Ten Life Principles for Those Who
Aspire to Impact the 10/40 Window
From the International Mission Board
Networking
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CSI is more than an organization. It is a way of life for 500 plus people who have committed their heart and soul to a passion and a vision. “All Peoples — Nothing Less” is the rallying cry that expresses our heart-throb. The pervasive vision represented by this phrase is illustrated by the scriptural imagery of all peoples gathered together bowing in worship before Christ’s throne. CSI exists solely to bring the light of Christ to the least evangelized, to the disenfranchised, to those utterly void of any gospel witness. God’s Word guarantees the ultimate victory.
The following principles were born out of this passion for All peoples--nothing less. The principles guide us and shape our activities among the unreached. These life-principles are useful for anyone who ventures to the edge - to the unreached world.
1. Destination is the point and you are the key!
An indigenous church planting movement among every people must be the
point of all we do. Plans, programs and technology are not our foremost
consideration but only means to the end. You as a worker among unreached
peoples (your competency and character) are the key in reaching the destination.
Thus, we must do all we can to provide adequately support, training and
guidance.
2. We must continually change.
The unreached world is an ever-changing world of governments and forces
who are belligerently resisting Gospel witness. Our willingness to challenge
and change the way we do things has been one of our chief strengths. Unwillingness
to challenge what has become status quo or conventional wisdom will mean
stagnation. Thus, we must continually check our course, making minor adjustments
and even major changes.
3. Organizational conformity for the sake of conformity is death.
Our Lord has created something unique and distinctive in CSI - for
the sake of the nations. To sacrifice the nations on the altar of organizational
expediency or uniformity is wrong. We are part of a larger family, and
yet, we do not have to look or act exactly like our brothers and sisters.
Our motivation must not be conformity to organizational standards, procedures
and policies for the sake of conformity. Rather, our motives must be driven
by what it will take to reach the nations not by what it will take to strengthen
the name of CSI or any other organizational entity.
4. The way forward for CSI must be through humility and service.
The vision and passion which we share for the nations and which we
believe to be the very heart of our God will not be grasped by others through
our arrogance or power of persuasion, but only through our humility and
service to the rest of the Christian community. The politics of power and
turf are not the way of our Lord, so they should not be our way either.
We must continually remember that we are participants in World A only at
our Lord’s gracious invitation.
5. We all live under authority and are accountable
We live together under the covenant to bless the nations. In this relationship,
we mentor, correct, teach and support each other. Thus, all of us are accountable
to someone in a linear, corporate-like structure where individuals under
authority are empowered for appropriate decision-making and leadership.
We don’t take votes and we don’t establish committees. The context in which
we work and the stewardship of resources demand that we operate in the
most efficient, effective manner possible.
6. The greater our diversity, the greater our strength.
A leveling of everyone to the lowest common denominator is not
our aim. Everyone must not look and act the same. Equity is not our way
of operating. Each of us will be treated differently. Our aim must be the
maximizing of everyone’s unique gifts and personality so that the destination
is reached.
7. Communications must be wide and secure.
We must redouble our efforts and use the latest means in order to communicate
effectively and securely with each other and our constituency.
8. The edge is where we belong.
As individuals and as a group, we dare not draw back from the edge
of the unreached. We are people who are gifted for and called to the edge,
thus, we must continue to enter new people groups and cities rather than
seeking only to consolidate the gains we’ve made.
9. We will do whatever it takes to get to the destination.
This does not mean that the end justifies every means. Rather, it means
that we do what our Lord has asked of us, believing that He intends for
His church to exist among all peoples before He returns. To get to this
destination, we must move beyond restrictive thinking, work with world
Christian brothers and sisters, and believe He is working in every situation.
10. The organization is not your God (or your mother).
Your call is from the One who called Abraham to be a blessing to the
nations. Your dependency must rest in Him alone. Your power does not lie
in the organization’s resources or name but in the One who created all
things. If our worship and allegiance is not focused singularly on the
One who made all peoples and on His Son, then we disqualify ourselves from
this race.
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WebMaster
1/21/99
