (foreign missions, Acts 1:8). We can see clearly from the commission itself and from apostolic implementation of it in the book of Acts that establishing Churches fulfills this commission.

In order to fulfill its responsibility as given by the Lord Himself, the Redeemed People’s Mission shall maintain a “Missions” programme. The Missions programme includes those activities that take place outside the local Church programme and are directed towards evangelism, discipleship, leadership training and Church planting. All “missions” activity should have as its ultimate goal the establishment and building up of local Churches.

The Scriptural Basis of Our Involvement in Missions
We are involved in missions to fulfil the Great Commission of Christ bringing people to salvation and the knowledge of God, ministering to the totality of human need (Matt. 28:19-20; Mk. 16:15; Matt. 25:31-46; Lk. 16:9; 16:19-31; Lk. 10:2; John 3:16; Rom. 10:13-15; Matt. 10:32-33; 41-51).

To ensure that the RPM is adequately informed and carrying out missions as part of her calling, a National Missions Board is set up and expected to operate at the local church, District and Central levels. The Missions Department, at all levels, shall be responsible for the following:

i. To stimulate our congregations towards intercessory prayers for world evangelisation and for our missionaries.
ii. To educate and inspire the congregations in the field of world missions.
iii. To help stimulate and recruit volunteers for missions service
iv. To develop and manage fund raising programmes for the missions budget
v. To administer the funds allocated to missions
vi. To serve as a liaison between the Church and its related organizations, agencies, associations and missionaries
vii. To care for the missionaries on furlough
viii. To administer and evaluate the missions programme
ix. To interpreter the Church’s Article of Faith to missionaries and agencies

CHURCH PLANTING

A crucial aspect of mission work is the planting of churches. No mission work is complete unless churches are planted and are established to the point where they too could go out and plant other churches.
Pioneering New Churches:
Primarily, the local churches are to plant new churches. In the case of a new area, a District or the National may initiate a new outpost. However, such outpost must be linked to existing local churches for constant supervision and excellent coordination.

The Role of the National Missions Department in Church Planting
The role of the National Missions Department shall basically be in the area of:
i. Research work
ii. Provision of data
iii. Exploration and survey into new fields and un-reached areas
iv. Initiate new fields where necessary
v. Production of Evangelistic and follow-up materials such as posters, tracts, etc
vi. Provide logistic support for Church planters
vii. Training, appointing and commissioning of ministers for church planting
viii. Initiating and coordinating all church growth and church planting activities in the church

The Role of The District in Church Planting
i. Ensure implementation of national policy as regards missions and evangelism towards church planting in the church.
ii. Supervise and coordinate church planting activities of local churches in the districts
iii. Disburse missions and church planting funds as designated

The Role of The Local Church in Church Planting
i. The local church is the primary agency of missions and church planting
ii. Shall mobilize, motivate, encourage and equip God’s people to go, give and pray for missions and church planting endeavours
iii. The due remuneration of the church planters (i.e. those engaged temporarily by a local church to oversee a new field) shall be paid by the mother church, but may be assisted by the district or the National Missions body.

EVANGELISM

When members are not busy for God in Witnessing, a lot of things go wrong with their lives, and spiritual stagnation sets in.
Therefore:
(a) Churches must teach and train members for evangelism periodically.
(b) National Missions Department will supply the training materials and if possible, conduct the training in the Churches.
(c) Positive efforts each week must be made to encourage evangelism.
(d) Focus will be made mainly on personal work or person-to-person evangelism, as this is cheaper and quite effective.
(e) Target on growth must be set and at the end of each quarter, review has to be made to see if the target was met.

To help Churches achieve this growth, the following suggestions are made:
- Home Fellowships should be given targets on increase.
- Strong efforts on follow-up should be renewed, so that those that attend Sunday Services for the first time must be followed up.
- Strategies should be reviewed and changed where necessary.
- One or two major outreach programmes should be organized every year.
- Lay preaching should be encouraged through training those that are willing.
- Targeted evangelism could be organized through specialized programmes, i.e. Youths, Bachelors and Spinsters, Married people, Business Men and Women, Hospitals, Prisons, etc.

Active evangelism began with God. Before we were born, God made plans for our salvation, and we can say that as Christians, our life story (the major events) were all ordered by God to bring them to Himself whether they know it or not (Jer. 10:23). Read these passages carefully: Psalms 103:19; Eph. 1:11. God is working or “evangelising” already in the lives of those we meet each day. See Acts 18:5-11.
Paul encountered set backs – did he not? What was the answer to the setbacks? What two things was Paul not to do? What did God say He had among the heathen population of the city? It is an exciting thing to know that God is already at work before we meet people. See Acts 8:26-40. What surprises do you think Philip had? That God is at work does not now mean that men should relax. The early Church never prayed that God should convert the sinners, but rather that God should give them boldness as they speak the Word. There was perfect co-operation between them and God; it worked. (Matt. 28:19; Gal. 6:7; 2 Cor.9:6; 1 Cor.2:6)

Pentecost and Evangelism:
The Day of Pentecost happened for one reason – that the Church may have power to witness for Christ. Acts. 1:8. The gifts of the Spirit and even the five-fold ministries were all given for the same purpose. The Church was to grow, develop and the members were to do the work of the ministry. Eph. 4:7-16. There must be growth in the body both inwardly and outwardly. Once a Church stops growing in number, it starts stagnating and backsliding results.

The Holy Spirit is in the Church to give power for evangelism. Once evangelism is forgotten, the vital aspect of the Spirit’s work is neglected. The Spirit is here to bear witness for Christ. (Jn. 14:26-27; 16:8-11; 1 Cor. 14:23-25; Lk. 4: 16-18).
For what other reason does God give the Spirit? Evangelism is a divine project initiated by the Father, paid for by Jesus Christ, and being fulfilled by the Holy Spirit – Rev. 22:17.

To be a Pentecostal then is to be in the frontline for evangelism. Apart from the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, what other great truths are tied with witnessing?
(a) Salvation – Lk. 5:10; Mk. 1:17, etc.
(b) Second coming – Matt. 24:14; 2 Cor.5:10-11
(c) Holiness – 2 Cor. 6: 1-3.

What do you think will happen if everybody in this local Church is involved in evangelism effectively? Is it possible for everyone to be involved? Is it possible for you to be involved?

Chapter 7

PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY

Nobody ever wants to live in bondage. Everyone, everywhere would like to exercise some degree of liberty whether as a citizen of a country or as a part of a religious system. For the Christian, liberty is that freedom that a believer exercises or enjoys because of his relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord. However, in the process of exercising that liberty, care should be taken so that it does not pull down the faith of others but rather build them up.

Wherever the Christian is living, he is within the context of certain culture and tradition. Certain issues would have to be faced in relation to our liberty. For example, should a Christian play active role in partisan politics? Could he join his town’s union? What about taking up chieftaincy title? Should a Christian woman adorn herself with jewellery? What role should a woman play in the leadership of a church? How about hair covering and what type of dress should a woman wear or not wear, etc.? The list is by no means exhaustive.

The answers to these and similar questions are not clear-cut “Yes” or “No”. The Christian should respond by asking how the situation will affect his or her loyalty to God and how his or her behaviour will affect other Christians.

Text: Galatians 5:13; 1 Cor 8:1-13

The Christians in Corinth wanted to know the extent of their liberty, especially in relation to foods (v.1; Rom 14:1-6; Acts 15:20). Corinth was a pagan city. Idol worshippers after sacrificing an animal to their gods would either take the remaining home to make a feast to which friends are invited, or the meat is sold in the open market. Should the Christian partake in such a feast or not? Could the Christian buy such meat at the market or not? These were the concerns of the Christians that necessitated their writing to Paul for answers.

Our Christian behaviour requires that we put knowledge in the right perspectives. True knowledge delivers from bondage and also helps us to know our position in Christ. Paul states that:
1. An idol is nothing (1 Cor 8:4; Acts 14:15; 1 Cor 10:19; Gal 4:8). The Christian should not fear idols, no matter how weird they look. They are fashioned by human hands (Isa 41:23-29; 44:9-17).
2. There is only one God and Lord (1 Cor 8:4,6; Deut 6:4). Jesus Christ is the Lord who also is the agent of both the natural and the supernatural creations. Every culture or tradition is subservient to Him.

A member of RPM is enjoined to act responsibly towards God, before the church and within the society as a whole. What we ought to do should take precedence over what we want to do and what we know we can do. In relation to our liberty, the Christian should:
a) Be aware of the weak conscience of others. Some Christians take trivial, unimportant issues to be a sin for them possibly because of their past experiences in the society (1 Cor 8:7-8; Rom 14:14; 1 Cor 10:28). For example, some Christians will not drink a non-alcoholic wine because wine itself would remind them of their past evil lifestyle. A Christian should be sensitive to the fact that the exercise or otherwise of liberty in non-moral issues (e.g. eating or abstention from eating certain foods) does not determine one’s basic spiritual condition. Spirituality is conditioned on our complete submission to God and this should be demonstrated by the production of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). In effect, if you love other believers, take the trouble to understand them rather than despise them.
b) Honour the weak conscience of others. The warning of Paul is that the believer with a strong conscience should not exercise his liberty if it would be a hindrance to the spiritual growth of another (1 Cor 8:9). He is to be a building block, not a stumbling block to his brother. The reckless exercise of liberty violates the real purpose for which Christ died (1 Cor 8:11; Rom 14:15-23).
c) Avoid sinning against the weak conscience of others. A Christian sins when he causes his brother to stumble, hence a sin against the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 8:12; Acts 9:4-5; Matt 25:40,45). Since we belong to one Body inseparably, therefore, any reckless use of liberty wounds the weak conscience of others and destroys the confidence in the loving concern of others. In practical terms, we ought to remove that which would lead our brethren to sin (Matt 5:29-30; 17:27; 18:6-9), and like Paul, choose not to exercise again your right of “eating meat” sacrificed to idols, whatever that “meat” may be (1 Cor 8:13).

ORDERLINESS AND MODESTY IN THE CHURCH
Using 1 Tim. 2: 9-15 as our launching pad, we will consider all the areas of perplexity in the Church as regards the position, dressing and conduct of women in the Church.

Key Words to Consider in 1 Tim. 2: 11-15 and 1 Cor. 14: 34-36:
1. Woman in Greek, is “Gune”, meaning wife, woman, married or unmarried.
2. Man in Greek is “Aner” – a man, an adult male or husband.
3. Teach in Greek is “Didaktos” – to give instruction.
4. Authority in 1 Tim. 2:11-15; in Greek is “Authenteo” to exercise authority on one’s own account, to domineer, to be a dictator as opposed to “Exousia” which is authority i.e. judicial power; delegated power (e.g. Lk 10:19).
5. Speak as in 1 Tim. 2: 11-15, Greek “Laleo” which means to utter or mutter, or talk which conveys the idea of talking, muttering or chattering.

Women Ministeries in the Early Church. Some of the ministries that women functioned in are:
1. Prophetic – 1 Cor. 11:5; Acts 2:16-18; Acts 21:9, Ex. 15:20; Judg. 4:4; 2 Kgs. 22:14; Lk. 2:36.
2. Deaconess – Rom. 16:1-1
3. Labouring in the Ministry – Rom. 16: 3,6,12
4. Labouring in the gospel i.e. preaching – Phi. 4:3; Acts 18:26; Jn. 4:29; Acts 16:13
5. Servants of the Church – Rom. 16: 1,6; Matt. 14:3; Lk. 8:2-3.

Women could do all the above, but as in the home so it is in the Church. A man should be the overall leader, not the woman. (1 Tim. 3:2). Women could be Evangelists, Missionaries, Bible Teachers, etc. but administrative or governmental headship should be that of a man. The Lord Jesus chose 12 men to start the Church.

Hair and Hair Covering ( 1 Cor. 11:1-16; 1 Tim. 2: 9-10)
The problem of jewels, dressing, hair-do head or hair covering has caused splits, divisions, enemies, party spirit, etc. among believers.
The devil has used this seemingly minor issue to sidetrack ministries and create shameful antagonism. Here we will attempt to give a balanced Biblical view on the principles found in 1 Cor 11:1-16. Everyone is enjoined to study this with an open mind, laying aside every position we may have held, but constantly checking that the points made are true to the spirit of liberty in Christ and the Word of God.

Background to 1 Cor. 11:1-16
At the time when Paul penned this passage, no decent woman would appear in public without a veil. The public will not respect an unveiled woman. It is regarded as a sign of a free woman or unchastely. Among the Jews, Romans and Greeks this custom applied. When it comes to prayer there are differences in Greek, Hebrew and Roman customs. Greek men and women prayed bareheaded. Roman and Jewish men and women prayed with their heads covered. Because of these differences in customs, the Church needed a ruling on the matter.

Men, because they are the head are under no authority but that of Christ. They were therefore to pray with their heads uncovered. Women are under their husbands’ authority, therefore, are to pray with the head covered showing an acceptance of their husband’s authority over them.
So the veil or head covering was a token of submission to another person in the culture of the day – (v.16). By discarding the veil, a woman was discarding her husband’s authority as if she were a prostitute or unmarried. To cut off her hair is a punishment for a prostitute at that time (v.6) as the hair is a glory to the woman. A married woman discarding her symbol of authority will displease the angels who are ministering spirits and representatives of order in God’s creation.

The question one must however ask is this: In our culture today, does covering of hair depict a woman’s subjection to her husband? Bearing the above observation in mind, we must then ask the question, what principles of the Bible shall we follow in these issues?
1. The principle that what is most important is not what pleases me, but that which will help in edifying my brother.
2. Anything that will result in the manifestation of the works of the flesh in the body of Christ should be discarded (Gal. 5:17-19).
3. That LOVE, not knowledge is the bond of maturity.
4. And love endures all things.

With this in mind, we need to consider the following points.
a. No particular hair-do or style is recommended or condemned.
b. 1 Tim. 2:9 is more in reference to attitude of heart, character and moral behaviour than strict stipulation on hair-do or style.
c. 1 Cor. 11: A man is the head of his wife only, not of all women (v.3)
d. In (v.4), dishonouring is strictly between the man and his wife – that is the woman’s head not between the woman and the Lord (v.5)
e. In (v.6), the covering of the head (veil then, not head tie as today) was then a symbol of a wife’s subjection to her husband.
f. In (v.14 and 16), Paul appealed to custom and nature as his reason (that spiritually speaking, in the Lord there is no difference) v.11
g. The husband in his role represents Christ (v.7). Therefore a dishonour to the husband on the part of the wife will offend angels (v.10).
h. No veil means hair should be cut. In Paul’s day, veil is a sign that a woman is in subjection to her husband. Cutting off of hair, i.e. removal of a woman’s glory is a punishment for harlots.
Deductions:
1. Uncovered hair does not make women irreverent neither does any particular hairstyle.
2. Veil or no veil does not directly displease God, but it is customary that women should wear veil when in service or praying. It is also naturally good. Therefore should be followed in our Churches.

DRESS AND JEWELS:
Why do humans wear cloth and jewels?
1. People wear clothes to cover nakedness, and jewels for beauty.
2. People wear clothes for beauty and for glory (Ex. 28:2; 29:5) Aaron’s holy garments were made of beautifully woven patterns decorated with gold, precious stones, golden chains, etc. (Ex. 28:31-35; 6:30; Ex. 3:21-22; Lev. 8:7-8). With regards to both dresses and jewels, modesty is the Bible’s recommendation. (1 Pet. 3:1-5; Jude 23: Mt. 6:31; 1 Tim. 6:8).

There is no command as to what type of clothes to wear, neither is there any Biblical ban on a woman wearing jewels. On these issues, Paul’s policy is most needed: – 1 Cor. 6:12. Christian women must strongly resist the deceitful glamour of the “god” of fashion. Where there is love for God, the brethren and God’s work, fashion will have only a second appeal.

Thus the Redeemed People’s Mission adopts the following principles based on the Word of God.
1. That the issue of jewels (earrings, necklaces, etc.) is a matter of individual decision. The principle of Rom. 14:1-4 applies.
2. There is no Biblical injunction for or against the use of jewels.
3. There are no specific types of clothes recommended; only these must be modest and decent.
4. Christian women must avoid the trap of cosmetics and fashion.
5. The R.P.M. also recognise the female’s God-given, natural taste for nice appearance as also upheld by scriptures and respects that.
6. Too much stress on outward appearance is condemned. Isa. 3:16-24; Mt.6:28; 1 Pet.3:3.

What of a woman in trousers in the light of Deut. 22:5?
That injunction stands and is applicable in all ages and at all times. However, the question that must be asked and answered is: are trousers totally a man’s wear or is tying of wrapper totally a woman’s wear? Wearing of trousers is an imported Western dress to Nigeria and Africa. After all said and done, if love and care for our brothers would be our goal, many petty ideals would give way. Then we will be able to minister to God and one another.

Before this mode of dressing was adopted, Nigerian men in the North wear long garments with baggy kinds of trousers, i.e. Arabic style, while those in the South tie wrappers in a special men’s fashion that is quite different from women’s style.

Thus what is a man’s or a woman’s garment is culturally determined. If Nigerian culture allows a woman to wear trousers – it will be acceptable before God. At the time of Moses men were not wearing trousers but rather long garments similar to today’s maxi dress of the ladies. This was why God did not permit them to build the approach to the altar in the form of steps (Ex.20:26).

Therefore we can draw the following conclusion:
1. In some Nigeria societies today a woman in trousers is frowned upon; such a woman is often looked upon as harbouring some elements of pride, arrogance and even unchastity. Based on these, therefore, it is unwise for a Christian lady to wear them in that culture.
2. Men and women’s wear must be kept distinctively separate by their styles.
3. As Christians we are to respect the good aspects of our culture and also recognize that culture is dynamic, i.e. it changes and even borrows from other cultures. The culture of women not wearing trousers in some parts of Nigeria may change in the near future and women in trousers may become acceptable. The Church must recognize this and when it happens, we should be willing to tolerate it.

In R.P.M. therefore,
1. Women are expected to portray and send forth message of dignity, chastity, maturity and honour for womanhood in our dressing styles.
2. Deviation in conventional wears is frowned upon and is recognized as manifestation of an inner spiritual problem, insecurity and often a sign of inferiority complex.