We don’t go to church, we are the church. We don’t only meet together on a Sunday, but we are the body of Jesus living lives of influence as pastors in our cities every moment of every day.  And because we are people of influence, we are leaders, blessed to be a blessing wherever we go.

So much did this truth impress itself on me, that after preaching a sermon on how Christians are members of the body of Christ in the world in which they live and how each member has been empowered by the Holy Spirit, I took an unusual step.  I asked the congregation to stand and ordained each person for a life of ministry and then handed each person a certificate of ordination that would remind them of their high calling wherever they go.

1. We are the light of the world. Jesus said “You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put if under a bowl.  Instead, they put it on a stand and it gives light to EVERYONE in the house.  In the same way, Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:14-16.  Light is an agent of influence in that it removes darkness, reveals dangers and helps lost people find their way.
2. We are the salt of the earth. Jesus said. “You are the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under feet.”  Matthew 5:13
   Salt is an agent of influence in that when it comes out of the saltshaker it adds flavour to its surroundings, promotes healing and preserves all that is good.
3. We are the yeast in the flour. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds (27 kilograms) of flour until it worked all the way through the dough.”  Matthew 13:33  Yeast is an agent of influence in that although small in size, it can transform an unusually large amount of flour into bread.  It reminds me of the mission organisation to which I belong whose purpose statement is to raise up people who can change the few, who can change the many.

God does not send us out to pastor our cities without equipping us with powerful resources that enables us to live lives of influence for Him.

These resources include :

THE HOLY SPIRIT
The last words Jesus spoke to His disciples were “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses.”  Acts 1:8  We have the same Holy Spirit living in us to guide and empower us as Jesus had as we move around our cities.  Jesus told His disciples “as the Father sent Me, so I send you” John 20:21  Dean Sherman in his book Spiritual Warfare for Every Christian speaks of how Christians talk and sing about the power and authority that has been given to us, but often fail to use them.  He said that Satan’s primary area of attack on Christians is to prevent them from discovering who they are and the resources that have been entrusted to them.  A conscious presence of the Holy Spirit living in us will transform our presence in our cities.

PRAYER

Max Lucado said, “We are never more like Jesus then when we pray for others.”  Our prayers for others can be spoken out loud or quietly expressed in our hearts as we move around our cities.  On one occasion a shop owner in a large shopping centre, shared with me that her business was struggling.  I felt a prompt to ask if I could pray for her and she agreed.  I asked God to bless her business and as I did, tears came to her eyes.  She was most thankful.  Whilst pastoring my church, I met each month with our city mayor and member of parliament to pray with them and encourage them.  There came a time when instead of conducting our church wide prayer meetings inside the four walls of our church, I hired buses to take our people out to strategic places in our city to pray on the spot for the needs of our city.

LOVE

We can relate to people in the city with God’s supernatural love “because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”  Romans 5:5  This love can be expressed in so many practical ways as we move through our cities with hearts sensitive to the needs of those around us.  On one occasion I was standing in line at a supermarket and the elderly lady in front of me discovered that she did not have sufficient money to pay for her groceries.  As she handed back some items to the shop assistant, I felt a prompt to pay for those items.  I then caught up with this lady who had left the store and passed these items on to her.  She was so thankful and I paused to pray for her and bless her in Jesus’ name.

ENCOURAGEMENT

Paul wrote “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”  1 Thessalonians 5:11.  What a difference it makes when we apply these words to our life in our cities as well as when we are with other Christians at church.  I have made it a goal to speak a word of encouragement to every person I meet as I walk around my city.  The smiles on people’s faces that I talk to are evidence of the value of this simple act.  Why not be like a man called Joseph who was so impacting by the way he encouraged people that he was endowed with a new name, that of Barnabas that meant “Son of Encouragement” Acts 4:36.  It is possible that we may not have heard of the apostle Paul if it wasn’t for the fact that Barnabas believed in him and brought him to the apostles.
Acts 9:26-27.

GOOD NEWS

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses”  Acts 1:8  As we sensitively follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, there are moments where we are led to share the good news of Jesus.  To help me with this I take with me a booklet called ‘What On Earth Am I Here For’  by Rick Warren.  It is my practice to regularly prayer walk the part of the city that I call my local neighbourhood.  In the process, I take the opportunity to talk to my neighbours and gradually open doors emerge where I follow the prompts of the Holy Spirit to talk about Jesus.  When there is a prayer need such as a family member with sickness I will go inside the house to pray for that person’s healing.  The part of the city that is called “my neighbourhood” is an area of high priority when it comes to praying for the city.

We can be most thankful for all the resources that we have been given to pastor the cities in which we live.  To further help us we have a mentor in Jesus who modelled a life for us to follow by the way He spend much of His time in the marketplaces.   And as we go, it is God who “uses you to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Christ everywhere”
2 Corinthians 2:14

PRACTICAL APPLICATION FOR PASTORING THE CITY

• Preach a series on Pastoring the City.
• Have testimony times in your services where people can share their Pastoring Our City stories.
• Conduct an Equipping Course on how to practically use the resources that God has made available to us to pastor our city.
• Hire buses that can be used to take your people out to pray at strategic locations around your city.
• Hire your local cinema for a night and screen a Christian movie where people can bring their friends. I invited our local Member of Parliament to the night we sponsored a public screening of a Christian feature film, and she was moved to tears as she watched the film.
• Have a supply of ‘What On Earth Am I Here For’ booklets for people to use as they share the good news of Jesus with people they meet.
• Have prayer spots in your worship services focused on Pastoring Our City.
• Have a sign above the exit door in your church building with the words ‘You Are Now Entering The Mission Field’.

It is now time for church to get out of their saltshakers (church buildings) and add flavour to their cities.  And it is now time for the light to come out from under the bowls and illuminate the cities that lay in darkness.  And is it now time that our lives as witnesses to the presence of Jesus become a 24/7 movement for all Christians and not just the committed few?  And is it now time for Christians to skilfully use all of the resources that have been entrusted to them to pastor their cities?

“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”  Esther 4:14   And remember Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.”  John 20:21