SPRINGFIELD – Change will be necessary to bring gospel transformation to communities in Missouri and beyond, Daryl Gaddy, pastor of Victory Fellowship Community Church in Detroit, Mich., told messengers and guests at the Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting here, Oct. 22.
Indeed, ministers of the gospel are called by God to initiate change that honors Christ. “We are empowered leaders,” Gaddy said. “We are catalysts for change.” Of course, this doesn’t mean leaders are perfect. But God cares less about a minister’s ability or inability, but rather about availability.
“We have been called to be empowered leaders,” he said, “in spite of our frailties, in spite of our faults, in spite of our faithlessness. …
“You must be willing to see the impossible. … God has already told us our cognitive mind cannot grasp what He wants to do through us and even to us. One of the most inspiring and exciting aspects of being a disciple of the Most High, a follower of Jesus Christ and a minister of His Word, is that God would not only allow you to see a manifestation of His miracle, but He would use you in the process.”
But, then again, gospel-centered change can be uncomfortable, Gaddy warned. “There is no change without a challenge.” But God calls ministers of the gospel to see challenges as ministry “assignments.”
The mission to transform lives with the gospel is never a secret operation, he added. And it occurs 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Christians “should never be comfortable knowing the least (of these) are hurting with needs.” They should constantly find the brokenness in this world and speak God’s love and truth into it. As often said, “Find out where God is at work and join Him.”
“When you feel like you’ve done enough, do more,” Gaddy said. “When you’ve come to the end of your rope, swing out into the abyss of faithful expectation because God is able to do more with less. … The world is in need of a Savior, and we have been called to share His gospel.”
