One of the seminal literary figures of the 20th century was T. S. Eliot. Born in 1888 he studied at Harvard and Oxford and eventually won the Nobel Prize for Literature early in his career. But he was an unfulfilled soul who saw the vanity of contemporary life. His search for meaning led him through Hinduism and Buddhism, and finally to Christianity. In 1927 he converted to Christianity. In the same year, he penned a poem entitled “The Journey of the Magi” which came to be regarded as autobiographical of Eliot himself. In it he described the search of the Magi for the Christ child as seen and narrated through the eyes of one of the Magi.
The Journey of the Magi
by T.S. Eliot
“A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The snow was deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.”
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
Eliot has used the story of the Magi to make a point – how difficult and painful it is to be confronted with a radical change of paradigms. A change of paradigm often, if not usually, feels like death – our death, because we hold to the old paradigm so tenaciously. Dying to self and our traditional ways of doing things (what I am referring to here as “paradigms”) is a painful process, which most people spend their lives trying to avoid.
Reflecting on Eliot’s poem this Christmas season, I found myself thinking about how the various groups of people involved in the Christmas story responded to the radical change of paradigm which confronted them in the birth of Christ. I hope my thoughts and reflections will stimulate you to think about how we in the house church (or simple church, or whatever moniker you are operating under) movement are understanding and responding to the dramatic shift in spiritual paradigms which is taking place today. The nativity stories are found in Matthew 2:1-12 (the Magi), and Luke 2:1-20 (the shepherds & angels). For the sake of space, I’ll let you read them on your own. I want to talk briefly about those five groups of people who were involved.
The Magi – Often referred to as “wise men” or “kings” in Christmas tradition, the Magi were, in fact, a hereditary Zoroastrian priesthood, often wielding great religious and political power in the Median, Babylonian, Persian and Parthian empires (right up to the time of Christ). During Israel’s Babylonian captivity Daniel, as a reward for services rendered and in recognition of his profound spiritual gifts was promoted by the King to the position of Chief of the Magi. As such, Daniel was in a unique position to impart to the magi the prophecies of a coming Messiah (which they remembered, passed on and studied for the next 500 years). But as D.W. Jayne points out, the visit of the magi wasn’t simply a courtesy call from old friends. In the world of the first century, the Magi functioned in both a priestly and a governmental role. The early church father Tertullian’s description of them as “wellnigh kings” (fere reges) is close to the truth. They were, in the words of Jayne, “a group of Persian-Parthian kingmakers.” Jayne goes on to describe how their visit might have been perceived: “In Jerusalem the sudden appearance of the Magi, probably traveling in force with all imaginable oriental pomp, and accompanied by adequate cavalry escort to ensure their safe penetration of Roman territory, certainly alarmed Herod and the populace of Jerusalem, as is recorded by Matthew. It would seem as if these Magi were attempting to perpetrate a border incident which could bring swift reprisal from Parthian armies. Their request of Herod regarding him who “has been born king of the Jews” was a calculated insult to him who had contrived and bribed his way into that office.” These Magi, strangers to the Kingdom of God yet spiritually perceptive, saw the signs better than anyone else and somehow understood that a profound change of paradigms was underway. Although their understanding was somewhat flawed due to reasons unique to their own situations, they took the time and the considerable risk of traveling great distances to confirm what they already suspected – that a sign in the heavens signaled the fulfillment of great prophecies and portended profound changes here on earth. The paradigms of this world were about to change. The magi understood. Do we?
The Political Establishment – The story of the Magi leads to the story of the existing political/power structure as embodied in Caesar Augustus and Herod the Great. We can safely say that Caesar Augustus (real name Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar) had no idea that a simple decree to enumerate his empire (i.e., probably to prepare accurate tax rolls) would set the stage for the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The heathen rage and the princes of men devise a vain thing, but God uses the wrath of men to praise Him, simply because He so seldom gets their active cooperation. Caesar was clueless as to God’s dealings (in other words, situation unchanged in 2000 years), although Augustus probably eventually received reports of the Magi and their visit to Jerusalem. What Augustus Caesar could not know (although the Magi probably suspected) was that among the many prophecies being fulfilled that Christmas night was one which declared that the kingdoms of this world would one day become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ (see Daniel 2:31-45).
The paradigms of this world had profoundly changed due not to events in the halls of power but due to events in a stable, and Caesar Augustus was clueless, reminding us once again that profound change seldom originates in the seats of political power. When the powers-that-be finally do become aware of a profound change of paradigms they resist it, even violently, just as Herod the Great did. Herod the Great was many things, but a naive political fool was not one of them. His 35+ year rule over the Jews of Judea was coming to an end. He would be dead in a few short years. His hold on power was slipping and the visit of the Magi confirmed what he already feared – that his paradigm of power was being challenged. The paradigm was indeed changing, beyond Herod’s ability to resist or stop it, but he was still willing to extract a terrible price from those around him in a vain attempt to maintain what could not be maintained. In that respect, was Herod all that much different from us? He fought and resisted what God was doing because it threatened everything he had spent his life to build and achieve. Don’t we do the same?
The Religious Establishment – Like the Magi, for some 500 years the religious establishment of Israel had known and studied the prophecies of a coming Messiah. But during those same intervening years, they had also become experts in answering obscure religious questions and turning the 613 requirements of the Law into more than 5,000 religious requirements which held the people of God in practical bondage. They had all the right answers to all the wrong questions. In addition, the Pharisees who controlled the synagogues and the Sadducees who controlled the temple & the governing Sanhedrin, along with the scribes who served both, had made their accommodation with the prevailing power of Rome. The prevailing religious establishment was in no mood for anything that might upset their carefully crafted status quo. The result was spiritual stagnation, religious legalism, and blindness even to new stars in the sky announcing the Messiah’s birth. When the Magi arrived looking for a king, Herod gathered together the religious establishment and “began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born.” They had an immediate answer: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet.” They, too, had probably seen the new star in the sky. They, too, like all Jerusalem, had probably learned of the visit of the Magi searching for a new-born king. But despite knowing all the correct religious answers, they lacked the passion, the curiosity or the spiritual integrity to make the short 5-mile journey to nearby Bethlehem to discover if “The Desire of Ages” had indeed finally arrived. Is our religious establishment (ourselves included) much different today? Profound, God-breathed changes in our spiritual paradigms are underway. And yet, isn’t much, if not most, of the church today bogged down in giving warmed over answers to questions which few in our post-Christian post-Modern culture are even asking? And are we in the organic church movement doing anything substantially different than the religious establishment around us, other than changing our meeting place and taking over the local Starbucks?
The Shepherds – Throughout Scripture God has a fascinating love for shepherds. Many notable biblical saints were shepherds. The children of Israel were shepherds in the land of Goshen. Moses was a shepherd in the land of Midian. David was a shepherd, as was the prophet Amos. And it is the image of the good shepherd which Jesus used to describe himself in John 10:11 & 14. God seems to be partial toward shepherds. But as well as being a biblical and honorable occupation, it is also a dirty one. It was, for the most part, rugged outdoors work. Shepherds lived with their sheep 24/7. And before long they began to smell like their sheep. For reasons both practical and snobbish, this made them “social outcasts” to be numbered among “the least of these”. There are many aspects of God’s economy and dealings which I don’t understand (that’s an understatement). For example, why didn’t the angels appear to Caesar or Herod? Why didn’t they appear to the religious leaders? That would have been interesting since the Pharisees believed in angels but the Sadducees did not (would such a visitation have ended their intra-mural theological rivalry or have simply fed the fire of controversy? Hmmm). Why shepherds? Perhaps it was because God wanted to ignite a spiritual fire in the minds of ordinary men – the least of these – and ignite a revolution, a spiritual wildfire. He didn’t particularly want to bless either religious or political institutions, which often pride themselves in their ability to put out wildfires, lest they “get out of control” and threaten existing structures & paradigms. Religious leaders (and their secular counterparts) often walk in a sense of “entitlement” which says “God owes us an epiphany, after all, we’re leaders”. Yet for some reason, God seems to have a heart for the least among us who walk in no such sense of entitlement. Interesting that the Shepherds did not disappoint. They can be counted among the few who had the personal curiosity and spiritual integrity to leave their comfort zones and make the trip to Bethlehem to actually see what God was doing. And for their efforts they received the blessing: “And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”
Joseph & Mary – It’s difficult to think or write any new ideas concerning these two ordinary people (essentially a carpenter and a peasant girl) called upon by the God of their fathers through angelic messengers to play a role in this divine drama that the most learned religious leader would have found impossible. Nothing in their religious background could have prepared them for what God now called upon them to do. Could the Pharisaical Judaism of the Synagogues prepare Mary to willingly and joyously accept the role of an unwed-mother-to-be in a culture where such behavior was punishable by the religious establishment with death by stoning? Or could it prepare Joseph for his divine call to obedience in marrying Mary and embracing a lifetime of questions, rumors, and innuendos regarding Mary’s faithfulness or Jesus’ legitimacy? It is safe to say that the comfortable religious paradigm in which they, their friends and their families had spent their lives thus far was now being shaken to its very foundation as they were now visited by angels and commanded by God to take steps of faith and obedience outside of any religious “box” they had ever known. The shaking of our religious paradigms today is in small what theirs must have been in large. God is once again calling His people out of their comfortable religious boxes. Are you prepared to respond in faith and obedience, knowing that if you do so your world will profoundly change and that you will probably never be able to go back to what you knew before? Changing paradigms have a way of doing that to us.
The Inn Keeper – One of my first jobs after seminary when Gale & I moved to Spokane was at a local airport hotel. Yep, I was an “innkeeper.” Well, actually, I was a desk clerk on the 3-to-11 pm shift. Late one November evening an elderly gentleman came to the desk looking somewhat disheveled and asking for a room. He explained to me that he had no money or credit cards, but did have a “Money Market Account” draft book and asked if we could accept that in payment (our general policy was “no” because such accounts at that time were unreliable). He told me that he had just had eye surgery (one of his eyes was bandaged) and was to catch a flight to go and be with his family for the holidays the following day. The rest of the staff urged me to say no – bad risk. But, as the manager on duty at the time, I decided in favor of taking a risk and giving him a room. It was just the right thing to do, I felt. I got him settled in his room, my shift ended and I went home. The next morning I received an early morning phone call from the hotel staff announcing (even celebrating) that the bookkeeper had called the bank and the check was good. Word of my risky good deed had spread. When I went to work later that day I was gently chided by the general manager (a good fellow) for placing the hotel at risk, but the tone of his voice and the expression on his face told me we had done the right thing. I have occasionally thought of that elderly gentleman over the years, even musing as to whether he was an angel unaware (with a bank account?!) who had paid us a visit and tested all of our hearts. In the Gospel account, Luke simply tells us that Mary “gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.” We should neither vilify nor idolize the innkeeper (or innkeepers) who turned Joseph and Mary away. They weren’t heartless or cruel people. They were probably just a family business run by ordinary people trying to earn a living, and they were full to capacity (even overflowing) for the evening. How could they know that God Himself was homeless that night at their door, that Angels stood ready to proclaim a birth, that Magi from the east would soon be arriving in search of a King and that political and religious paradigms would be forever changed by events that would now take place in a cattle stall within earshot of a baby’s cry. What a night to be an innkeeper and to have no room! Allow me to use this story to stretch the boundaries of your paradigm. The message of the house church movement is similar and profound. God wants to visit your house. Are you prepared to have your paradigm radically changed? Are you ready to invite Him in?
Conclusion & Personal Application
Where are you in this season of the significant paradigm shift in God’s dealings in and through His church today? Do you see a reflection of yourself in the mirror of the five groups of people who participated in the Christmas drama? I would dare to say that, in the midst of this present shaking of existing religious paradigms, there are many believers who feel somewhat like the Magi of T.S. Eliot’s poem:
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
If you are one of those who is “no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation” then allow me to make a suggestion during this Christmas season. Take some time to get alone and stand as an involved observer at the manger of Christ. Consider the participants in this divine drama as it unfolds around you. And ask yourself some simple questions. If I had been at the stable that Christmas night, what would my response have been to the paradigm change unfolding before me? How is my paradigm being shaken, challenged and changed today by God’s unfolding plan for the Ages? And how is my response different from (and hopefully better than) the responses of those around me?
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:10-14)
Joyeux Noël
Maurice Smith
Christmastide, 2018
© Copyright 2013 Rising River Media
What If . . . . ?
“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:37-40)
It first appeared in early 2013 on the campus of Regis College, University of Toronto, Canada. “It” is a sculpture which depicts Jesus as a homeless person sleeping on a park bench. “Homeless Jesus” or “Jesus the Homeless,” by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz, was intended as an interpretation of Matthew 25. But “it” wasn’t universally well received (yes, “homeless Jesus” got evicted from several locations before finding a more permanent home). Why? Probably because it confronts us with uncomfortable truth that challenges some of our comfortable misconceptions. It’s one thing to say that Jesus loves the homeless, or that we should see the face of Jesus in the faces of the homeless. But it’s far more unsettling to actually depict Jesus as a homeless person (the figure on the park bench is indistinguishable under a blanket, except for his feet, which are exposed . . . and pierced). And it’s even harder to see the face of Jesus in the face of a homeless person sleeping on the sidewalk or in the faces of 50 homeless people camped out in front of City Hall in Spokane this week. Okay, in all fairness, Jesus never said this would be easy. But, hey, He never warned us that it would be this uncomfortable, either. After all, shouldn’t these people go and get jobs and solve their own problems. Isn’t that what Jesus would do? (er, the “real” Jesus, rather than the uncomfortable one sleeping on the park bench). But what if “homeless Jesus” isn’t just a sculpture?
What if “homeless Jesus” is a prophetic challenge to the Church, challenging those “who have ears to hear” to a deeper and more meaningful discipleship of walking with, loving and serving the marginalized, not on our terms, but on His. In the Kingdom of God, discipleship is always on Jesus’ terms; not ours.
What If . . . . ?
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:6-7)
Writing in “The Root Of The Righteous,” A.W. Tozer observes that we live in a time when Christians want “the fruit” without “the root.” Says Tozer, “The bough that breaks off from the tree in a storm may bloom briefly and give to the unthinking passerby the impression that it is a healthy and fruitful branch, but its tender blossoms will soon perish and the bough itself wither and die. There is no lasting life apart from the root. Much that passes for Christianity today is the brief, bright effort of the severed branch to bring forth this fruit in its season.” Tozer isn’t alone in this observation. John Wesley expressed a similar thought nearly 250 years ago when he asked, “Why are we not more holy? Chiefly because we are enthusiasts, looking for the end without the means.” Apparently, certain things about our walk as disciples of the Kingdom simply don’t change much over time.
I want to apply this “root” versus “fruit” principle to the above passage from Isaiah (and, yes, there is an important application regarding our work among the homeless and marginalized. Wait for it . . . ). Isaiah 58 represents the “high water mark” for Old Testament teaching on the spiritual discipline of fasting. I’ve read and studied these verses many times over the years, even writing a devotional chapter on this passage for my devotional book on fasting, Not By Bread Alone. But time, experience and our walk as disciples of the Kingdom can teach us things that we’ve never seen before. After all, in the Kingdom of God, spiritual maturity is the product of truth experienced over time. Scripture offers many examples and reasons for fasting. I’ve personally identified more than forty examples, and nearly as many reasons. I had fasted regularly for many years and had written two books on the topic before the truth of Isaiah 58 fully dawned on me. Over the years I’ve come to understand fasting as an act of profound personal repentance, as well as a profound act of personal sacrificial worship. But there’s more. With Jesus there always is. In the Kingdom of God, one of God’s great purposes for fasting (and prayer) is to seek Him on behalf of the poor and the marginalized, “to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him.” In case you missed it, Isaiah 58 is the Old Testament prophetic foreshadowing of Jesus’ teaching concerning “the least of these” in Matthew 25. To return to our original point (a la Tozer and Wesley), the biblical discipline of fasting is “the root.” What’s “the fruit”? We find it summarized in verse 12, “And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.” Don’t we want to raise up a solid foundation for future generations? Don’t we want to be called repairers of the breach, and restorers of streets to dwell in? Yes, we want that kind of “fruit,” but are we willing to gain it by returning to “the root” of fasting and prayer on behalf of the homeless, the hungry and the marginalized?
What if Isaiah 58 is a prophetic challenge to the Church, and one that we’ve ignored for far too long. And what if the “welfare” – the Shalom – of our City or community (which we’re commanded to pray for in Jeremiah 29:7) depends upon our willingness to obey Isaiah 58?
What If . . . . ?
“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil – to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!” (Isaiah 64:1-2)
But there’s more. With Jesus there always is. What if the blessings of Isaiah 64 – the blessing of God’s visitation and spiritual awakening among His people – are somehow dependent upon our obedience to Isaiah 58. Yes, what if both the shalom of our community and the spiritual awakening we’ve all desired and prayed for over the years is somehow tied to our willingness to obey Isaiah 58? What if our obedience to Isaiah 58 and Matthew 25 embodies the Church’s key to experiencing Isaiah 64. Let’s be clear. I’ve studied the history of revival enough to know that there isn’t any formula for bringing it about . . . with one notable exception. Genuine heartfelt prayer and fasting on the part of God’s people.
What if, at this particular moment in God’s dealings with His Church, spiritual awakening in our generation is tied to our willingness to fast and pray on behalf of the homeless, the hungry and the marginalized.
What if “homeless Jesus” is a prophetic challenge to the Church?
What if God is challenging the Church of our generation to obey Isaiah 58, to fast and pray for the homeless, the hungry and the marginalized, and to discover the face of Jesus in the face of the homeless and marginalized?
What if our Postmodern Culture, which is increasingly skeptical of and turning away from church and Christianity as they have known it, is waiting to see if our deeds of serving those in need will match our words, our fasting and our prayers. I find it interesting that, in periods of historic spiritual awakening, God has always dealt with His Church, to make them a believable witness before skeptical unbelievers. After all who wants to believe and embrace a message that doesn’t appear to work in the life of the messenger.
Now comes the critical question: When was the last time you and your Church fasted on behalf of the hungry, the homeless, the naked, the stranger, the prisoner, and the marginalized? What if it’s now the time?
What if . . . . ?
The modern 24/7 media – which is a relatively recent phenomenon – has become a megaphone that amplifies the smallest of events into the largest of distractions. Does anyone actually care whether or not some self-absorbed politician is 1/1024th native American? Does anyone with a life actually care what the Kardashians (not to be confused with the Cardassians of Star Trek fame) are doing, or who is on today’s edition of something called “The Daily Blast”? No, not really. Not until the media megaphone turns such trivialities into national distractions which clog up our News, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds. And these are minor examples; low hanging fruit, if you will. But there’s a dark side to all of this media overload and distraction that bombards us from our televisions, tablets, and phones. When everything becomes important, even “newsworthy,” the truly important becomes trivialized, minimalized and marginalized. When the trivial becomes important, the truly important becomes trivial. What truly matters becomes buried in the avalanche of distractions which cry out for our immediate attention: refugees at the border, politicians acting badly, natural disasters leaving suffering in their wake, shrill voices demanding allegiance to their cause (or suffer the consequences). At some point, we become distracted and desensitized. Soon, we lose our perspective, unable to distinguish “the precious from the worthless.” Eventually, we lose our center. Just like Jeremiah.
The Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, ministered difficult truth to a distracted generation in the years leading up to the Babylonian captivity. Ancient Israel was quickly collapsing into an abyss of their own creation. The Babylonians were on the march in Israel’s direction, conquering and destroying everything in their path. The vast majority of Israelites were clueless about what was happening or what they should do. Jeremiah attempted to warn of impending disaster while political and religious leaders, who lived in denial, condemned Jeremiah for spreading negativity and fear. Things were in turmoil. Jeremiah was in danger of losing his “center.” At that critical moment God spoke into Jeremiah’s life, and called the struggling prophet back to his “center”:
“Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘If you return, then I will restore you. Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them. Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And though they fight against you, They will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you,’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 15:19-20)
Our “center” is our set of core beliefs about God, about His Kingdom purposes in this world, and about our role in His Kingdom purposes. Our “center” defines who we are, and determines how we respond to the challenges and distractions of our day. What’s your “center”? God gave Jeremiah five basic principles for recovering his “center” in the midst of distractions and chaos.
1. Repent. For Jeremiah, repentance meant “turning” (the Hebrew verb translated “return” means to “turn”). Jeremiah needed to turn his attention away from the distractions and chaos around him and to turn his focus back toward God. There’s actually a play on words in this passage that gets lost in our English translations. The sentence literally says “If you turn to Me, I’ll turn to you.” Recovering our “center” means refocusing ourselves on God and His Kingdom purposes. If we give God our undivided attention, He’ll give us His undivided attention, too.
2. Be Discerning. God uses the language of an assayer, separating worthless dross from precious metal. To recover our “center” we need to be able to discern the difference between precious metal and the dross, between the important and the trivial. Much of what we encounter today isn’t so much “fake” news as unimportant news subjected to the media megaphone. We mistake being loud for being important. It’s news designed to distract our attention from one thing and to focus our attention on something else. If you and I can’t discern between the loud and the important, then – like Jeremiah – how do we expect to be effective spokesmen for Kingdom truth to our generation (although it does help explain why Christian ministries think they need to be “big and loud” in order to communicate their message. How do we expect to teach those we disciple to be discerning if we can’t tell the difference between the loud and the important? The truth of the Kingdom gets lost in the clutter and clatter of the loud-but-unimportant.
3. Don’t Go Backwards. God put it this way to Jeremiah, “They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them.” Let me rephrase. Once you’ve found your “center,” some may join you; but many won’t. For your part, you can’t rejoin them in the chaos and lose your “center” again. I want to have an open mind and a listening ear for the needs of the world I live in, but I refuse to allow distractions and chaos to determine who I am, even for the sake of “getting along” or being “relevant.” I can’t afford to allow myself to be distracted or governed by the agendas of other people, regardless of how shrill their voices may be. Importance is never a function of volume or shrillness.
4. Be A Wall. In his book, Impossible People: Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization, Os Guinness tells the story of the medieval Benedictine monk, Peter Damian (c. 1007-1072). Guinness describes Damian with these words, “His commitment to Jesus alone was so fierce that he won the reputation for being unmanipulable, unbribable, undeterrable and, in George Orwell’s later term of approval, unclubbable (“clubbable” being the ultimate in coercion through comfortable conformity).” Among his contemporaries, Peter Damian was known for being “an impossible man.” I think the Prophet Jeremiah would have liked Peter Damian. Why? Because, to recover one’s “center” in an age of ceaseless distractions is to become “an impossible man”; to become a moral and spiritual “bronze wall” in an age of spiritual and moral mud huts.
5. God, Our Hope. God’s promise to Jeremiah was simple. Speak for me, and I’ll fight for you. God is our hope. His Kingdom is our focus and our message. His protection is our refuge. He alone can save and deliver us; not any politician or political party or media pundit or the next election cycle. Discernment and history would warn us against political “pied pipers” who promise to solve our problems for a price. As in the story, it may end up costing us far more than we planned. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray (on at least two separate occasions), He taught them to pray for the holiness of God to be made manifest, for His Kingdom to come, and for His will to be done on earth (just as it is in heaven). That’s a prayer God promises to honor, and one which will yield far better results than prayer for your favorite political savior.
The Kingdom of God is our focus, our message, and our hope. The kingdoms of men . . . not so much. If you are working for, praying for or placing your hope in anyone or anything else, you’ve lost your “center” and it’s time to repent and recover your “center” . . . before it’s too late. Jeremiah understood. Do we?
“If you would make the greatest success of your life, try to discover what God is doing in your time, and fling yourself into the accomplishment of His purpose and will.” – Arthur Wallis
(Or, Keeping Your Sanity During A Political Season Gone Rogue)
In recent years we’ve experienced some of the most raucous and polarizing politics I’ve seen since the late 60’s. My guess would be that things are going to get worse before they get better. The current trajectory toward extremism and polarization (both left and right), is not something easily or quickly changed. And since Jesus isn’t a card-carrying member of either (or any) political party, I’m convinced that any “divine response” to the current political-national-cultural situation will be outside any of our pre-constructed boxes. I’m convinced that God is far less impressed with our politics than we are. Just ask Daniel.
I recently spent some time reading and reflecting on the Old Testament book of Daniel, and I found his perspective on events far more encouraging than anything I’ve seen in the news or on the internet. It was time well sent. The book of Daniel gives liberal scholars heartburn. If written by Daniel more than 500 years before Christ (which I believe it was), then its historical accuracy confirms both the inspiration and the prophetic predictive power of Scripture. It’s not my goal here to recount all of those incredibly accurate predictions leading up to the time of Christ. I simply want to reflect on a few lessons Daniel taught me about politics and kingdoms.
God Rules (Daniel 4:34-35; 2:20-21)
“At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?'”
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, discovered what Daniel already knew, namely, the “big picture” that God rules over men and nations. Nebuchadnezzar was king because God allowed him to be king in order to accomplish God’s greater kingdom purposes. In His sovereign Kingly rule, God allows men to be men, to make choices (both good and evil) and to experience the consequences of those choices. History is the stage on which the sovereignty of God and the free will of men express themselves in real-time. God rules, and He knows what He is doing, even when men are oblivious to any greater purpose. Just ask Nebuchadnezzar.
The Kingdom Has Begun (Daniel 2:44-45)
“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”
To make His point about sovereignly ruling over human history, God gives Nebuchadnezzar a dream about the four kingdoms which will dominate history from his own day until the coming of Jesus (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome). Welcome to Daniel Chapter 2. In his interpretation of the dream, Daniel declares that in the days of the fourth kingdom (Rome), “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed.” Here’s the point, which can be easily missed: The Kingdom predicted by Daniel in the Old Testament is the very same Kingdom proclaimed by Jesus, by the disciples and by the early Church in the New Testament. In other words, the Kingdom of God has begun. Jesus brought the Kingdom. Jesus taught the Kingdom. Jesus modeled the Kingdom. Jesus made disciples of the Kingdom. And while the full manifestation of that Kingdom awaits Jesus’ return at the end of this present evil age, the God of Daniel is building His Kingdom by redeeming and calling out a people for Himself, delivering them from the domain of darkness and transferring them to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). When those redeemed Kingdom citizens gather together, their gathering is what the New Testament refers to as “the Church” (or ekklesia, “the assembly of those who have been called out”). The Kingdom of God is the message, and the Church is the messenger. The Church proclaims the reality that the Kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus, the Messiah-King. In God’s sovereign providence over history, the Kingdom of God triumphs over all the kingdoms of men (Revelation 11:15). Daniel understood this. Do we? We are called to be disciples of the Kingdom, not disciples or acolytes of any political party or lesser kingdom.
The Kingdom Of God Continues Beyond The Rise And Fall Of Empires.
Daniel understood that the Kingdom of God is eternal, while the kingdoms of men are temporary. As a result, Daniel never hitched the wagon of his faith to the rising star of any empire. He was a servant of the Most High God and His Kingdom. In fact, the rulers of empires and the kingdoms of men sought out Daniel and His God, not the other way around. More than once, rulers hitched their wagon’s to Daniel and His God. Daniel lived through the fall of one of the four predicted kingdoms (Babylon), and the rise of the second (Medo-Persia). He served both, but only to the extent that serving them also served God’s Kingdom purposes. Daniel never allowed events to cloud his perspective. He saw clearly what those around him saw only dimly, if at all. He understood that the Kingdom of God continues on, far beyond the rise and fall of man-made empires and kingdoms. Daniel understood that the unnamed “stone . . . cut from a mountain by no human hand” (who we know to be Jesus) would eventually crush all competing kingdoms, including the kingdom he was then serving.
Okay, there’s a practical point that you and I need to wrap our heads around as we find ourselves engulfed by political agendas and current events which threaten to overwhelm us. The Kingdom of God is bigger than all of these agendas and events. As Christians, we are citizens of a different and greater Kingdom, the Kingdom of God (Philippians 3:20). Jesus is our Messiah-King, and He outranks Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, Judges, politicians, commentators, lobbyists, and political activists. I can’t find any example of Jesus praying and asking the Father to “save Rome”; but I do find examples of Jesus teaching His disciples to pray, “Your Kingdom come; your will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdoms of this world are destined to perish; the Kingdom of God is destined to triumph. Which kingdom are you investing your life in?
Nations (And Political Parties) Are Always Being Weighed In The Balance (Daniel 5:24-28)
“Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Okay, let’s begin with some quick exegesis. The words MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN are Aramaic and translate as NUMBERED, NUMBERED, WEIGHED and DIVIDED. As Aramaic was the language of Babylon, the King and his advisors knew what the words said, but they didn’t understand what they MEANT. The words of the prophecy were clear. The meaning of the prophecy was not. Enter Daniel.
One of the great spiritual themes and connective threads of the Old Testament is that God is always holding men and nations accountable, weighing them in the balance-scale of His justice. We see this theme at work early-on in the book of Genesis, starting with the great flood (Genesis 6) where God weighed the human race in His balance scale and found all but seven people “wanting.” There’s a reason why people today attempt to refute and reject the flood as historical. If true, it reminds us all of our accountability before the God Who created us, and in Whose world we are but tenants. Accountable tenants. But there is another example in Genesis of God’s prophetic insight concerning the future and His weighing of nations in the balance. We discover it in God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15:
“Then the LORD said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.'” (Genesis 15:13-16)
There is more in this passage than we can unpack here, so I’ll simply touch on a couple items. First, we see God’s sovereign understanding of the future as He tells Abraham that his descendants will spend 400 years in “a land that is not theirs” (Egypt). He then reveals that, following their sojourn in Egypt, Abraham’s descendants will return to the land where Abraham currently resides (Canaan). Why the 400 year delay and detour to Egypt? Because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” The Amorites inhabited the land of Canaan prior to the conquests of Joshua. Their “iniquity” is the stuff of legend which I won’t go into here. Here’s the point. God gave the Amorites time and opportunity (400 years) to “be themselves” and to make those moral and spiritual decisions that would determine their ultimate destiny. In the process, God was watching and weighing them in His great balance scale, which was apparently tipping in a bad direction. God’s historical space-time judgment upon the Amorites would come at the hand of Joshua and Israel, but not for another 400 years. He is patient and forbearing. But even divine patience and forbearance have their limits.
Here’s my takeaway from this passage. Both Genesis and the book of Daniel warn us in clear terms which rational men should not miss (but frequently do) that God actively weighs men and nations in His great balance scale. No nation or people escape His scrutiny. And, yes, that includes you, me and ours.
Generations Forget Too Quickly (And Pay The Price)(Daniel 5:1-4)
“King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.”
A little history. Belshazzar was the eldest son of Nabonidus, King of Babylon, and reigned as Co-Regent with his father, thereby making Nebucchadnezzar his grandfather (or “ancestor,” as the Aramaic word is frequently rendered). Chronologically, there were 12 years between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, and 23 years between the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign and the last day of Belshazzar’s reign. Let me ask you a question. What were you doing 12 years ago, and what was God teaching you? How about 22 years ago? Have you forgotten the lessons you learned then, or have you “moved on”? Belshazzar had “moved on,” and it cost him . . . dearly. Whatever lessons Belshazzar had learned in the court of his grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, about God, His holiness, and His kingdom authority, had apparently been forgotten in less than a generation, and with disastrous consequences.
Belshazzar’s forgetfulness echoes the forgetfulness of another generation. Following the momentous events of Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 39-50), we discover that a new generation also suffered profound memory lapse, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). Forgetfulness of all God has done for us is both common and expensive. In the case of Daniel and Belshazzar, it took someone from the previous generation (Daniel) to explain to the new generation (Belshazzar) what God was doing. But the damage had been done, and it was too late to escape the consequences.
Keeping Your Sanity During A Political Season Gone Rogue
Wrapping up this longer-than-usual newsletter, allow me to offer a handful of “Sanity-Keeping” thoughts.
1. God Rules (So, Trust His Plan), even when it appears that the rest of the world around us has “gone rogue.” Daniel survived national collapse, calamity, and captivity (first Jerusalem, then Babylon), the wrath of rulers (such as Nebuchadnezzar), the collapse of Babylon, and the persecution of evil and jealous men of great political power (remember the whole lion’s den episode?). I believe his message to you and me today would be, “Relax, God’s got this.”
2. The Kingdom Has Begun (Sow In To It!). We have the blessing of seeing and experiencing what Daniel could only see prophetically from a great distance. What Daniel saw in type and shadow, we now experience because we live “on the other side of the Cross”: the Kingdom of God has begun. And we’re part of it! Don’t set your sights on anything less than the Kingdom. By our faith, our message and our good deeds, we sow in to God’s Kingdom work in our day.
3. Kingdoms Rise And Fall (So, Be Careful Who And What You Hitch Your Wagon To). This is a tough one. We can get excited about seeing how God foreknew the rise and fall of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. But would we be as excited about God’s foreknowledge if it included the fall of the United States? By the way, Rome still exists, but not as a worldwide empire. Greece, too, still exists, but only as a shadow of what it was under Alexander the Great. Beware of hitching your faith to the kingdoms of men. Daniel didn’t. Neither should we. We serve a greater Kingdom that will never end, and will never betray those who place their faith in either the Kingdom or its King.
4. How Are We Doing In God’s Balance Scales? (Which Way Are You Tipping?) If Daniel (and the entire Old Testament) teaches us anything it is this: God is continually weighing men and nations in the balance of His great scales. This being the case, what does His scale tell us about the future trajectory of our own city, state, and nation? In the perceptive – perhaps even prophetic – words of Thomas Jefferson, “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever . . . .” (Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII). If and when God’s scales tip beyond recovery and judgment falls, let that judgment find us serving as faithful Ambassadors of His Kingdom, and nothing less.
5. As A Disciple Of the Kingdom, Who Are You Serving (And What Are You Doing)? Welcome to the most difficult, revealing and practical question of all. As Christians and people who take the word of God seriously, the life and experiences of Daniel present each of us a basic question: Who do you serve? The Republicans? The Democrats? The (FILL IN THE BLANK) movement? If your answer (or mine) is anything other than, “I serve the Kingdom of God,” we have a problem. Too much of the visible Church has “gone rogue” at a time when clear focus on the values and priorities of the Kingdom are most needed among God’s people. We’ve been lured and distracted by shrill voices and competing agendas. Don’t get me wrong. I believe Jesus does, indeed, call us to be involved in the world around us: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, befriending the stranger (or “immigrant”), visiting the prisoner, caring for the sick, and MORE. But we do all of these things as citizens and Ambassadors of a greater Kingdom, as those called to bring the values of His Kingdom to bear on the issues and problems of our nation and our world. Our good deeds on behalf of the Kingdom of God toward those in need are how we manifest the salt and light of God’s Kingdom, just as Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:17 (for more, see our book, “30 days And 30 Ways Of Doing Good.”)
6. Remember, God’s Kingdom Ocean Is Much Larger Than Your Little Boat. In the JFK Presidential Museum and Library is a small plaque that President Kennedy kept on his desk in the Oval Office. It reads, “O, God, Thy Sea Is So Great And My Boat Is So Small.” It is the first stanza of a poem by Winfred Ernst Garrison, and it offers perceptive readers a small dose of humility and perspective. God’s plan for His Kingdom stretches from eternity past through eternity future. Our part in it is like a small boat on God’s great ocean. He calls us to trust Him, and to obey all He has instructed us to do. He’s got this.
For the past 15 years, Gale and I have been very involved in serving the homeless and marginalized of our community. We have done neighborhood outreach in one of the toughest neighborhoods of our city. I co-founded a non-profit to rescue prepared foods from local area restaurants and place it in shelters and meal sites which feed those in need (Feed Spokane). Gale and I served on the board of a local men’s homeless shelter. And I spent two years (ending last December) on the four-person Leadership Team of the Spokane Homeless Coalition, coordinating the communication and networking of more than 700 individuals and 200 (+) agencies, churches and ministries serving the homeless and marginalized in our city.
The logical question at this point would be, “Why?” There are several answers to this question, including 1) because of our own journey through homelessness and marginalization nearly 20 years ago (long story for another time), 2) as a practical “incarnation” of our journey into organic church, 3) as a matter of simple obedience to Jesus commands in Matthew 25:31-46, and 4) as a matter of genuine discipleship in the Kingdom of God. But there’s more. With Jesus, there always is.
Several years ago I felt very strongly that I was hearing from the Lord that He wanted His Church to “take the Kingdom back to the streets.” And that deserves some reflection. The travails of the Evangelical Church in our Postmodern Culture are well documented (and in no small part self-inflicted). If you’re unaware of those travails, here’s a refresher; feel free to read Michael Gerson’s excellent article in The Atlantic (which I picked up in the Raleigh-Durham Airport on a recent trip to-and-from North Carolina) or the speech by Fuller Seminary President Dr. Mark Labberton at Wheaton College. There’s more, but hopefully, you get the point. If not, I can only assume you’ll ask to be removed from this email list . . . and that denial remains a river in Egypt in your world. We celebrate the growth of mega-churches and their expensive, resource-intensive programs while overall church involvement (note how I carefully avoided the “attendance” word) precipitously declines (meaning that we’re spending more and achieving less), the “NONES” phenomenon mushrooms and millennials walk away from the church and “Churchianity” as they have understood it. We celebrate small victories while experiencing stunning losses, often mistaking those losses for “victories” (see the two articles referenced above. In the interest of full disclosure, I did NOT vote for EITHER candidate in the last election). When you can’t tell the difference between a Pyrrhic Victory and an actual loss, you’re in trouble. We’re in trouble. And that trouble begins with our ability (or inability) to meaningfully define ourselves.
In lectures at Purdue University to Campus Crusade Staff (now Cru) in the early 1970s (think “the Jesus Movement” and the peak of Post-WW2 “Evangelicalism”) on the history of 20th Century Awakenings, Dr. J. Edwin Orr defined “Evangelicalism” as a Christian faith which has 1) a commitment to an evangelical authority (the Bible), 2) a commitment to an evangelical message (the necessity of salvation by grace through personal faith in Jesus Christ), and 3) a commitment to an evangelical impetus (the empowering and transforming work of the Holy Spirit). Needless to say, I believe these are “spot-on” and would be agreed upon by people ranging from John Wesley to Billy Graham (to you and me). But I also believe Orr missed a fourth one that is equally important: a commitment to good deeds and service to “the Least of These” on the part of every professing Christian laying claim to discipleship in the Kingdom of God.
There was a time when the Evangelical Church (i.e., those Christians and Churches characterized by Orr’s 3-fold description above) was known not only for the three characteristics given by Orr, but also for its deep – even sacrificial – commitment to embracing and serving the marginalized (i.e., “the least of these” as described in Matthew 25 and elsewhere). John Wesley and the early Methodists were legendary for their commitment to the poor and marginalized in 18th Century England, followed closely on by William and Catherine Booth (their son, Bramwell Booth, moved to America and founded the Volunteers Of America). That commitment among evangelicals began to change in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries during the polarizing debates between “liberals” and “fundamentalists.” I won’t bore you with a lot of history and explanation at this point. I’ve written about it in Chapter 2, “Whatever Happened To Incarnational Truth?” in my book, The Least Of These: The Role Of Good Deeds In A Jesus-Shaped Spirituality. If you want a scholarly account of what happened, see David O. Moberg’s 1977 book, The Great Reversal: Evangelism And Social Concern.
To oversimplify, in the years following World War Two, evangelicalism tried to keep Orr’s three defining characteristics while trading service to “the least of these” for politics and seeking “the greatest of these.” The capital of the Kingdom of Evangelicalism moved by default to Washington, D.C. (for believers in BOTH major political parties), and candidates for major political office became our new apostles, prophets and patron saints. We baptized our politics, politicized the Kingdom, doubled-down on our political agendas and marginalized Jesus and those who sought to be genuine disciples of the Kingdom (the one NOT headquartered in Washington, D.C.). Finally, the evangelical mountain of political activism labored and brought forth the two best candidates it could muster for the 2016 Presidential election and . . . well . . . you know the rest. And so does our Postmodern culture.
In one of his plays, British playwright and skeptic George Bernard Shaw put these words into the mouth of one of his characters, “You cannot build a marble mansion with a mixture of mud and manure.” He was right, and we should have listened. Our Postmodern culture has watched recent events – our political mud wrestling – and has posed the painful and obvious question: Is this what it means to be an “evangelical Christian” and a disciple of the Kingdom of God? No. No, it isn’t. But their confusion and wrong conclusion is understandable given what we have offered them. We promised them marble mansions; but we proceeded to build them with an unseemly mixture of Christianity, mud and manure. And to convince our generation, and those generations which may follow until Jesus returns, that what they have witnessed is a false vision of the Kingdom will require a profound re-boot.
“30 Days And 30 Ways Of Doing Good”
Returning to what I heard over a decade ago, I believe God is calling His available church to a profound re-boot. This re-boot will not come easily. It will cost us structures, programs, agendas and resources, forcing us into a complete reconsideration of our priorities and how we understand ourselves as a believing body of “disciples of the Kingdom” (in other words, a re-booted definition of what it means to be the church). This reboot will be organic in nature, Kingdom-oriented, discipleship focused and committed to living out our Kingdom values by seeking and serving the marginalized rather than by seeking and serving the politically powerful.
One of my contributions to this re-boot (in addition to my 3-Volume set on discipleship and the Kingdom of God), is a book we’ve just completed, entitled “30 Days And 30 Ways Of Doing Good.” As I mentioned earlier, Gale and I have been working among the homeless and marginalized for nearly 15 years. It simply embodies the practical out-working of our commitment to organic church. I spent the last two years (ending last December) on the four-person Leadership Team of the Spokane Homeless Coalition, working with an amazing network of ministries, shelters and social service agencies which serve the homeless and marginalized in our community. Last fall (October) I began soliciting articles on a wide variety of issues (homelessness, at-risk youth, hunger, poverty, marginalization, sex trafficking, foster care, and more) from some of the amazing people I worked with in the Coalition.
The result is a 31 Day guide through critical community issues with articles and suggested action items offered by people who do this work 24/7. In addition, I wrote a daily “Reflection” (think “devotional”) to accompany each Day’s reading. Think about a Church that decides to focus on important community issues for a season. The congregation could go through the book as a daily individual exercise; it could be discussed in Sunday School classes or small groups (something for your “Rooted” groups to do); and the Pastor could deliver a series of messages to highlight biblical commands to serve “the least of these” while encouraging everyone to find an issue that speaks to them and a ministry where they could get actively involved serving others and demonstrating the values of the Kingdom.
The stated goal of “30 Days And 30 Ways” is to “educate, motivate and inspire” people throughout our community to get involved in addressing the issues which affect our community. As I say in the book, “We cannot change what we do not love; we cannot love what we do not know; and cannot know what we are unwilling to invest the time required to educate ourselves about.” This book embodies my modest contribution toward educating, motivating and inspiring our community to “greater love and good deeds.”
But there’s more . . .
Looking forward, we are thinking of “30 Days And 30 Ways” as an on-going “work-in-progress” that can be revised with either an updated version (“The 2019 Spokane Edition”) or with a “Volume 2.” There are additional important issues, great stories of impacted lives, opportunities to serve and practical action items that could be shared with our community.
In addition, I believe Spokane has a positive story to tell about how a community can come together and collaborate to address critical issues which affect us all. For this reason, we’re looking at how to turn “30 Days And 30 Ways” into a template that can be taken to other communities, utilizing locally-produced articles, action items, etc. You can help us turn what is happening here in Spokane into an example of what could be done in other communities (Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, etc.) through cooperation, collaboration, and community involvement.
And, yes, there is an important place and role here for organic church. In the Kingdom of God, discipleship represents our daily embodiment of the values of the Kingdom, and of what we claim to believe about Jesus and the Kingdom. For example, as disciples of the Kingdom, do we genuinely believe that Jesus calls us to serve “the least of these” (Matthew 25:31-46), and that doing so (or failing to do so) has eternal consequences? It’s time for organic church practitioners (like you and me) to get out of our “house boxes” and sow the seed of the Kingdom out in the field of our communities. And, yes, it’s O.K. to sow the seed of the Kingdom and to simply allow God to be sovereign over how, when and where it all sprouts, grows and bears fruit. “And he said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.'” (Mark 4:26-29) As disciples of the Kingdom, our calling is obedience to the clear commands of Jesus to sow. It isn’t within our calling to control the outcome. God’s role is to be sovereign over the outcome of our obedience. He knows what He is doing in the Kingdom, especially when we don’t.
Learn more about the 30 Days And 30 Ways project on our website, 30DaysAnd30Ways.org
Reflection On Spiritual Awakening
Finally, some brief personal reflections on spiritual awakening. I’ve spent the past 20 years as an observer and amateur historian of spiritual awakenings, having written a book on the great Welsh Revival of 1904. I’m not a professional historian, just an amateur with 20 years of practice. During that time, I’ve discovered that prophesying the next “revival” or spiritual awakening has become somewhat of a cottage industry, ranking second in volume only to predicting the rapture (which I’ve observed for over 40 years). My observation of God’s dealings in spiritual awakenings tells me that His modus operandi is to begin some of His most profound visitations “outside the camp” among the marginalized. The Evangelical Awakening under Wesley began among coal miners and the lowest end of English society. The spiritual awakening under William and Katherine Booth (The Salvation Army) began among the poor and marginalized of London’s east end. The 2nd Great Awakening in America began on the frontier, initially led by a Presbyterian pastor named James McGready, whose claim to fame was being so ugly that children ran away in fear when they met him on the street. The Manhattan Prayer Revival began under the ministry of a lay businessman (Jeremiah Lamphere) in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan. The Welsh Revival of 1904 began under a 26-year old former coal miner and first-year bible school student named Evan Roberts and caught fire among the coal miners of South Wales. I could go on, but hopefully, you get the point. God’s visitations often – even usually – begin “outside the camp.” From Moses to us, God loves to meet hungry hearts “outside the camp” (Exodus 33:7).
My point is simple. If you’re expecting the fire of God to fall on our carefully crafted and controlled camp meetings, broadcast live and nightly on GodTV, you might want to prepare yourself for disappointment. I believe the history of God’s dealings offers us important signs of what He may intend to do in our own day. If we truly want to cry out with Isaiah for a divine visitation, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil – to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!” (Isaiah 64:1-2), then we shouldn’t be surprised or disappointed when He answers that prayer “outside the camp”; when His chosen landing spot for this coming visitation is a homeless shelter or a shelter for women fleeing abuse or sex trafficking, or among marginalized refugees. If the coming spiritual awakening finds Jesus walking the streets of your community in search of “the least of these,” will He find you serving among them?
And if not, what excuse will you offer to explain your absence?