By our “Christian” traditions we have walled in the truth.
We have stylised our beliefs to accommodate and be relevant to our society and
culture. We have made it so hard to see Jesus by interposing a distorted image.
We have offered Jesus in various flavours and the menu is confusing. Unless we
move these obstacles from the believers first, we will seem as though we do not
know who we are talking about. Indeed it is hard to talk about Jesus when we
are seen as presenting a narrow view from our own religious experience.
In 2 kings 6 and 7, we have a picture of famine and
deliverance. 4 unlikely vagrants are the heroes: The country is under siege and
people are starving. These 4 no-hopers opt for going into the enemy’s camp as
they will be treated just as good or bad in the status quo. They had nothing to
lose and everything to gain...
Shock horror! The move worked. There was no resistance and only
blessing. They wanted to stay and soak
it up but eventually they had to go and tell others. The others sent out a
committee who found it was all true. The starving people rushed out of their
place of famine to feast on the blessings.
The sanctimonious logic people got pushed aside. The ones
who said: “it’s not for today!” The messengers were uncouth but the message was
genuine.
That is how a move of God gets started! Some freaks that
have nothing to lose just go there where others won’t because it might not work
and they might not look good.
2 Peter is about stemming the tidal flow of false teaching
driven by individuals who” wanted their cake and eat it too”! Driven by the
moral landslide of their times, false teachers began to distort the gospel to
fit their immoral worldly lifestyles. Peter starts out in chap 1 by reminding
believers just what a wonderful salvation they have and where it all comes
from. By Chapter 2 he is in full-blown rant mode, making you think “tell us
what you really think Pete!”
He rounds-off in chapter 3 by saying, it will all come out
in the wash, and Jesus is coming back real soon so just hang in there. What
Peter missed was the principle that God always has a few “lepers” waiting in
the wings who will precipitate another wave of blessing. We need those lepers
right now in NZ.
NZ is a little 1950s England, trying to maintain the “best
of British” but not really aware that we have become a Pacific Island Pavlova
paradise held together by # 8 wire.
The spinoff of this is that we have inherited British views
of religion but with a colonial flavour. We love the formal religious ceremony
that puts Gods stamp of approval on things and we love our personal
independence which was the driving motivation of our founders the Gold-diggers
and other escapees from the dreadful conditions of the English factories.
Stated another way, you could come out to the colonies, have a life and no-one
would try to impose their requirements on you. Life would be one big long fishing
weekend without any annoying structure or rules. We still think that way. Don’t
get too serious about anything... Commitment, what’s that?
The styles of Christianity we have imported from England and
America do not fit our culture well unless they are a short formal perfunctory
events performed by a traditional “God- Botherer”. Our attempt at overcoming
this shallow nominal formalism is to offer contemporary style churches. These
are an attempt at relevance that offers a mostly low budget quality competition
to other forms of diversion, entertainment and social gatherings.
In short, we have failed to penetrate our market with either
format and have become marginalized and seen as an intrusion on Kiwi freedom.
It is time for a re-think.
Where are the lepers? We are crouched waiting behind our
defensive walls eating each other and wearing sackcloth. There is a spiritual
famine and we feel threatened by an angry seeming populace. We fill up our time by resorting to
re-inventing ideas and truths over and over in various mediums. Asses’ heads:
(new ideas from popular pundits and preachers) that really just re-invent the
wheel. Also Doves dung; something long since left behind by the Holy Spirit, constitutes
our diet.
Adding to our misery, we have been imposed on by a false
religious clergy. These “slick vicars” teach about social-Justice and equity
and other fine words as they sneer at faith, Gospel preaching “saved” believers
and true worship to prop up their insincerity. For too long our nation has been
lied-to by religious formalists who are perverting truth to satisfy their own
logic and sinful lives to win favour with a jaded populace. The only things
that will silence them are when people of the truth come out from their fears
and speak loudly and often.
In
King David’s time after the revolt of Absolom, the people of Judah were
planning a big revival where they would set up the Kingdom under David once
again. Israel was offended. They had been subjected to Saul and had become a
picture of the non-spiritual kingdom of logic: Formal religion. 2 Samuel 19:40 they
said: “Why did our brothers, the men of
Judah, sneak the king away and help the king and his household cross the Jordan
– and not only him but all of David’s men as well?” All
the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel, “Because the king is our close
relative! Why are you so upset about this? Have we eaten at the king’s expense?
Or have we misappropriated anything for our own use?” The
men of Israel replied to the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and
we have a greater claim on David than you do! Why do you want to curse us?
Weren’t we the first to suggest bringing back our king?” But the comments of
the men of Judah were more severe than those of the men of Israel.”
It
would seem that the majority of Christians in our nation actually “witnessing”
or “soul-winning” are the non-charismatic Evangelicals. These are represented
by OAC or EE etc. This is not an accusation of disinterest in the Gospel but a
question. I think that the Pentecostal-Charismatic’s have learned to rely on
the contemporary buzz and excitement of their meetings to somehow attract and
draw. Add the gregarious factor of big meetings and music-based productions,
and the old methods of reaching our communities seem redundant. The problem is
we have become an invisible rabbit warren no better than big social or night-clubs
in the eyes of the community. We fail to penetrate their consciousness.
We
need a style of Christian living and gathering that will transcend both methods, by being so visibly “out-there” it will
attract true commitment and obviously hot persecution. We have been playing it
too safe. Such gatherings will become lightning rods to the media and attract a
lot of weirdo’s also. But until we become dangerous in the perceptions of our
society we continue in famine. When will they hear the sound of great army’s
and flee from before us? We need some lepers to step out first.
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