How do you define church?
Did GOD call us to have church or to be the Church?
Wasn't the foolishness of preaching given for the saving of the lost? If so, when did it morph into saint maintenance? Or—more importantly—when did going to church become more important than building a personal, intimate relationship with GOD?
There may be many reasons for the purpose-shift that seemingly has taken place in the Community, but it is my opinion that for too long we have ignored what Jesus actually said when He handed out the keys to the Kingdom in Matthew 16:13-20. Let's look specifically at verse 18:
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
When this Text is translated into English the word church is always used as the translation of the koine Greek word that Jesus actually spoke, which was ekklesia. Ekklesia can be translated as a church, or group of religious believers, but it translates more accurately into community, a gathering of individuals, committed to a common cause, theme, mission or goal. By the context, both in subject and geography, we can see that Jesus' words usage was not referring to a religious group, but rather a communal body. Jesus spoke these words while He and the twelve were visiting Caesarea Philippi; which was a community establish by the Caesar Philip, and was dedicated to the worship of Caesar as the son of god.
Jesus was not establishing another religious movement, He was establishing a community of believers who were to be dedicated to His Mission and Purpose.
So, getting back to the reason for the purpose shift, I believe that for too long we have focused on being religious rather than being communal. We want to build our churches rather than His Kingdom. We are dedicated to creeds established on conference floors rather than in the mouth of GOD. Because we've shifted away from His Purpose, we have focused on our religion. We have focused on us. Therefore, why wouldn't our church services be centered on us and the maintaining of ourselves?
In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus gave His Community His Mission: go make disciples, teach and baptize. He never said go build cathedrals, tabernacles or mini-franchises all over the globe. He never instructed us to gather together and go through rituals that have their root in spin-offs of Roman cath holos, that demand that everyone, everywhere adhere to same structure and methodology.
We do ourselves a great disservice when we force the under-shepherd to preach to us (we who claim salvation). I've searched the Text, but I can't find one place where the 1st Century Community was instructed to preach to those who had been Spirit-baptized. Now, I'm not saying it's not there, I just can't find it. What I have found is many instances of deep teaching to the Community. But every instance of preaching I've found is to the unregenerate.
Who do we preach to on a regular basis?
Why are our sermons filled with pentecostal colloquialisms with which many a guest have no connection?
Why is there so much tongue-talking in our gatherings, when Paul specifically taught us not to babble in tongues in public?
Why are the vast majority of our song choices horizontal rather than vertical?
Why do we go to church so that we can connect with GOD, yet throughout the week we have little or no interaction with Him whatsoever?
Why are we so fixated with that old tyme religion? (Yes, I spelled the word that way on purpose). What took place in the 1st Century wasn't a religious happening, it was a GOD-happening. Our obsession with the early 1900s is stealing our focus away from GOD's Mission, to reach the lost. Not to put another butt on the pew (or chair), but to lead another hungry soul to Christ.
Honestly ask and answer these questions:
1. If what we've been given truly is everything we say it is, then why are so many of us leaving?
2. If what we've been given will truly change lives, how come many of those who are Spirit-baptized in our services do not stay for more than a few weeks?
The attrition in the Apostolic Movement is real.
Within the last three months I have heard the statement, "I go to church, then I go home and watch [insert the name of your favorite mega-preacher] so I can get fed," at least a dozen times. Look around. Be honest. Don't blame it on the economy. Place the blame where it belongs: in our own laps. We are the problem.
I know, I know, there are some who are already beginning the rip campaign. But you are the ones who truly need to ask the question. If it's so great, then why?
The truth is, what we've been entrusted with is the greatest gift GOD ever gave humanity. The problem is not with the gift, the problem is with us. We've stopped sharing the gift and have begun spreading a religion based on the gift.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not bashing anyone. No, wait. That's not true. I'm bashing myself. I'm the problem. I've focused more on pentecostalism than on discipleship. I've been more concerned about building a church than growing His Kingdom. This blog post is self-medication that is awaking me to the realization that I have shifted away from the Missio Dei and into denominational religion.
What is church?
Church is not a religious gathering in which ceremonial worship is conducted according to the rites passed down from Azusa or the subsequent, myriad denominations. At least it's not supposed to be. Church is the assembling of ourselves together with people of like precious faith, who have come together to worship GOD in both Spirit and in Truth, to create an atmosphere in which GOD can begin to prick the hearts of the unbelievers, so that when they hear the Word of GOD preached with anointing they repent of their sins and are filled with the Spirit of GOD.
For too many of us, church has become either our social connection or our spiritual all-you-can-eat buffet. We come and shake hands with those in the congregation who we can actually stomach for more than five minutes, then we find our seat (the same seat we've sat in for years, passed down from our forefathers who held that patch of ground when we still sat in pews) and settle in for our me-fest, in which the worship leader can only sing songs that remind us of when were young, and the preacher can only preach sermons that challenge our spiritual intellect (an intellect not from study, but from countless repetition of the Text throughout the years). All the while we're ignoring those to whom Jesus Commissioned us.
Church is not about us, it is about the lost.
Steven Furtick made the statement that if you received the baptism of the Spirit last Sunday then that was the last service that Elevation Church was about you.
No, I don't agree with everything that he preaches or does. But I do agree with this. We may not like it, but he's right. It may make us very uncomfortable, but it is still truth. It's biblical. It's not a truth found in our manuals or fellowship articles, but it is a Truth found within the very Character of the Text. It is a truth that dates all the way back to GOD's covenant with Abram: I will bless you so that you can bless every nation in the world. GOD hasn't entrusted us with this awesome treasure so that we will build walls of protection that block the world's path to Truth. GOD's Mission is for us to take this treasure—in our jars of clay—beyond our walls to the hurt, hungry and lost world that surrounds us.
Yes, I want to be seeker-friendly (and with that I am forever damned by those who will completely miss my point). I want anyone who is seeking GOD to know that I won't get in their way, but rather I will take their hand and lead them into His Presence. No, I don't want to be like the world, nor adhere to the thought process of humanism, but I also don't want to be so heavenly minded that I'm no earthly good. No, I won't be so pentecostal that I'm afraid to get the stench of sin on my lily white robes that I use to conceal the rake, putrid, decaying rot that is my true underbelly.
Jesus took the twelve to the other side. The other side is where the sinners lived. The other side is that uncomfortable place where we're surrounded by prostitutes, drug addicts, spouse abusers, homosexuals, child molesters, murderers…
That is where Jesus ministered.
Are we ready to go?
And—when we get there—are we ready for church?
Jesus was not establishing another religious movement, He was establishing a community of believers who were to be dedicated to His Mission and Purpose.
So, getting back to the reason for the purpose shift, I believe that for too long we have focused on being religious rather than being communal. We want to build our churches rather than His Kingdom. We are dedicated to creeds established on conference floors rather than in the mouth of GOD. Because we've shifted away from His Purpose, we have focused on our religion. We have focused on us. Therefore, why wouldn't our church services be centered on us and the maintaining of ourselves?
In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus gave His Community His Mission: go make disciples, teach and baptize. He never said go build cathedrals, tabernacles or mini-franchises all over the globe. He never instructed us to gather together and go through rituals that have their root in spin-offs of Roman cath holos, that demand that everyone, everywhere adhere to same structure and methodology.
We do ourselves a great disservice when we force the under-shepherd to preach to us (we who claim salvation). I've searched the Text, but I can't find one place where the 1st Century Community was instructed to preach to those who had been Spirit-baptized. Now, I'm not saying it's not there, I just can't find it. What I have found is many instances of deep teaching to the Community. But every instance of preaching I've found is to the unregenerate.
Who do we preach to on a regular basis?
Why are our sermons filled with pentecostal colloquialisms with which many a guest have no connection?
Why is there so much tongue-talking in our gatherings, when Paul specifically taught us not to babble in tongues in public?
Why are the vast majority of our song choices horizontal rather than vertical?
Why do we go to church so that we can connect with GOD, yet throughout the week we have little or no interaction with Him whatsoever?
Why are we so fixated with that old tyme religion? (Yes, I spelled the word that way on purpose). What took place in the 1st Century wasn't a religious happening, it was a GOD-happening. Our obsession with the early 1900s is stealing our focus away from GOD's Mission, to reach the lost. Not to put another butt on the pew (or chair), but to lead another hungry soul to Christ.
Honestly ask and answer these questions:
1. If what we've been given truly is everything we say it is, then why are so many of us leaving?
2. If what we've been given will truly change lives, how come many of those who are Spirit-baptized in our services do not stay for more than a few weeks?
The attrition in the Apostolic Movement is real.
Within the last three months I have heard the statement, "I go to church, then I go home and watch [insert the name of your favorite mega-preacher] so I can get fed," at least a dozen times. Look around. Be honest. Don't blame it on the economy. Place the blame where it belongs: in our own laps. We are the problem.
I know, I know, there are some who are already beginning the rip campaign. But you are the ones who truly need to ask the question. If it's so great, then why?
The truth is, what we've been entrusted with is the greatest gift GOD ever gave humanity. The problem is not with the gift, the problem is with us. We've stopped sharing the gift and have begun spreading a religion based on the gift.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not bashing anyone. No, wait. That's not true. I'm bashing myself. I'm the problem. I've focused more on pentecostalism than on discipleship. I've been more concerned about building a church than growing His Kingdom. This blog post is self-medication that is awaking me to the realization that I have shifted away from the Missio Dei and into denominational religion.
What is church?
Church is not a religious gathering in which ceremonial worship is conducted according to the rites passed down from Azusa or the subsequent, myriad denominations. At least it's not supposed to be. Church is the assembling of ourselves together with people of like precious faith, who have come together to worship GOD in both Spirit and in Truth, to create an atmosphere in which GOD can begin to prick the hearts of the unbelievers, so that when they hear the Word of GOD preached with anointing they repent of their sins and are filled with the Spirit of GOD.
For too many of us, church has become either our social connection or our spiritual all-you-can-eat buffet. We come and shake hands with those in the congregation who we can actually stomach for more than five minutes, then we find our seat (the same seat we've sat in for years, passed down from our forefathers who held that patch of ground when we still sat in pews) and settle in for our me-fest, in which the worship leader can only sing songs that remind us of when were young, and the preacher can only preach sermons that challenge our spiritual intellect (an intellect not from study, but from countless repetition of the Text throughout the years). All the while we're ignoring those to whom Jesus Commissioned us.
Church is not about us, it is about the lost.
Steven Furtick made the statement that if you received the baptism of the Spirit last Sunday then that was the last service that Elevation Church was about you.
No, I don't agree with everything that he preaches or does. But I do agree with this. We may not like it, but he's right. It may make us very uncomfortable, but it is still truth. It's biblical. It's not a truth found in our manuals or fellowship articles, but it is a Truth found within the very Character of the Text. It is a truth that dates all the way back to GOD's covenant with Abram: I will bless you so that you can bless every nation in the world. GOD hasn't entrusted us with this awesome treasure so that we will build walls of protection that block the world's path to Truth. GOD's Mission is for us to take this treasure—in our jars of clay—beyond our walls to the hurt, hungry and lost world that surrounds us.
Yes, I want to be seeker-friendly (and with that I am forever damned by those who will completely miss my point). I want anyone who is seeking GOD to know that I won't get in their way, but rather I will take their hand and lead them into His Presence. No, I don't want to be like the world, nor adhere to the thought process of humanism, but I also don't want to be so heavenly minded that I'm no earthly good. No, I won't be so pentecostal that I'm afraid to get the stench of sin on my lily white robes that I use to conceal the rake, putrid, decaying rot that is my true underbelly.
Jesus took the twelve to the other side. The other side is where the sinners lived. The other side is that uncomfortable place where we're surrounded by prostitutes, drug addicts, spouse abusers, homosexuals, child molesters, murderers…
That is where Jesus ministered.
Are we ready to go?
And—when we get there—are we ready for church?
