Our Calling

Our calling is to Jesus, who calls all people to himself.

Acts 4:11–12; John 12:32

Jesus brought the good news of the kingdom of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.” What is this kingdom? It is where God’s whole will is done, his justice is upheld, and his domain of peace has become reality as Israel’s prophets foretold. Jesus sums up the nature of the kingdom in two great commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Matt 4:17, 23
Mark 1:15
Matt 6:10; Ps 103:19–22
Ps 9:7–8; Is 9:6–7; 42:2–4
Jer 23:5–6; Is 11:6–9; Mic 4:1–5
Mark 12:30–31;
Deut 6:4–5;
Lev 19:16–18

Jesus asks us to live as citizens of his coming kingdom. It is not enough to accept him as our personal savior or to say to him “Lord, Lord.” We must prove our love to him in deeds, putting into practice his words in the Gospels, especially the Sermon on the Mount. We do not want a religion that seeks the future of humanity only beyond this earth and pacifies people with mere spirituality. No, we and all humankind need to receive help here and now. Jesus seeks to transform the entirety of our world, including the economic, the social, and all other aspects of life. His commands are practical: to forgive unconditionally; to renounce all violence; to stay faithful in lifelong marriage; to live free from wealth; to serve as the least and lowest; and to give up all power over others. His teaching is not an impossible ideal, but is truly good news: the news that the despair and death that rule the present age can be overcome through a life lived according to perfect love.

John 3:3–5; Matt 5:19–20
Matt 7:21; 21:28–32
John 15:9–17; Jas 1:22–25
Matt 5—7; Luke 6:17–49
John 10:10
2 Cor 10:5
Matt 28:18
John 14:23–24
Luke 18:26–30
Luke 7:18–23
1 Jn 2:5–11

It is Jesus himself who brings this about. In him, the Messiah, God’s reign has already begun on earth, and when he comes again he will establish it fully, redeeming all creation. He promises: “Behold, I make all things new.”

Luke 4:17–21
Matt 1:1–17; John 1:35–51
Rom 8:18–25; Rev 21:5
Is 65:17–25

To live for the kingdom of God leads to church community. God wants to gather a people on earth who belong to his new creation. He calls them out to form a new society that makes his justice and peace tangible. Among them private property falls away, and they are united in a bond of solidarity and equality in which each one says: Whatever I have belongs to the others, and if I am ever in need, they will help me. Then Jesus’ words can come true: “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

1 Jn 4:20–21
Luke 13:34–35; Gen 12:1–3
Is 42:6–7; 60:1–3
2 Cor 3:5–6; 5:17–21
Luke 6:34–38
2 Cor 8:13–15
1 Jn 3:16–17; Deut 15:4–8
Matt 6:31–33

Such a people came into being in Jerusalem at the first Pentecost. As described in Acts 2 and 4, the Holy Spirit descended on the believers who had gathered after Jesus’ resurrection, and the first communal church was born. Just as it was then, so it will be today whenever the Spirit is poured out on a group of people. They will be filled with love for Christ and for one another, and their communion of love will lead them to share their goods, talents, and lives, boldly testifying to the gospel. This is our calling in church community.

Acts 2:38–39; Joel 2:28–32
Ezek 36:24—37:28
Acts 4:31

We are a fellowship of brothers and sisters, both single and married, who are called by Christ to follow him together in a common life in the spirit of the first church in Jerusalem. We desire to remain true to this calling all our lives. For its sake we gladly renounce all private property, personal claims, and worldly attachments and honors. Our vocation is a life of service to God and humankind, freely giving our whole working strength and all that we have and are.

John 15:16
Eph 4:1–3
Mark 10:28–31; Phil 3:12–16
Luke 9:57–62; 1 Jn 2:15–17
Matt 22:37–40
Rom 13:8–10; Gal 5:13–14

Church community is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Any attempt to force it into being will produce only a disappointing caricature. Without help from above, we human beings are selfish and divided, unfit for life together. Our best motives and efforts ultimately prove unsound; as Jesus tells us, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” We remain sinners utterly dependent on grace.

Acts 2:4, 39–47
Ps 127:1–2
Rom 7:14–25
John 15:5
Eph 2:8–10

Yet we have experienced Christ’s transforming love. He makes the impossible possible: for ordinary men and women to live together in forgiveness and mutual trust, as brothers and sisters, the children of one Father. It is his Spirit that calls believers to a life of love where work, worship, mission, education, and family life are brought together into a single whole. We are convinced that such a life in church community is the greatest service we can render humanity and the best way we can proclaim Christ.

2 Cor 5:14–17; Gal 2:20
Phil 4:13
John 6:63–65
John 17:18–23

Christ brings all this about through his sacrifice on the cross. By taking suffering and death upon himself, he atoned for our sins and the sins of the whole world. His cross is the only place we can be forgiven and find peace with God and one another. The cross is the means of our personal salvation, but it is also more: it has cosmic significance. Here Christ overcomes all powers of evil and enmity, fulfills the justice of God, and reconciles the whole universe to himself.

Rom 5:6–11
John 1:29; Is 52:13—53:12
John 3:16; 1 Jn 2:2
Eph 1:7–10; 2:11–22
Heb 10:11–25
Col 1:19–20, 2:13–15

Christ’s cross is at the center of our life together. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We seek to go the way of the cross as he did – the way of humility, vulnerability, and self-sacrificing love.

1 Cor 1:18–25
Mark 8:34
Mark 10:42–45
Phil 2:1–11

Our church community is only a small part of the universal church. This universal church is the body of Christ, made up of all who belong to him; it is his bride, set apart for him alone. It cannot be identified with any human institution or group. As the early Christians testify,1 it is a work of God, not of man. Ordained from the beginning of creation, it includes the apostles, prophets, martyrs, and believers from every age who are with God as the “cloud of witnesses” from every nation, tribe, and race.

Matt 16:18; Eph 4:4–6
1 Cor 12:12–13; Eph 5:25–27
Rev 21:1–14; Hos 2:19–20
Rev 7:9–10
Heb 12:1–2, 22–24
Rev 5:9–10

If asked whether we are the one true church, we reply, “No” – we are merely objects of God’s mercy like everybody else. But if asked whether we experience the church as a reality in our daily lives, then we must affirm that we do, through the grace of God. Jesus promises that wherever even two or three are gathered in his name – that is, in full love and obedience to him – he will be present in their midst. Then their fellowship will be united with the one holy, universal, and apostolic church.

Matt 18:18–20
Matt 28:19–20
Gal 3:26–29

Christ is the head of this church. Just as a single vine nourishes many branches, so he joins together the diverse bands of his followers on earth, endowing them with his authority, unity, and commission.

Eph 1:22–23; John 15:1–8
John 20:21–23
Matt 16:19

Peace is the very nature of the kingdom of God; Christ entrusted his church with the gospel of peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” He himself is our peace, and in him all division is overcome. He wants us to be makers of his peace.

Is 9:6–7; Ps 85:8–13; Rom 14:17
Acts 10:34–38; Eph 6:14–15
John 14:27
Eph 2:14–18; Mic 5:4–5
Matt 5:9; Ps 34:11–14

For this purpose, he assigns us to be in the world, but not of the world. We must not be conformed to the present world, which has fallen subject to sin and death, powers that are at enmity with God. But neither are we to despise it.

John 15:18–19; 17:14–18
Rom 12:2
John 3:17, 12:47

“God so loved the world . . . .” Christ calls us to the same love. In his service, we cannot withdraw or cloister ourselves. He asks us to be the city on the hill, the light on the lampstand, and the salt of the earth. His church is to be the embassy of his kingdom of peace, stationed in the present age as in a foreign jurisdiction.

John 3:16; Matt 5:43–48
Col 2:20–23; Jer 29:7
Matt 5:13–16
2 Cor 5:18–20
Heb 13:14; 1 Pet 2:9–11

We seek to fulfill this calling by working together with others of goodwill, whether or not they are confessing believers. In our experience, Christ can work even in people who deny him with their lips. Our task is to recognize him in each person and to point all people to him.

Mark 9:38–41
Heb 11:31; Josh 2
Is 44:24—45:7
Matt 21:28–32; 25:31–46
John 1:9; Matt 8:5–13

What does it mean to be peacemakers? Jesus instructed us: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you, and forgive as you need to be forgiven. He taught: Do not resist those who mistreat you, but allow yourself to be struck again rather than to strike back. He rejected political power when it was offered to him, and he refused to defend himself with force, rather letting himself be killed. We must do the same.

Matt 5:38–48; Exod 23:4–5
Matt 18:21–35
Luke 6:27–36
Luke 4:5–8
John 18:36
1 Pet 2:20–25

The way of peace demands reverence for all life, above all each human life, since every person is made in the image of God. Christ’s word and example, as affirmed by the teaching of the early church, absolutely forbid us to take human life for any reason, directly or indirectly, whether in war or self-defense, through the death penalty, or by any other means, including euthanasia or abortion.1 As conscientious objectors, we will not serve in the armed services of any country, not even as noncombatants. Nor may we support war-making or the use of deadly force by others through our consent or aid.

Gen 1:26–27; 9:5–6
Matt 26:50–54
Rom 13:9–10
2 Cor 10:3–4
Jas 3:18
1 Thess 5:15

We refuse to wield governmental power by serving in high office or in any position such as judge or juror that is vested with power over the life, liberty, or civil rights of another.2 Likewise, in obedience to Christ’s teaching, we cannot swear oaths or make any pledge of allegiance. We love our country and our countrymen, but equally we love all our fellow human beings regardless of their nationality, ancestry, race, creed, culture, or social status. Our loyalty is to the kingdom of God.

Luke 12:13–14
Matt 5:33–37
Jas 5:12
Jas 2:1–13
Gal 3:28
Phil 3:20

In regard to government, Jesus teaches: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” We respect the authority of the state as appointed by God to protect the innocent and to restrain evil. We pay our taxes and obey the laws of the land, so long as these do not conflict with obedience to Christ. We acknowledge the state’s legitimate efforts to check murder, dishonesty, and immorality, and we pray for our government leaders to use their authority to promote peace and justice.

Mark 12:17 NIV
John 19:11; Dan 2:21
Rom 13:1–7
Titus 3:1–2”
1 Pet 2:13–16
1 Tim 2:1–4

Yet we can never give the state our allegiance, since “we must obey God rather than men.” As Christ teaches and history shows, the church must stay disentangled from the state to avoid being corrupted by it. The power of the state is ultimately the power of the sword, secured by violence. We, however, are called to the way of Christ, which overcomes evil with good.

Acts 5:29; Dan 3:16–18
Mark 10:42–45
Rom 13:4; Rev 13
1 Sam 8
Rom 12:17–21; 13:8;

Even so, we are not indifferent to the work of government. At its best, the state represents a relative order of justice in the present sinful world; but the church, as God’s embassy, represents an absolute order of justice: the righteousness of the kingdom of God.3 The church must witness to the state, serving as its conscience, helping it to distinguish good from evil, and reminding it not to overstep the bounds of its God-appointed authority.

1 Pet 2:17
John 17:15–19; 2 Cor 5:17–20
1 Kgs 18:1–19
Acts 4:18–20; 22:22–29
Matt 14:1–12

We uphold the way of nonviolent love and unconditional forgiveness. This is not a pacifism of detachment or cowardice. Jesus calls us to be ambassadors of peace, even at the risk of death or dishonor. Opposing war is only the first step; we seek to build up a life that removes the occasion for war by overcoming its root causes: injustice, hatred, and greed. We want to use our lives to advance the peaceable kingdom foretold by the prophets, which will transform not only individuals but also all human society and the whole of nature:

Matt 6:14–15
Heb 10:32–39
Jas 3:13—4:12
Mic 4:1–5
Is 65:17–25; Hos 2:18

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

Is 11:6

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Is 11:9

To work for God’s peaceable kingdom means to strive for his justice. What does this justice demand of us? It demands that we put love of God and love of neighbor into practice.

Matt 6:33; Is 42:1–4
Is 58; Mic 6:6–8
1 Jn 4:19–21
Luke 10:25–37

Love of neighbor means a life wholly dedicated to service. This is the opposite of all selfish pursuits, including a focus on one’s personal salvation. We live in church community because we must concern ourselves with the need of the whole world. We each acknowledge our share in humanity’s guilt and suffering, and we must respond through a life devoted to love. “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

John 13:12–17; Gal 5:13
Gal 6:9–10
1 Cor 13:1–3
John 1:29; 3:16–17
Rom 3:9, 23
Rom 13:8–10; Gal 5:6
Matt 7:12

Love of neighbor means doing the works of mercy commanded by Christ: giving food to the hungry and water to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, giving alms to the poor, and visiting the sick and those in prison. “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” Like the early Christians, we see piety as false unless it is proved authentic through deeds of social justice.

Matt 25:31–46
Deut 15:1–11; 24:10–22
Matt 25:40
Jas 1:27
Deut 10:12–21; Ps 112

Love of neighbor means that we keep an open door. The blessings of a life of brotherly and sisterly community are available to all people, rich or poor, skilled or unskilled, who are called to go this way of discipleship with us.

Heb 13:2
Lev 19:33–34
Col 3:11; 1 Cor 14:23–25

Love of neighbor leads us to give up all private property, the root of so much injustice and violence. Christ teaches his followers to reject mammon – the desire for and the power of possessions. He warns, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” He saw into the heart of the rich young man whom he loved and told him: “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Luke 12:32–34
Jas 4:1–4; 1 Tim 6:9–10
Matt 6:19–21, 24
Luke 18:24 ESV
Mark 10:17–22 ESV

Mammon is the enemy of love. It drives some to build up individual fortunes while millions lead lives of misery. As a force within economic systems, it breeds exploitation, fraud, materialism, injustice, and war.

Jas 5:1–6; 1 Jn 2:15–17
Jer 22:13–17
Ezek 28:1–19; Rev 18
Amos 5:11–24

All that serves mammon opposes the rule of God. A person who keeps anything for himself disregards Jesus’ commandment to his followers to give up their private property. He has taken something intended by God for the use of all and claimed it for himself.

Matt 5:42
1 Jn 3:16–18
Luke 12:13–34
Exod 16:13–21
Luke 6:24–36; 16:19–31

In obedience to Christ, we trust in God for everything, including our material needs. None of us owns anything personally, and our communal property belongs not to us as a group but to the cause of Christ in church community.1 In this, we follow the example of Christ and his itinerant community of disciples, who kept a common purse.

Matt 6:25–34; Exod 16
Acts 4:32
John 12:6; 13:29

Love of neighbor demands that we stand with the mistreated, the voiceless, and the oppressed. We are bound to confront public and private wrong boldly with the authority of the gospel, just as Jesus did. He himself was born in poverty and died the death of a criminal. His kingdom is especially for the poor and lowly, and he promises that when he returns, the last will be first and the first will be last.

Is 58:6–10; Prov 14:31; 19:17
Pss 72:1–4; 146:1–10
Luke 13:31–32
Matt 23:13–36
Luke 1:46–55
Mark 10:31

Jesus declares: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” We are called to help him in his work of redemption, bringing justice to victory.

Luke 4:18–19 ESV
Is 61:1–4
Matt 12:20; Is 42:1–4

After his resurrection, Jesus commissioned his disciples to announce the gospel of the kingdom: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

Mark 16:15–18
Matt 28:18–20

As often as possible, the church community sends out brothers and sisters to proclaim the gospel. In doing so, our prayer is that the original apostolic commission might become a reality today as it was in New Testament times: for Christ’s messengers to be equipped with the full authority of the Spirit, going into all the world to invite people to the great feast of the kingdom of God. We pray that God grants this gift somewhere, whether to us or to others. But whatever the measure of grace he gives us, he sends us out as envoys of his kingdom, and we desire to obey.

Matt 9:35–38
Acts 5:12–16; 8:4–8
Acts 10:44–48; 19:11–12
Mark 6:7–13; Luke 9:1–6
Luke 14:23
John 17:18; 20:21–23
2 Cor 5:16–20

The gospel we proclaim is alive and gives life: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Ours is not a silent God. His Word is not cast in iron or set in the dead letters of holy books. The Word of God is Christ himself, his presence and his power. This living Word never contradicts the Bible, which testifies to him and his will, but is spoken again and again by the Spirit into human hearts.1 He opens our eyes to the meaning of Scripture and teaches us everything we must do.

John 10:10
Matt 4:4
Heb 1:1–2
2 Cor 3:1–6; Is 55:10–11
John 1:1–4; Rev 19:11–16
Heb 4:12; Jer 23:29
Deut 30:11–14; Ps 33:6
1 Cor 2:10–16
Luke 24:25–32
John 14:26, 16:12–15

Those who go out to spread the good news must be sent in the name of Christ by a church community united in a spirit of repentance and love. They must trace the footsteps of Christ as they lead from one person to another and follow them from house to house and town to town. To the extent that we are given discernment to do this, we will find ourselves where he has already gone, among people whose hearts have already been opened by him. Our task is not to proselytize or judge others, but to witness to the greatness of God’s kingdom.

Acts 13:1–3; Rom 10:8–15
John 10:16
Acts 8:26–40, 16:11–15
Acts 10:1–48; 17:10–12
Acts 8:12; 2 Cor 4:1–6

So, too, those who remain at home in the church community desire to live in a way that testifies to perfect unity, as a sign to all the world of who Jesus is and what he wills.

Col 3:17; 1 Thess 1:2–10
Acts 4:32; Phil 2:1–11
Eph 4:1–3; Ps 133

How will the world know that the gospel is true? Jesus taught us that it would be through the love and unity visible among his disciples. On the night before his death, he prayed for them and for all believers who would come after them: “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

John 13:34–35
John 17:21–23 ESV

Oneness in Jesus is a great grace. This grace is not cheap. It demands deeds of love and repentance. It requires giving and receiving forgiveness again and again. Yet if we live in the unity that Jesus prayed for, it will shine out into the whole world as a powerful proclamation of his coming kingdom.2

1 Cor 6:19–20
Eph 4:30–32
Matt 5:14–16; Eph 5:8–16