The Church of Pentecost (COP) with its five-year vision plan (Vision 2023) enjoins its members to be agents of transformation in every sphere of society with kingdom values and principles. This vision tends to juxtapose with the principles espoused in the Great Commission which admonishes Christians to go into the world to make disciples of all nations, thus transforming their societies for Christ.
In this article, I intend to examine our task as agents of transformation in fulfilling the Great Commission in the light of two scientific principles. The first is the scientific perspective of work. Work is defined as the product of the distance covered by a body and the external force acting upon it to cover that distance. The formula for work done is Force (F) x Distance (D).
This implies that work can only be accomplished when the force possessed by a body is able to move that body through a distance. Let us look at Matthew 28:18-19, “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (NIV).
How do we relate this commission to the scientific perspective of work? The inference in the passage is that as children of God, we are made aware of the authority that we possess and how that authority commissions us into the task of transforming our societies. This authority is synonymous with the force that acts in a Christian’s life through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit equips us with the revival and passion for the work in the Great Commission. When this force works in us, we cannot help but move across a distance to make disciples for Christ. The Holy Spirit overcomes the Christian’s unwillingness and guides him on the path of possessing the nations. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 tells us that we are ministers of reconciliation compelled by the love of Christ. We cover many distances to spread the gospel to possess the nations under the compelling force of the love of Christ (vs. 14).
The next principle to be discussed is power. In science, power is defined as the rate at which work is done or the time taken to convert energy into work within a specific time. Power is represented as work done divided by time taken (work/time taken). This means that the power a body possesses is the rate at which it is able to accomplish a specific task within a time range. Here, the role of the Holy Spirit in a believer cannot be ignored. Every Christian filled with the Holy Spirit possesses an amazing power as stated in Acts 1:8. The power equips the believer with all it takes to accomplish the work in the Great Commission as agents of transformation.
This means there is no time to waste when the power of God comes upon the believer because it is appointed unto every person once to die and after this judgement. Therefore, proper utilization of our time on earth is consequential to our ability to fulfil our ministry as the Psalmist has said, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12, NIV).
While we still have life, the Holy Spirit empowers us so that in our limited time on earth, we can effectively play our roles in transforming our society for Christ.
Two major inferences can be gleaned from this discussion: Firstly, there is work to be done by every Christian, and for that matter members of The Church of Pentecost. This work is elaborated in the Great Commission and the five-year vision plan of the Church. That is why Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit as our source of power to accomplish this task. Secondly, when the power and the force provided by the Holy Spirit are not fully utilized, they go waste. This affects our role as light of this world.
We have looked into the scientific perspective of work and power. It has been stated that work done can only be measured as the product of force and distance covered while power can also be measured by work done divided by time taken.
We can safely conclude by saying that, to accomplish our task as agents of transformation and also fulfil our mandate towards the Great Commission, we need to overcome the challenge of idleness and move into the world to work for the Lord.
Diligence is the watchword here so we should not rest on our oars as the fields are ripe for the gospel. When we move, work is done; and that must be done quickly because time and tide wait for no person. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit supplies the power for this task.
By: Apostle Vincent Anane Denteh