A New Trend
"All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;"
We have turned, every one, to his own way;"
Isaiah 53:6
Not long ago, I was enjoying one of my,
former, favorite hobbies/past times. I was complaining bitterly at God
about HIS Church; HIS Christians; HIS greatest problem, and my greatest
(perceived) problem. A thought suddenly sliced through my well tread
litany of ever growing, and oft read list of Church sins, "THEY REALLY
ARE LIKE SHEEP, AREN'T THEY?" I know when The Holy Spirit is speaking
to me. It should have shut me up, but God was, finally, agreeing with
me. I felt so relieved that God was getting on board with my view of
things...Yeah right! God gets on board with my agenda!?!? What a total
joke! God will never get on board with my agenda and my way of doing
things! Still I jumped at God's bait, "Not just sheep God," I said,
confidently, "but STUPID, uncaring, even hateful sheep!" "YES," came
the response, "...LIKE SHEEP GONE ASTRAY." I was so excited God was on
my side! Then the other shoe dropped, though with God it's more like
he drops a whole shoe store..."SHEEP GONE ASTRAY...IN NEED OF A
SHEPHERD..." Imagine standing on an airport landing strip, and getting
hit, right in the kisser, by a Boeing 747 wide bodied jet. The Holy
Spirit's conviction landed on me full throttle! The simple phrases
which entered my thoughts don't, at first, appear to be capable of
conviction. How can statements such as, "Like sheep gone astray...in
need of a shepherd," possibly be considered convicting?
God's
conviction came because he's called me to be a pastor two decades ago.
God has always operated in and through me to minister to others.
Ministry for me is and has always been very natural and organic. For
years and years I really didn't understand it is simply how God is
creating and conforming me to the image and likeness of Jesus. God
conforming us to the likeness and image of his Son is of greatest
importance, not the call to ministry. Never forget God can speak
through a donkey if he so desires. I shake my head at people who make
their life's pursuit "the ministry". "My ministry," never has been,
and never will be mine. The ministry is God's from first to last. God
simply works ministry in and through me, as I walk and serve in the
Spirit. Still I have always dragged my feet...okay that's not
truthful...I didn't drag my feet, I always dug my heels in, until all
forward progress stopped. Then I started walking backwards. I never
fully ran away from God, but I've always kept ministry, more than less,
at arm's length. The simple answer for why I've always dug my heels in
is because the Church hates and rejects me and people like me.
And
let me be completely clear about what I mean, when I say, "The Church
hates me and rejects people like me." I'm talking about a Church
hijacked, run by, and centered on human beings. Church as business;
Church as human institution; Church as Political Action Committee;
Church as "us" against "those people"; Church as self-help/12 step
program so we can control our sin, feel better about ourselves, and
build up our self-esteem; Church as get rich quick, and have a "happy"
life, because God is our "Celestial Sugar Daddy"; Church as Lord High
Pimp for The American Dream. And before anyone starts thinking I think I know
the "right way" to do Church, let's get this straight, "I don't know
how to do Church "the right way."' I don't know how to do Church the
right way, because I am not God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy
Spirit. I have some "right" ideas and ways, but until God is operating
in and through me fully as a pastor, I won't know what Church should
look like. I never wanted to be a pastor, because I can't be what I've
always seen in churches and ministries. What I never understood is God
isn't calling me to be what I've always seen and experienced in
churches. God isn't calling me to "fix" what I've always seen and
still see as serious life killing practices and beliefs in the body of
Christ. And doing ministry differently doesn't mean completely
reinventing the Church either.
What
I'm really talking about is Holy Spirit revival. I'm talking about
God's own Spirit coming into our midst and bringing us back to being the
body of Christ, Father and Jesus desire for us to be. One of my
friends, who is a pastor, was in a staff meeting where a former Muslim,
now Christian pastor, spoke to the leaders of my friend's church. This
former Muslim said this about the evolution of the Church:
"In
Jerusalem, the Church was family. By the time the Church came to the
Gentiles it was a community. The Church in Europe was an institution.
In America the Church is a business."
I
believe God is calling us to a new reformation. I don't have 95
theologians to nail to a church door, and I hope it won't be necessary
(I'm joking). I don't have to go around telling everyone, "I'm right,
you're wrong, and God likes me better," because I don't believe this is
how God desires to work in and through me. God is right, and we've all
got it wrong somewhere. God started his Church, He can and will bring
it into order, and under his Lordship. I am called to serve God's
purpose however God desires to work in and through me. I don't have to
serve what has been in the past, but can serve God in new or renewed
ways. It is my conviction that God is working to free his Church to be
the family he started 2,000 years ago, in Jerusalem. Not a family
according to what the world calls family, but God's family centered
completely on Jesus, his call and work in the world. I can serve God as
he always intended without serving what God is causing to pass away. I
don't have to "make" anything happen, all I have to do is faithfully
serve what God is making. So there will be a great deal more to come
from a reluctant, but contented, shepherd.
Blessings,
Lonnie
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