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“We have got to realize and understand that God will never give you a vision that He also doesn’t give you what it takes to pull it off. That God will never put something on your heart that he also doesn’t give you what it takes to see it through.”
Jonathan Falwell, from his message “Don’t Let the Vision Become the Victim”, preached at Innovate Church 2009 May 18, 2009
The other day, our youth director expressed his disgust with the fact that there seems to be a trend where pastors are trying to look hip. He said “they dress alike. Their churches look alike. The websites are the same. They use the same jargon. They are all trying to compete with Starbucks. There is no uniqueness in their ministries.”
This caused me to think about what God is calling our church to be. What is he calling me to be? Do I need to grow a “soul patch” and give up the “classic look” in order to reach people with the gospel? Or is he calling me and our church to be the unique creation that He called into existence?
A.W. Tozer has a great perspective on this issue. Consider what he wrote 60 years ago concerning the issue of Christian literature. It will provide some thought concerning the call to be you and the issue of the “party line.”
“Christian literature, to be accepted and approved by evangelical leaders of our times, must follow very closely the same train of thought, a kind of “party line” from which it is scarcely safe to depart. A half-century of this in America has made us smug and content. We imitate each other with slavish devotion. Our most strenuous efforts are put forth to try to say the same thing that everyone around us is saying-and yet to find an excuse for saying it, some little safe variation on the approved theme or, if no more, at least a new illustration.” A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, Christian Publications
Thanks Tozer. You have helped me think through the “party line” and make the decision to not grow a “soul patch.”
“The idea of cultivation and, exercise, so dear to the saints of old, has now no place in our total religious picture. It is too slow, too common. We now demand glamour and fast flowing dramatic action. A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar.
The tragic results of this spirit are all about us: Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit. These and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.”
A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, Christian Publications
“There is today no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to, teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year, strangely unaware that there is in their ministry no manifest Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives. They minister constantly to believers who feel within their breasts a longing which their teaching simply does not satisfy.”
A.W. Tozer The Pursuit of God, Christian Publications
As I mentioned before, I was encouraged to expand a prior blog post, Incorrect Motives for Praying for Revival, into an article. The resulting article, “The Quest for True Revival”, was published by Empower Ministries International in their Dunamos newsletter. The article is now appearing in Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox as a two-part series. The first part was published in the May 28 edition of the Toolbox. You can click here to read it. The second part will be published June 11.
It has been a while since I last posted my thoughts on this blog. Since that last post, a lot has taken place in my life and the church. Last fall I made a statement in a sermon, “It’s time for us to quit doing church and be the church.” That statement plagued my thoughts for several months like a bad song that you cannot seem to get out of your mind. In December I decided to do a series based on that statement after the New Year entitled “Be the Church!“
I started the series in March. When I began to preach the series I had no idea what the response would be. On the first Sunday of the series, our attendance doubled that evening at prayer time. The next week it doubled again. Some who did not attend the first week of the series stated that they felt that God wanted them to come to the prayer time. When they didn’t, they were racked with guilt for the whole week
Usually our prayer times last an hour, now they last two. In fact people hang around for an extra thirty minutes after prayer. Prayer itself has changed. No longer is the focus on asking God for things. Prayer has taken the form of seeking God’s presence in the midst of His people.
I have also noticed several things taking place among those who are responding:
1. A passion for the presence of God
2. A sensitivity to personal sin
3. A growing desire for the Word of God
4. A increased burden for the lost
5. A desire to begin new ministry opportunities.
Things are happening in our church. We have baptized eight individuals since the New Year. Two weeks from now we are going to baptize 3 more. We are getting new visitors every week. It seems that God is bringing people to the church. Every Sunday has become extremely important now.
God is doing something. I have come to realize that I am just a passenger on a journey. I have even given up my side-seat driver’s license.
Therefore, I have decided to post my thoughts and struggles in the coming weeks and months as I watch God begin to do a mighty work in my life and the church.
