You Are The Church: The Workmanship of God – Part 2

The Christian life in 2025 is not defined by passive church attendance but by active participation in transforming society and fulfilling the Great Commission. This transformation requires believers to abandon an “escapism mentality” and embrace their identity as “God’s world changers” and “history makers”. Paula White Ministries emphasizes that the Church, the blood-bought body of Jesus Christ, is the legally authorized entity on Earth to bring forth change and advance God’s Kingdom through radical engagement and unwavering mission.

1. The Call to Radical Action: Rejecting Spiritual Escapism

Believers are mandated to be ambassadors and delegated representatives of God, actively working to influence every sphere of society based on a biblical worldview.

A. Ending the Escapism Mentality

Following the Civil War, many Christians adopted an “escapism mentality”—a mindset focused solely on getting “out of here”. While the Second Coming of Jesus is a theological reality, the church is not meant to wait passively. Instead, believers must be prepared “as if Jesus is coming back right now,” without wasting their lives sitting safely on the sidelines.

• Image Bearers: God has called Christians to be image bearers in the earth, pushing back against the forces of darkness and bringing the gospel around the world.
• The Transformation Mandate: The goal is to bring light to dark places, including media, politics, entertainment, financial systems, and medical systems. Believers must “shake off the lethargy” to fulfill the covenant established with Adam to “dominate the earth in every possible way”.
• Jesus Regained Dominion: Although Adam lost dominion, Jesus regained it for the believer. The principles of God are designed to clash with the current culture.

B. The Danger of Complacency

The Church must avoid relegating itself to “little places of playing it safe”. If believers view the Church merely as a building or a place to show up on Sunday morning to hear a good choir, they are acting like a “dinosaur”.

• Kingdom Building: The purpose of the Christian life is not theological escapism but building the Kingdom of God, which “is not in heaven but is here in this earth”.
• The Cost of Silence: The speaker’s own testimony (of growing up without the gospel and facing abuse, suicide, and personal failures) emphasizes the urgency of sharing the gospel. The prognosis for the speaker’s life was changed not by man’s opinion, but by the power of God’s Word.

2. Identity, Authority, and the Mind of Christ

Effective transformation flows directly from the believer’s identity in Christ, recognizing the authority they carry as God’s chosen agents.

A. Possessing the Mind of Christ

Believers, who are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus, “have the mind of Christ” (Philippians 2:5). This mind should lead to greater innovation and influence than those who adhere to worldly philosophies, such as Buddhism.

• Created by God: The only reason an individual has “breath ruah in your body” and is alive is because an Almighty God created them and breathed life into them.
• Chosen and Called: Every believer is chosen to bring forth change and is called to be an agent of cultural and social change.

B. The Power of Testimony and Transformation

Every believer, whether they were in the “pig pen” (like the prodigal son) or struggling with hidden bitterness (like the elder brother), has a testimony to show the world that God is good and loving.

• Love as the Wooing Agent: The speaker was wooed by the unconditional love of an Almighty God who had a plan for her life, even though she had “train wrecked most of it”. This love was more powerful than being told she was going to hell.
• Transformation Power: God takes the “foolish things of this world to confound the wise”. God takes the messes behind us and makes a message out of them.

3. The Uncompromising Mission: Discipleship and Evangelism

Jesus commissioned the Church to “go into all the world preaching proclaiming the good news”. This mission requires daily feeding on the Word and recognizing the vital role of every single member.

A. The Requirement of the Word

The body of Christ cannot rely solely on a Sunday morning message; believers are responsible for their knowledge of the Word of God. They must constantly allow the Word to get on the inside of them to teach their families and train their children.

• Beyond Theology: Preaching the gospel means more than just a theological breakdown or passing out tracts; it means demonstrating the unconditional love of God to people in their current condition.

B. Unity in Assignment

The Church is one body and one bride made up of many members, each with a specific and equally important role.

• The Example of John and Jesus: The assignments of John the Baptist (the preparer) and Jesus (the Messiah) were equally crucial. John’s role, though not the Messiah, ensured the Messiah had a path.
• Complement, Not Compete: Believers “complement each other” and “don’t compete with each other”.

C. The Necessity of Suffering and Persecution

The Christian life is not promised to be easy; Jesus promised believers would be sent out “as sheep among wolves”.

• Strengthening in Storms: Jesus did not pray for us to be taken out of the world or to avoid going through storms. Instead, the prayer is that we will be “strengthened in your inner might” so that every storm makes us “stronger and stronger and stronger”.
• Apostolic Examples: The suffering endured by figures like Paul (shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned), Peter (crucified upside down), and John (boiled in oil) provides a powerful example that being an image bearer involves enduring hardship.
• God Gets the Final Word: Even when protected from the evil one, the suffering is allowed, but God assures that He “gets the final word” because the earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord.