We had a prayer gathering last nite. Over 30 people showed up on a Monday Nite to hear my heart and to pray for our church. When soneone asked if I thought that the church was not in good shape or in trouble spiritually, I replied that I think the church is anemic. As I reflect on that, I find myself wondering if anemic is the right word. "Tied up" might be a better way to express what I see. I believe that the people who make up the body at River Valley Wesleyan are growing in the Lord and passionate about their faith. So, there is no personal indictment in my heart for people in our church. But I wonder why we are having so little effect on our communities and our culture. Not just us here at RVWC but the church in the West.
So what does "tied up" mean? The picture that captures this for me is of a strong man tied up with ropes so that his strength is not effective. The ropes are not made of some Satanic material that is difficult to break, but they are bonds of our own making. Our ideas, practices, habits, concepts, and notions about how to be the church have us all tied up. I believe these ropes will drop right off if we can get a clear picture of what Jesus wants us to be and do.
There must be a way for us to be and do so that Jesus is in charge of our lives and we are impacting our communities and culture. My suspicion is that we just need to live our faith out loud in our daily routines. "As we are going" we can be impacting people around us by our godly life and loving ways, by being intentional about who we are as the light and salt of our world, and by sharing Jesus with those He is drawing to Himself. I suspect that, if we want to impact our world, we don't need a new or more impressive program but a fresh understanding of the awesome power resident in us as children of God. This is what I see our need to be on a personal or individual level.
On the corporate level, the body needs to function as the Lord designed us. We are an organic body. We are not a machine or even a corporation. The early church seems to have been comprised of groups of people who could gather in homes and give everyone an opportunity to participate in the life they shared. They ate meals together (the Lord's Supper). They prayed. They thought about and discussed how to flesh out what the apostles were teaching them about obeying everything that Jesus taught. There seeemed to be very little, if any, formal organization. People just did what they were enabled by the Spirit to do. They just lived like Jesus mattered in every part of their everyday life. And the world noticed. Rulers reacted. And the Gospel spread like wildfire.
Could this happen again? I believe it can and will. If you read this blog, please pray that we will have clear discernment about what ropes are tying up the strrong man of power and faith. I think God is calling me to untie some things. I would like to be part of something that is so obviously what God designed us to be that the world will stand up and take notice. Pray as the Spirit leads you to pray. And let me know what He says or you think He is saying to you about this.
Right now, I am listening. To Him, to you, and to those who think about and write about these things. At some point I would like to be able to say; "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to...."
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