The mission of 2 Pillars Church is to reach the un-reached for Christ and transform the city of Lincoln by loving God and loving people.
What does it mean to reach?
Reach is a verb. Webster defines it as “to stretch out” or “to touch or grasp by extending a part of the body.” So when we talk about “reaching the unreached,” we should expect ourselves to be stretched. We don’t reach the unreached by identifying them and then walking by. Rather, like the Samaritan, we identify them, allow our lives to be interrupted, and help.
1. Reaching means we don't just live selfishly for ourselves.
2. Reaching means we live on the edge of, and outside of our comfort zone by befriending lost people – spending time with them, getting to know them, and loving them.
3. Reaching takes time and commitment and ultimately the love for others that only the Holy Spirit can implant in our hearts.
Only the Holy Spirit convicts people’s hearts. Only God saves. So while we have an active part in reaching the unreached, we must also trust that God will do his part in their lives in his perfect and divine timing.
Who are the unreached?
The unreached abound. They’re everywhere. They’re in our families, on our streets, in our circles of friends, at the homeless shelters, in our dorms, in our neighbor’s house, in our hospitals and nursing homes, in our workplaces, in our play places, the stores we visit – they’re everywhere.
The goal is not for each of us to reach everyone, but for everyone to reach someone. You don’t have to be Billy Graham and save thousands of people. Andrew started with his brother who happened to be Peter. To honor Jesus’ call, we have to get involved in these people’s lives and enter into relationships with them. Jesus’ mission is a messy mission; it takes us out of our comfort zone and puts us on the front lines with sinners in a sin-saturated culture.
What does it mean to reach someone for Christ?
2 Pillars Church is not interested in making better people, but faithful Christians. We’re not interested in motivating people to try harder and do better, but rather to rely on Christ for our strength. We are justified by his grace – not by our effort. To reach someone for Christ means that we:
1. Journey with them and disciple them helping them to see the extent of their sin and the extravagance of Christ’s work on the Cross.
2. Strive to guide them into a deep, meaningful understanding of Jesus and a relationship with him.
3. Endeavor for them to come to see themselves and others the way in which Jesus sees them.
4. Pray and long for them to come to an understanding that for those in Christ there is – right now – no condemnation and to see and grasp with assurance God’s glorious promise of eternal life with him.
This assurance of eternal salvation changes everything and enables us to live in radical ways for Christ.
What sort of “transformation of the city” are we aiming for?
Transforming the city sounds like a monumental goal, but in reality it is achievable. Transforming the city does not mean that we convert every single person to Christ or get everyone to come to our church. Transforming the city means that we:
1. Are involved in the city.
2. Volunteer in the city.
3. Work in the city.
4. We serve the city.
5. Seek the welfare of the city.
We are not a separatist sect or a Christian huddle, but rather a culture-engaging group of Christians bent on mission to show the city what Christ-transformed lives look like. Truly transformed lives will produce a transformed city as the gospel changes how we raise our kids, how we work our jobs, how we do business, how we spend our time and our energy, and how we interact with our neighbors. It also changes what we treasure and what we let go; what tears on our hearts and what makes us passionate.
Why the part about “loving God and loving people”?
When asked what the greatest commandment of all was, Jesus responded with this:
“The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
We don’t exist to simply love God. We don’t exist to simply love people. There is a perfect tension that must be held. We cannot over-emphasize one and neglect the other. Loving God with all of our being must include a love for other people. To love God and to not love people is to not love God. We cannot appropriately, wholeheartedly, or genuinely love others if we do not love God. It is his Holy Spirit alone who implants a pure and sincere love in our hearts for others. In building on our love for God and enacting it through loving others we bring glory to God.
2 Pillars Church Mission
"To reach the un-reached for Christ and transform the city of Lincoln by loving God and loving people."
What does it mean to reach?
Reach is a verb. Webster defines it as “to stretch out” or “to touch or grasp by extending a part of the body.” So when we talk about “reaching the unreached,” we should expect ourselves to be stretched. We don’t reach the unreached by identifying them and then walking by. Rather, like the Samaritan, we identify them, allow our lives to be interrupted, and help.
- Reaching means we don't just live selfishly for ourselves.
- Reaching means we live on the edge of, and outside of our comfort zone by befriending lost people – spending time with them, getting to know them, and loving them.
- Reaching takes time and commitment and ultimately the love for others that only the Holy Spirit can implant in our hearts.
Only the Holy Spirit convicts people’s hearts. Only God saves. So while we have an active part in reaching the unreached, we must also trust that God will do his part in their lives in his perfect and divine timing.
Who are the unreached?
The unreached abound. They’re everywhere. They’re in our families, on our streets, in our circles of friends, at the homeless shelters, in our dorms, in our neighbor’s house, in our hospitals and nursing homes, in our workplaces, in our play places, the stores we visit – they’re everywhere.
The goal is not for each of us to reach everyone, but for everyone to reach someone. You don’t have to be Billy Graham and save thousands of people. Andrew started with his brother who happened to be Peter. To honor Jesus’ call, we have to get involved in these people’s lives and enter into relationships with them. Jesus’ mission is a messy mission; it takes us out of our comfort zone and puts us on the front lines with sinners in a sin-saturated culture.
What does it mean to reach someone for Christ?
2 Pillars Church is not interested in making better people, but faithful Christians. We’re not interested in motivating people to try harder and do better, but rather to rely on Christ for our strength. We are justified by his grace – not by our effort. To reach someone for Christ means that we:
- Journey with them and disciple them helping them to see the extent of their sin and the extravagance of Christ’s work on the Cross.
- Strive to guide them into a deep, meaningful understanding of Jesus and a relationship with him.
- Endeavor for them to come to see themselves and others the way in which Jesus sees them.
- Pray and long for them to come to an understanding that for those in Christ there is – right now – no condemnation and to see and grasp with assurance God’s glorious promise of eternal life with him.
This assurance of eternal salvation changes everything and enables us to live in radical ways for Christ.
What sort of “transformation of the city” are we aiming for?
Transforming the city sounds like a monumental goal, but in reality it is achievable. Transforming the city does not mean that we convert every single person to Christ or get everyone to come to our church. Transforming the city means that we:
- Are involved in the city.
- Volunteer in the city.
- Work in the city.
- We serve the city.
- Seek the welfare of the city.
We are not a separatist sect or a Christian huddle, but rather a culture-engaging group of Christians bent on mission to show the city what Christ-transformed lives look like. Truly transformed lives will produce a transformed city as the gospel changes how we raise our kids, how we work our jobs, how we do business, how we spend our time and our energy, and how we interact with our neighbors. It also changes what we treasure and what we let go; what tears on our hearts and what makes us passionate.
Why the part about “loving God and loving people”?
When asked what the greatest commandment of all was, Jesus responded with this:
“The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
We don’t exist to simply love God. We don’t exist to simply love people. There is a perfect tension that must be held. We cannot over-emphasize one and neglect the other. Loving God with all of our being must include a love for other people. To love God and to not love people is to not love God. We cannot appropriately, wholeheartedly, or genuinely love others if we do not love God. It is his Holy Spirit alone who implants a pure and sincere love in our hearts for others. In building on our love for God and enacting it through loving others we bring glory to God.
