Acts 1:8 Challenge
By Stephen P. Davis
The Acts 1:8 Challenge is a passion, not a program. There have been many programs and slogans in the history of Southern Baptists, but the “Acts 1:8 Challenge” is different. It defines the passion and focus of Jesus and is His final word to the apostles and the church. Acts begins with “…about all that Jesus began to do and to teach…” and then Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father. The rest of the book of Acts is a continuation of our Lord’s desire carried out by the Apostles and the early church. We are excited that Southern Baptist leaders and entities are uniting around a clear, harmonious commitment to carry out our Lord’s last challenge – to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 outlines our task, our commitment and our challenge until Jesus comes. It is not a fleeting motto, program or slogan. It is our mandate as we seek to obey Jesus to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in order to empower Kingdom growth.“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…” One thing is clear from Jesus – we cannot fulfill the Acts 1:8 challenge apart from His Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit working in us and through us will enable us to have the passion and commitment to be an Acts 1:8 Christian and an Acts 1:8 church. So the bottom line is this: unless the Spirit takes over our lives and churches, we will be malnourished in our effectiveness.
“…and you will be MY witnesses…” Anyone who studies this phrase in the Greek knows that the word order places emphasis on the pronoun “My.” In other words, Jesus is telling us that when the Holy Spirit is truly in charge of our lives, we will have the power and make it our priority to be a witness exclusively to Him in our world.
“…in Jerusalem…” – the local church and associational challenge. If acceptance of the Acts 1:8 Challenge does not happen here first, it will not happen. We are asking every pastor and church in Indiana to make the commitment to go on record that we accept Acts 1:8 as our strategy for reaching our communities, state, nation and world. Leaders in our churches must lead out in this commitment.
“…in all Judea…” – our state. On the state level, it is the desire of the SCBI to be a strategic partner with our pastors, churches and associations to work together to fulfill the Acts 1:8 challenge by adopting as our theme for the next three years, “Taking the Cross to the Crossroads.” Themes may come and go, but our commitment is that Acts 1:8 will be our marching orders and our mandate that will not change in focus, priority and, most of all, our passion.
“…and Samaria…” – our nation and Canada. Our strategic partner for extending the gospel to the North American Continent is the North American Mission Board (NAMB), and the guiding principle for our partnership is Acts 1:8. We are working together to equip believers to be witnesses, to start churches, to strengthen churches and to expand the influence of the gospel in every segment of society.
“…and to the ends of the earth.” – our world. We are excited about what God is doing in our world. Over a thousand people a day are coming to Christ overseas under the direct contact or influence of our missionaries. As our strategic partner to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, the International Mission Board is also united with us around Acts 1:8. They are committed to doing all they can to assist our churches in overseas partnerships with unreached and unengaged people groups. The opportunities in the days ahead, however, are unlimited for churches to impact the world, not only through prayers and giving, but personal involvement. God has given the Acts 1:8 challenge to every local church. Our commitment is to assist in every way possible the desires of our churches to fulfill the Acts 1:8 challenge and connect to people overseas who need to hear the gospel.
90% of our world is considered to be lost! When we contemplate that statistic, it is obvious that we cannot do it in our own strength, ingenuity, resources, talents and abilities, but “…by My Spirit, says the Lord!”
We want to encourage every pastor and church in our state to officially commit to the Acts 1:8 challenge. You can access it online at our web page – www.scbi.org. It will only take a minute to fill out the form; it will take until Jesus comes to carry it out. Many of our churches already have, but we are praying for every church to make that official commitment. If you do not have access to the web page, then call or write us, and we will get the brochure to you. Think about it. What Jesus has outlined for us in Acts 1:8 is His comprehensive strategy to reach our world. Every church needs to put into place each piece of the strategy. Let’s have a clear focus, uniting around our common commitment to be Acts 1:8 churches.
Our prayer? That this will be our passion, not a program. If it’s just another program, then it is doomed to eventual obscurity. If Acts 1:8 is our passion, then we will stay faithful to the task until Jesus comes!
