Wanted: Christ Copiers.

Whose copy are you?

Recent polls show that professing Christians are just as likely as non-Christians to have been divorced, bought a lottery ticket, watch MTV or have subscribed to cable television like HBO and watch R, and even X rated movies as non-Christians. Whose copy are you?

A Christ Copier is a disciple of Christ. He is a “decent example” of Jesus. A disciple is a Christian. The disciples were called Christians (Christ-copy) for the first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26) There are 3 hallmarks of a disciple of Christ: born again, learner, a member of a small group of disciples.

Born again
Discipleship is a journey that starts when an individual surrenders to the Lord, receiving forgiveness of sin in the process. It is a defining moment that starts a relationship between man and God. It cannot be substituted with regular church attendance, church membership, ministry work, charitable works etc. have you invited Jesus who died for you into your heart? If not, it is not too late.

Learner
When anyone becomes born-again, he is a baby in Christ and needs to grow into a mature Christian. There are many who claim to be born again but are not growing. They have lost or never got a Learner’s Permit. This permit is for a lifetime. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”. 1 Peter 2:2. It is tragedy to start as a babe, and remain so after many years in the faith. Someone with a lower opinion of babies once described them this way: “A baby is a digestive apparatus with a loud noise at one end and no responsibility on the other.” Is your life marked by a desire to know God and become like Him?

Certain characteristics are essential for growth: Food, shelter, clothing, love/affection, ability to hear, speak, think, ability to sit, stand and walk and, ability to read and write. Which of these essentials is most important for growth? Food. Without food, the baby will die and will never have the opportunity to acquire other abilities. Babies need milk, natural or artificial, to survive. They also need to gradually grow to tolerate adult meals in order for their development not to be stunted.

Man is made up or body, soul and spirit. As physical food is to your body, so is the Word of God to your spirit. On average, we eat 3 times daily. How often do we feed our spirits with the Word in a 24-hour period? Stop starving your spirit. Feed your spirit by: Meditating on the Word daily and talking to God for at least 15 minutes daily. God came to Adam in the cool of the evening to chat with him daily. It is one of the reasons we exist. Face-book and twitter God on a daily basis and you will never be the same again.

Member of a small group
There are many lonely people in this world. These loners are in 2 categories: The Ignorant and the Arrogant. The ignorant loner does not know he needs others. The arrogant thinks he is self-sufficient. There is a reason none of us dropped from the sky or shot out of the ground like a plant. Regardless of whether your parents are together or not, everyone was born to a small group called family. It is not good for man to be alone as he goes through life’s journey.

The Almighty God exists as a small group of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Before the God-family made man, man was referred to in the plural. God said, “Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Genesis 1:26.

Soon after Adam was made, God formed a family for him by creating Eve. Genesis 2:24. Noah was found righteous in God’s sight but he did not go into the Ark alone; he went with his household. Genesis 7:1. What do all these have to do with being a disciple of Christ? Jesus had 12 of them; none walked alone. There is no such thing as lonely disciple.

When a child is born, he becomes part of a family of parents and siblings. In the same was, as soon as a man gets born again, he becomes a member of the family of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Church. The local church is a microcosm of the Church Universal. Christ is the Head. Church leaders are the neck. Other parts are made up of all other believers and may play roles that are visible or invisible.
The Body of Christ has all it takes to take care of its own.

Healthcare Department
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. James 5:14-15, Mark 16:18.

Education Department
“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children” Titus 2:3-4 (NIV), Hebrews 5:12, Ephesians 4:11-13. Older believers (assuming they have grown in the Lord as they should) have a responsibility to teach the babies in the faith.

Bank of Heaven
"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or worse, stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being”. Matthew 6:19-20 (The Message), Matthew 19:21, Philippians 4:19. Giving lays up treasure in heaven. A disciple must be a giver.

Social Security Department
And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. Acts 2:44-45 (The Message)

Electricity
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. John 1:9.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7.

Water Department
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27 (NIV)

Waste Management System
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32 (NIV)

Social Services
Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. Galatians 6:1-3 (The Message)

Housing Department
……God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home. Ephesians 2:20-22 (The Message).

Diversity of the Body of Christ
Aren’t we happy that our human body is not made up of one huge hand or even a collection of hands? When it comes to our local church, our appreciation of the differences that exist between members is not automatic. It takes work, persistence, commitment, patience, perseverance. Concerning marriage, a man and a woman become one on their wedding day. However, that unity must be nurtured, strengthened and defended throughout their life together. Everyone comes to marriage with a baggage which if not attended to, becomes a source of conflict and eventual separation.
If marriage is challenging, imagine the potential for division in a church with many more members than an average family! We all have issues and baggage that we have brought into our relationship as members. But we must win one another’s trust with unconditional love.

Don’t be a leech. The human body does not exist to meet the needs of the hand. The hand exists to meet the needs of the body and in doing so gets its own needs met. The Church does not exist to meet our needs. We exist to carry out the work of the Body and in doing so our own needs are met.

Every member is a minister.
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 1 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV)
But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. Ephesians 4:7 (Message)
Nobody is a nobody in the body of Christ. We all have a distinct role to play.
From him (Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16.
The church will not grow if each part doesn’t do its work. Everyone is essential. No one is useless. This is illustrated in the fictional story below:
A man broke his left arm.
One night when he couldn’t sleep, he imagined a dialogue between his right and left hands.
Right Hand said, “Left Hand, you are not missed. Everybody’s glad it was you that was broken and not me. You are not very important.”
Left Hand asked, “How are you superior?”
Right Hand replied, “Why, my owner cannot write a letter without me.”
Left Hand: “But who holds the paper on which he writes?”
Right Hand: “Who swings the hammer?”
Left Hand: “Who holds the nail?”
Right Hand: “Who guides the plane when the carpenter smoothens a board?”
Left Hand: “Who steadies the board?”
Right Hand: “When our owner walks down the street and lifts his hat to greet someone, which of us does it?”
Left Hand: “Who holds the briefcase while he does it?”
Then he continued, “Let me ask you a question. When our owner shaved yesterday, you held the razor, but his face is cut because I wasn’t there to help. Also, our owner’s watch has stopped. Why? You may do the winding, but if I’m not there to hold it, the watch won’t get wound. You can’t take money out of his wallet to pay for something because I’m not there to hold it. The master can do very few things without me.”

In summary, a Christ-copier must be born again, eager to learn by meditating on the Word and praying daily, and be an active part of a local church where he or she is located.