Some Final Thoughts Regarding My Journey

A few days ago, I stood across from the Harod Valley, near Jezreel.  It was here, some 3000 years ago, a man named Gideon stood with 300 men at Harod Spring, looking at an enemy whose numbers were impossible to count (Judges 6).  The odds were overwhelming—but not to God.  All that He required was faith—and once Gideon came to grips with God’s intention to keep placing uncertainty before him, calling him to step out irregardless—he and his small band pushed this force all the way back across the Jordan.

 

I stood for a time, because I wanted this Valley to etch itself in my heart.  I’ve had several such moments over here, and their relevance for today are reinforced by Paul’s words in Romans 15:4: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

 

In other words, as I have journeyed in the Middle East, God shows me more than history and culture and stories.  He whispers—“I’m the same God, and I can take your obstacles, no matter how overwhelming, and send them running.  But in the midst of your uncertainties, I am still requiring the same thing I required of Gideon—faith. Will you step out and trust Me?”

 

My take is that for most of us, that is a hard thing.  And I am wondering if the question in these days is not so much—“God, where are You?” but—“Church, where are you?  When will you start believing?”

   

NT Wright says it well at the end of his wonderful book, Simply Christian: “It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, stewards of the new day that is dawning.  That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God’s new world, which He has thrown open before us.”  And that requires bold faith.

Comments

[pilgrim]

Yes, amen! Church where are you? But wait…which church are you talking about? The Invisible Church has always believed, has always done the work of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for the three are in agreement. The Invisible Church has NEVER CEASED to do that work. Those of the body of the Invisible Church have maintained the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy. The Invisible Church encompasses that mighty construct, that institution, the Visible Church. Is it just now that that institution is waking from its slumber? The Institution turns to new movements, new strategies, calling them “emergent” and “missional” and “intentional” and “emertional”, when the whole time the Invisible Church has been quietly working. You have not found something new, no; perhaps you have just now noticed what has been going on outside the worship centers since the time of the Apostles. If the church has ever ceased to believe and do the will of the Father, then Christ has failed, which is impossible.

No, even if all the churches were dead organisms, Christ would still have two or three doing the work somewhere. He wastes nothing. If 500 are gathered, He uses it. If one is testifying, presenting the gospel to another, He uses that. He is never more present with the 500 than with the one, for the one is often the sole person in prison somewhere for their testimony, like Antipas, the faithful witness who was put to death in that city where Satan lived, Pergamum. The one is often the elderly widow, who retires to her bedroom, shutting the door to pray alone, lifting up the saints everywhere in intercession. The sole person is even the young spry man who helps the wheel-chair bound retrieve a pack of bottled water from the top shelf at “Freddies”. The work of Christ is active, whether we see it or not. Messiah, raised in power, never ceases to work through His Bride. Whether we labor or sleep, planted seeds grow. The goal is to plant the seed, and then God can work. If no seed is sown, nothing is reaped.

Taking it further, it seems the Visible Church has plunged into social issues. Is feeding the hungry a must? Yes, but IT IS the by-product of living a Spirit-filled life. Does the gospel take the back seat? What difference does it make if we feed bread to the starving today, so that they might live today, though die the next, the whole time withholding from them, today, the Bread of Life, the bread that satisfies eternal starvation? Those good deeds are in vain. Anyone can feed the poor, the poor we will have with us always. But what is needed to present the Good news? The Spirit-filled church. Feed them both breads! The Bread of Life first, even together! The message must be presented, clearly and straight, so that others can make an intelligent decision. If they reject it, so be it. At least it was presented. Let them eat the physical bread still, perhaps they’ll have a change of heart tomorrow and feast on the Bread of Life.

Is a life in Darfur, a poor, helpless child, anymore valuable than the rich, retired neighbor next door, who has everything but salvation? Does God see one as more valuable than the other? Should we? Who ended up in the fire, Lazarus or the Rich man? The beggar or Dives?

The testimonies for the Churches are contained in the first 3 chapters of the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, the Revelation. He, who has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. My question is: Institutional Church, where are you? These associations cannot seem to leave the walls they were created in.

[Lawton]

pilgrim, why do you hate so much? Perhaps your bitterness is there for a good reason, not sure if that is possible but perhaps. If it is caused by a wrong, why not speak to whoever you need to speak to and get an apology. Forgiveness my brother...

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