Copyright © 2012 by Russell Wimberly

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Rusty Wimberly

Elgin, Illinois 60120

www.aboutaburningfire.com

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Wimberly, Russell.

The Changing Face of the Church : New Wineskins for a New Generation / Russell Wimberly

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1482651300

1. Christian Life —Church —Revival. 2. Leadership and Change

HF0000.A0 A00 2010

299.000 00–dc22 2010999999

First Edition

The Changing Face of the Church: New Wineskins for a New Generation

By Russell Wimberly

This book is dedicated to all reformers and revivalists in this generation who have a passion and desire to love the church enough to see her reformed in order to carry the new wine of revival that God wants to pour out by His Spirit.

Contents

Chapter 1.           Unavoidable Truth

Chapter 2.          Addicted to Ministry

Chapter 3.          False Authority, True Ministry

Chapter 4.          Servant Leadership in Plurality

Chapter 5.          Celebrity Leaders

Chapter 6.          Consumer Church

Chapter 7.          Humility: The Key to Unity

Chapter 8.          Releasing Future Leaders

Chapter 9.          Developing A Culture of Giving

Chapter 10.       Greed: The Enemy of God

Chapter 11.        Going From Default to Surplus

Chapter 12.       Coca-Cola and The Gospel

Chapter 13.       The Message: A False Gospel?

Chapter 14.       The Method: Disciples Not Churches

Chapter 15.       Changed By Love

Chapter 16.       Maintaining Revival With New Wineskins

Chapter 17.       Now What?

Introduction

A Ridiculous Encroachment.

Where does one start when thinking about writing a book? I guess it depends on what your purpose for writing is.  Before you even ask, I figured it would be appropriate to share a little about the how and why I have decided to write on the subject of issues relating to church. Writing a book that addresses problems in the church is not a happy subject to write about, nor a popular one. Nowadays, most authors would rather choose a topic to write about that will sell.  If one chooses a topic that appeals to the lowest common denominator, it will move off of bookshelves in droves, get rave reviews and maybe even become a best seller.  A topic like “positive thinking” or “your best life now” would obviously sell well in most American bookstores.  I mean, who doesn’t want to know how to have the “best” life they can have, right?  I wish I could write on such themes; it would probably do me better.

Dr. Mathai is a tall, serious Indian man who was my college English professor. In one of our classes, he slammed his fist on the podium and shouted at me “Rusty, what are you passionate about?” Needless to say, he caught me off guard.  It is rare that I am ever speechless, but on this day he found me mumbling. “Church,” I said.  And that day I realized that it would be pointless to waste my breath speaking or writing about subjects that I am not passionate about. If we are not passionate about the things we speak on or write about, we will hardly convince others to see our point of view.  I have started writing other books in the past that I was never able to finish. Surprisingly, the reason why I had not been able to finish came to me while I was in bed one day.

I was asking God, “Why have I not been able to really push through these books that I wanted to write?  What is the problem?”  I felt the Holy Spirit say to me in a gentle way, “I have not told you to write those books, they were something youfelt needed to be shared with people.”  In that moment, for the first time, I actually dared to ask God what He wanted me to write about…and the impression I received was not what I expected.  He said “Write about the problem with my church.”  When I heard Him say this to me, I shook my head in disbelief.  Surely, this must be the devil! Even while writing this very sentence, I am still shaking my head, because out of all the majestic, beautiful, uplifting topics I could potentially write about, God supposedly wants to critique his church?  How ridiculous and how dangerous even does the idea sound? Never the less, over the years I have somehow found that the more ridiculous the dream, the more outlandish and impossible it seems, there is a high probability God is in it.

The fear of God grips me as I enter in to write on this subject. I am well aware that it is God Himself that will hold me accountable to what I write and how I write it.  My earnest prayer is to communicate the truth concerning God’s church today with accuracy and with love through my experiences over the past 13 years. I also pray that what I write would not just be a “comforting” word, but in the same vein it would be a challenging word to all who read it, and that somehow your spirit will leap inside of you knowing that some things are hard to hear, but necessary to face.

I also have a sobering feeling about the response it may receive.  There will be those who will no doubt weigh, judge and put me in stocks for some of the things I say in this book.  This is the very reason, many do not venture to write anything because of the potential consequences. I choose to look at the potential breakthrough.  If God has truly required of us that we should not fear men, then I think its time that we start living it.  We should live our lives free from the opinion of others, and solely for the audience of one.  With all that said, there is no doubt in my mind that the fiery love of God for His beloved church will be displayed through these words.  Amidst the scathing criticism, my intention is to challenge the church to become all who God has intended her to be.  If we cannot humbly recognize our need for reform and change, then what chance do we have to continue to fulfill the great and mighty commission our Lord Jesus Christ gave to us?  If this book is read with a childlike curiosity and a spirit of humility, then I am sure that it will touch your life on a personal level that will translate to corporate transformation.  The goal is for us, as the church, to make the proper adjustments necessary, so we, as the very body of our Lord Jesus Christ, will gain the respect, voice and victory that will ultimately usher in the return of our King.

I suppose I should add some disclaimers right up front.  Some will no doubt be angry about this book, or at the very least be uncomfortable with it.  You may call out my character, unearth dirt from my past to use against me or you may even chalk it up to negativity and classify me as a doomsayer prophet.  Please let me make myself clear.I am in no way claiming that I, or my particular church, live out the Christian life in perfection or on a higher level.  The things I will cover in this book are things that I myself have either gone through or have witnessed first hand in my own life.  The content of this book should be considered more of a discussion or dialogue than a checklist.  I don’t intend on coming across as an authority or guru, although my hope is that those reading will take these headlines into serious consideration as the heartbeat and mind of God for His church.  How God feels and thinks of the current state of His church is VERY serious.  I am certainly not the only one hearing from God so feel free to disagree with me. With that being said, I have clearly been directed by the Lord to write about more than just being blessed. God wants us more than just blessed.  He wants His people righteous and He wants us to be effective.  Surely, if we are right with Him and follow Him whole-heartedly the blessings will follow because God is good and he loves us.  Keep in mind that it is because He loves us that He disciplines us.

Hebrews 12:5-11 “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!

Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

What good father does not discipline his family, or lovingly correct them?  Sure, it may hurt momentarily, but the result is the feeling of love.  The Bible goes to the extent of even saying that if God does not discipline us, then we are considered illegitimate.  Those in church that refuse to come under the discipline of the Lord can consider themselves illegitimate. (Heb. 12:8) Fatherlessness, which is the prevalent spirit in American society, is strongly reflected in our churches.  It is a proven fact that children need and want structure and discipline.  They want to know that their father actually cares enough to point them in the right direction if he sees that they go astray.  If we are truly God’s children we will welcome instruction and healthy criticism because we know it will produce holiness and godliness in our lives to do us good.  It is my conviction that many of the churches in America have gone astray. There are many that have not, but a great number that have. This occurs either on a small, subtle level or, in some cases, churches have fully strayed off the course of what we have traditionally known as orthodox Christian teaching. So here we have a great opportunity to be trained by discipline and correction. Hebrews tells us that if we do allow ourselves to heed it, that eventually it will produce a harvest of righteousness and peace.

There is too much catering in the church today and not enough confrontation.  Too much pandering, and not enough proclamation.  This usually results in a people who are weak, anorexic and not able to overcome as the Bible instructs us to.  So in my attempt at communicating the heart and mind of God concerning His church please don’t take offense.  Instead carefully consider what you read against the history of Scripture and the nature of God in who He is and who He expects us to be.

I acknowledge that there are people all over the world that are “getting it” so to speak.  This book is not meant to pronounce judgment on the church as a whole. My prayer is that you will find yourself convicted by the Holy Spirit and respond to His prodding for you to change.  If you find yourself pricked in the heart, it may be a sign that wants to transform your life and ministry.  If you find yourself sad or angry, it may be that this book is touching a part of your flesh that might need to die.  Others have been longing for something to discipline them, speak the truth or slap them in the face with reality for a long time.  All this book may do is exhort you to continue on in your journey and share with others what it really means to be a part of the household of faith, the church of the first born, a holy city, a real Christian.  Whatever feeling you might experience in reading this book it’s okay.  If you’re feelingsomething, that means there is still hope.

Chapter 1

Unavoidable Truth

Honesty is something that we all need.  Hopefully this true story illustrates that.  Let me give you the background.  A friend of mine, Wendy, was a single mom and mother of three beautiful little girls.  Her husband had just passed away of lung cancer two years ago, which left Wendy with the daunting task of raising three girls on her own and struggling to provide for her family.  One day, while she was trying to get her girls to school on time, Wendy got pulled over for speeding 10 miles over the speed limit.  On top of the amounting cell phone bills and rent that was due, she now had a $95 dollar speeding ticket slapped on to her expenses.  The choice between paying the speeding ticket and putting food on the table was a difficult one, but rather than choose, she decided to ignore the ticket.  A couple more driving incidents and a couple more speeding tickets later, Wendy’s driver’s license was suspended. Rather than face the fact that she absolutely could not drive on her suspended license until her issues were resolved, Wendy continued to drive.  At our weekday house group meeting, Wendy asked the group to pray for her because she had a court appearance the next day.  I found this kind of a strange request. I thought to myself, “Why does Wendy need to appear in court?”  The group began to move on to the next set of prayer requests, but I felt the need to ask Wendy about the court situation and that’s when it all came out.  She shared with us how she had been driving on her suspended license, and was appearing in court the next day.  All this was happening in Wendy’s life, in private. No one even knew the urgent need in this woman’s life…until honesty came knocking at her door.

The opportunity came by asking a question.  It is vitally important that we create a forum for questions in our churches.  It will foster a sense of honesty and accountability to one another.  The inability to ask honest questions will stifle a persons growth and most likely cover up sin.  I was honest with Wendy that day. She absolutely could not drive any longer until she got her license reinstated.  This was probably a hard pill to swallow with three little girls that needed care, but our group assured Wendy that we would make sure she had the rides she needed and help to stand with her through the all of the court system details and fines.  Wendy absolutely had to turn over her car keys that night.

Why do we avoid the mess? The first thing that might come to most people’s minds when we hear such things is “it’s none of my business.”  We have our own problems to worry about, so we make the conscious decision to turn our eyes away from the situation and avoid the mess. This is such a prevalent attitude, especially in the western church, because our faith is so individualistic.  The brunt of the Gospel message being taught in our churches is about having a “personal” relationship with Jesus. This is true, but at the same time, much is left out about how our lives affect the community of faith. Although this attitude is changing, most of the church in the United States thinks that “church” is coming to a meeting on Sunday morning for two hours, stand up, sit down, sing a few songs, hear a good message and then leave.

This idea has even spilled over into our sociological landscape. Almost every other house on our block has a high, fortress like, backyard fence because we just don’t want anyone in our business. Rightly so, because only God knows what they might find if they actually turned over some of the rocks in our yards!  Here is the news flash: this is not church!  Church is not a meeting, something we do or a place we go.  The church is people, and not just any kind of people I might add.  The church is honest people.  Real people.  People who aren’t afraid to get involved in the business of each other’s lives. People who will take the time to notice and ask the hard questions. We could have easily overlooked Wendy’s situation because we did not want to get involved.  To be honest, the thought even crossed MY mind.  Rather than open a can of worms, it is much easier to just avoid the conflict and cover it with spiritual cover up. We tend to turn our head sometimes or sweep things under the rug not knowing that healing and victory can only come once reality is faced.  Real church life should sometimes be messy.

Proverbs 14:4 “Where there are no oxen, the stable is clean, but much progress comes by the strength of the ox.”

If anyone has ever been around stables, they can tell you that animals like oxen and horses produce lots of poop. If poop is not evident in your church, I doubt you’re being real and I doubt there is much progress. I will exchange the strength of an ox for its poop any day.

Without honest confrontation how can we move forward as a church? It is much more comfortable to sit inside my air conditioned box that I have created for myself and just smile and say, “God bless you brother. I’m praying for you,” without the necessary confrontation.  No one grows this way.  How would Wendy ever get out of the trap she was in, the lack of hope, and be released into having a clear conscience unless someone lovingly confronted her about her situation?  How is the church ever going to come to the place where God wants us to be if we brush issues under the rug?  Judgment begins within the house, the family of God.  It is time for some in the church to turn over the keys.  What I mean is that if we are to seriously make progress in advancement for God’s Kingdom, it is time for churches to face the real issues stopping them from moving forward. I am convinced that there is a need for brutal honesty in the church, an honesty that loves the truth and rejoices when the truth sets someone free. That is what this book is about.  Brutal honesty.  Not just honesty for the sake of being brutal, but honesty to tell things like it is so that we can achieve progress for this next stretch of our race, honesty on an individual level so that we can grow to maturity.

Even nature tells us that when something experiences some resistance, growth happens.  Without a little pressure there will be no stimulation.  Ever see a guy or girl at the gym who is faithfully there day in and day out but you never seem to notice a transformation in their body? The reason why they are not experiencing transformation is because they either are not working out at the level of intensity needed or they have failed to put enough resistance in their weight training. Many Christians are simply showing up to the gym, but never allowing the coach to put some more weight on the bar. Therefore, they stay small, weak and immature. In the book of Hebrews, the writer has a moment of honesty with the Hebrew believers he or she is writing to:

Hebrews 5:12-14 “ In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

We need more people like the writer of Hebrews around today. People in the pulpit that will tell us like it is, not what we want to hear.

I believe honesty will take you a long way with people.  Everyone may not agree with you, but they will definitely appreciate your honesty.  Some people, like myself, are honest to a fault.  I have to be careful to mix my criticism with positive encouragement.  The brutal honesty I am referring to is not the kind of honesty that tears people down.  The honesty I am proposing is honesty that is a “faithful wound of a friend,” (Prov. 27:6).  Friendship requires open communication between two people.  People who are good friends are able to tell one another the worst of things and the best of things.  I thank God for good, faithful friends who will tell me when I am wrong and help me with my blind spots.  There is no one without blind spots in their life.  There is no church that has the monopoly on the truth either, and there is no church that has everything it needs.

So what prohibits us from facing our issues?  Why do we feel the need to be so strong all of the time, when His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9)? Pride. One aspect of pride is thinking that you yourself do not need to change anything.  Pride is not willing to ask for help or able to accept criticism.  I have heard people say, “Well brother, this is how we do things in this body.”   First of all, your church alone is not a “body.” Your church is only “part of THE body of Christ”. I wince when I hear such things.  Some people will just say it’s a matter of semantics, but I would say it is a symptom of a much greater problem.  To change the direction of where we are going our language needs to change.  Out of our hearts our mouths will speak.  Sometimes our thoughts are really revealed in the choice of words that we use.  When we say “in our body”, could it be that our words reveal a hint of arrogance?  Wrong thinking leads to wrong speaking.  Wrong speaking leads to wrong actions.  Wrong actions lead to bad habits and bad habits get us stuck in the mess we find ourselves in. Each one of us, as a church, has something to contribute to each other.  Even whole congregations have blind spots in which they cannot see an area in which they might need to grow or enhance.  How can the eye say to the hand, “I don’t need you?”

1 Corinthians 12:21 “The eye cannot say to the hand, I don’t need you! And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.”

One day churches will stop building their own separate kingdoms and ministries and actually work together in unity.  How it happens begins within, from the context of relationship and honesty.  The heart cry of this book is to take an honest, sometimes brutal, look at the state of God’s church today for the sake of His glory and His namesake, that we as a people would allow what is true, right and just take first place and set in order the things that are on God’s heart and mind today.

We are not trying to go back to the early church; we are trying to progress and evolve into the church that the blood of Christ paid for.  We are trying to make straight the way of the Lord by taking those paths and ways that are crooked and smoothing them out into a highway of holiness.  Should we not live our lives different as “called out ones” in the world?  Should we not judge among ourselves before we begin to make judgments upon the world?  Do we not know that judgment begins in the house of God (1 Peter 4:17)?  We will be held responsible for those things in which God has called us to change, but did not.  What a shame it would be if we did not humble ourselves to receive a correction that would only help us and strengthen us for the better.  On the flip-side, what joy could we possibly find in relationships that tell us the truth even when it hurts?  What satisfaction and progress could be made knowing full well that someone has my best interest in mind and that their wounds are not trying to hurt me but to heal me?  And even in the end if we disagree, that’s okay.  Somehow I believe God is just as interested in the journey as the destination.

Chapter 2

Addicted to Ministry

When assessing the state of the church today, one has to consider starting with the condition of its leadership.  Quoting leadership guru John Maxwell from his bookThe 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,“Everything rises and falls on leadership.” The church is only as good as those who are leading, influencing and making decisions to affect the rest of the Body of Christ. If we have a wrong or misleading view of leadership, you can guarantee that the church will be a mess. We want to take a look at some of the attitudes, behaviors and motivations of leaders in church that desperately need reforming.

I should start by giving church leaders a lot of credit.  Some of you reading this book may be pastors, missionaries or church leaders, and I know from experience that any form of leadership is hard work.  We visit with people, counsel them, listen to their problems and deal with some of the most heartbreaking forms of crisis.  Even if someone’s cat just died, a loving leader is right there to comfort him or her and to offer help.  We prepare sermons, answer phone calls, help out the poor, marry, bury and all in between.  The work of leaders often does not get enough credit equal to the amount of sacrifice that is usually involved in giving your life to the ministry. I want to personally encourage you in. He, our Master, recognizes the burden you carry and I believe He has a special place in His heart reserved just for those who have answered the call to serve the church in this great, demanding capacity.  He desires to be our strong defense, tower of strength and great reward.  Thank you for stepping up to the plate to carry God’s people, lead and guide the church when it needs it.  It takes quite a bit of courage and audacity to stand before God’s people and for that I give you my whole hearted praise.  Sometimes it’s a dirty job, but I hope you would agree with me that it’s all well worth it.

As we can see, one of the issues with leaders in church is that they are probably doing too much, monopolizing the ministry while the Biblical role of church leaders is to facilitate, equip and teach the church to fulfill THEIR ministry. Ephesians 4:11 is the passage we are all familiar with because the Apostle Paul identifies some of the functions or roles that leaders in church take. However, we fail to recognize the two fold purpose within the text that is mentioned:

“It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of Godand become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. “

There are many job descriptions of a church leader, but the over arching, twofold purpose described here is:

1.                                 To prepare God’s people for ministry

2.                                Second, to help God’s people to grow into maturity.

What we see here, in Ephesians, is a picture of ministry being done by church members. Most of our churches look more like the triangle approach to ministry:

Pastor

Assistant Pastor

Eldership

Ministry Heads

Lay People

The Ephesians 4 picture of leadership looks more like an upside down triangle:

Lay People

Ministry Heads

Eldership

Ephesians 4 Ministry Gifts

Because the role of pastor has been elevated in hierarchical church structures, much of the rest of the church has become impotent and stunted in growth.  Instead of sharing in the teaching, caring and counseling, the church has become over reliant upon the one church leader to do all the work.

There are several reasons for this that we simply do not have time to explore. The fact that a pastor takes a professional salary is one of the main culprits. The pastor does everything because that’s what we PAY him to do, right? However, think about it this way. The New Testament is full of “one anothers”. For example:

Galatians 5:13 “serve one another.”

Colossians 3:16 “teach and admonish one another with all wisdom”

1 Thess. 5:11 “encourage one another”

I can go on with reference after reference of “one anothers”. My point is, if the church began to actually fulfill all the “one anothers” listed in the New Testament, this would probably eliminate 70% of the vocational minister’s work, thus relieving him from his full time paid position. It is church members addiction to pastors and pastor’s addiction to ministry that has led to a large percentage of pastors experiencing burnout. Because of pastor burn out, the damage trickles down in the form of sheep abuse and a church that is left weak, anemic and lacking without exercise of their own responsibility for the church. In 2010, the New York Times[1] published a study by Duke University with shocking stats:

40% of pastors and 47% of spouses are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and/or unrealistic expectations.

45% of pastors' wives say the greatest danger to them and their family is physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual burnout.

45% of pastors say that they've experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry.

50% feel unable to meet the needs of the job.

52% of pastors say they and their spouses believe that being in pastoral ministry is hazardous to their family's well-being and health.

56% of pastors' wives say that they have no close friends.

57% would leave the pastorate if they had somewhere else to go or some other vocation they could do.

70% don't have any close friends.

75% report severe stress causing anguish, worry, bewilderment, anger, depression, fear, and alienation.

80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with their spouse.

80% believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively.

90% feel unqualified or poorly prepared for ministry.

90% work more than 50 hours a week.

94% feel under pressure to have a perfect family.

1,500 pastors leave their ministries each month due to burnout, conflict, or moral failure.

Doctors, lawyers and clergy have the most problems with drug abuse, alcoholism and suicide.

And the statistics go on. Just Google “pastor burnout” and you’ll discover countless stories, testimonies and statistics that will prove my point. In our church culture, ministry addiction is an epidemic.

Maybe it’s time for some pastors to simply get out of the way and do less?  Keep in mind, Jesus spent only three years discipling, training and imparting to his disciples. Then he left. Maybe it’s time for leaders to really do what they are called to do, which is equip the SAINTS to do the work of the ministry, to delegate and release their PEOPLE into full time ministry? It’s a provoking thought, but not one many current paid pastors are willing to entertain.

Chapter 3

False Authority, True Ministry

Clearly there are leaders in church. In breaking down the traditional mindset of church, many want to remove leadership altogether. However, we see that this is something that, biblically, we just cannot do. Leadership should be in place, but what type of authority does leadership have and where does this authority find its roots?

The thinking goes “Jesus is head of His church, there is no other form of leadership”.  I, for one, do not promote this model of church. Yes, Jesus is the head of his church, yet the Holy Spirit expresses his leadership in gifts he gave to men. But what is the extent of their authority? There are several verses in the New Testament that give us expectations both on the side of what Biblical leadership looks like and also how we should receive those that lead us. Here are just a couple. We will deal with more later:

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 “Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.”

On the receiving end, God’s people are urged to respect and listen to those whom God has chosen to place in leadership of His church. On the other hand, leaders have arelational responsibility to shepherd and serve God’s people.  The key word here is “relational”. From the looks of it, in most churches, leaders claim to be relational, yet are far removed from their people. Of course, in churches with large congregations, a leader could hardly be expected to be relational with everyone. However, this only applies to churches who are overseen by a sole leader. Notice the plurality of leadership that is mentioned in the above verses of Scripture. Hebrews 13:17 doesn’t command church members to obey their leader (singular), they are encouraged to submit themselves to their leaders (plural). A leadership that operates within the context of team ministry should consist of true accountability, and have no issues with forming a relational basis of leadership responsibility.

Lets go back to the versus I mentioned previously so we can further discuss how leaders should tend to God’s people and also how God’s people should receive leadership. In Hebrews 13:17, at first glance, this and other versus might seem to elude to unquestionable leadership. I mean, after all, words like “obey” and “submit” mean “do what you’re told,” correct?  If we were to dig a little bit deeper, we can see that the word “obey” is probably not a good translation. In an article by Steve Atkerson on elder-led consensus in churches, he helps to clarify the heart of the matter:

“The common word for obey is used with reference to children obeying their parents and slaves their masters (Ep 6:1, 5).  It is significant that the Greek behind obey in Hebrews 13:17 is not the usual word. Instead, peitho is used, which Bauer’s lexicon fundamentally defines as persuade or convince. (Other examples of peitho can be found in Luke 16:31, Acts 17:4, 21:14).  Paul McReynolds’ literal interlinear renders peitho in Hebrews 13:17 as “persuade.”  Used in Hebrews 13:17 in the middle/passive form, it carries the idea of, “let yourselves be persuaded by” your leaders.  Certainly, when someone is persuaded of something, he will act on it, or “obey” it (Ro 2:8, Ga 5:7, Ja 3:3).  The expositor Vine notes that peitho means, “to persuade, to win over to, to listen to, to obey.  The obedience suggested is not by submission to authority, but resulting from persuasion” The point to be observed is that mindless obedience is not what is pictured in Hebrews 13:17.”[2]

So Steve Atkerson, in his article, is making the case for elder-LED leadership of the local church verses the elder-RULED leadership we see so often today.  By elder-RULED, I mean a church in which the pastor or leader is making all the decisions on behalf of the church and sees the people as solely under his care. The church has no ability or say in the direction of the church and are expected to pretty much sit down and shut up. I have even heard of churches where the pastor also controls all of the financial decisions, including his salary. This is a train wreck waiting to happen. Ultimately, this form of leadership leads to lack of accountability, burn-out and is never how the church was designed to function.

I often encourage pastors and leaders to allow the people within the church to own the vision and begin to take responsibility of the ministry. One person cannot do it all alone. Unless the pastor is willing to share the vision with the people, they will not take ownership and ultimately they will be short term partners in the Gospel. Leaders are there to guide, persuade and serve, but they are not to dictate and bark out orders.

Elder-LED leadership looks much different than Elder-RULED. First of all, as we discussed previously, the Bible puts forthplurality in leadership where no one is higher in rank than another. Yes, there is a difference in function, gifting and measure of spiritual authority, but there is no hierarchy of leadership, only a lateral relationship between brothers. These leaders exist to serve the church and come under the vision of others to see the plan and purpose of God be established in their life. Too often we see the complete opposite. Members are told to serve their leaders and to support his or her vision.

We’ll continue to look into the heart of leadership God is looking for in the following pages, but keep in mind some of the pitfalls we see currently in ministry. A reformation of our view of leadership must be brought to the forefront in order to deal with them. We can no longer afford to bury our head in the sand for fear of criticism.

This is truly the crux of the matter on leadership. Who calls the shots? Is there really a hierarchy of church leadership? Who is the head?

Chapter 4

Servant Leadership in Plurality

I would like to highlight a few things here in terms of structure in the church.  Leadership influence comes from the head down.

Psalm 133:1-2 “How good it is when brothers dwell together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured upon the head, running down Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.”

When it comes to the science of the human anatomy, the principle is as follows: the body will follow where the head goes. The brain signals to all parts of the body what they should be doing and how to function properly. We shouldn’t need to be reminded, but this day and age it seems that we do: Jesus rules and reigns over his church from heaven.  Period. He is the head and we are his body.  Theologically, we cannot divert from this.  There seems to be many leaders in the church who have taken liberty to place themselves “over” the church not knowing they have in some ways taken too much liberty.  They have ceased to be an under-shepherd, overseer who is taking inventory of the flock.  Instead, they have become lords, rulers and positioned themselves in a special place God has reserved for himself and himself alone. Jesus had a few things to say about those that want to lord over the church:

Luke 22:20-30 “Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”

In our humanness, we always want to become great.  I think the desire to become something great is in fact the greatest human desire.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to make a difference.  Desiring to lead in the church is a noble desire (1 Timothy 3:1), but let us keep in mind that this desire needs to be submitted and brought low to the cross of Jesus.  No one is greater than Jesus. Even He led us by example as one who serves.  Leaders should not have to throw their weight around like CEO’s of a company.

Once you have demanded people submit to you, you have lost influence in God’s kingdom. In fact, the greater measure in which youserve the body of Christ, the more measure of authority you would have.

I know this from my leadership role as a husband to my wife.  I should never have to demand that my wife submit to me. I am not her boss or her police officer.  I am her lover and she is my beloved.  The more I display love to my wife, and lay down my life for her, the more she feels safe and secure.  As I lead our family, she can trust my judgment in instances where we may need to make a decision together.  I love my wife by not being a dictator over her, but including her into decisions and participating together to build our life. Clearly, Jesus is making the statement in Luke 22 that leadership in His kingdom is not positional, but relational.

With that said, God has set certain ministries into the church to equip God’s people for service and bring them to both maturity and unity of faith.  Therefore, it is clear we understand much of what God does in His church begins with leaders.  If the leaders are ankle deep in the river, the people following them are not even close.  If they are waist deep, the people are knee deep and so on.  If the church has issues, we must certainly look at its leadership. Leadership makes up much of the church’s foundations and structure.

Far from a corporate structure, leaders in God’s house must first and foremost be servants.  They do not throw their titles around and do not have large plaques on their doors displaying their accolades and degrees, though I do think it is good to recognize people for who they are and how they function in the Body of Christ.  We also need to recognize these people publicly.  It is okay to refer to their function as prophet or pastor from time to time, just so that we can be clear and communicate an individual’s role to the church at large. Yet, I think we all would agree at this point that titles without the fruit of ministry are pointless. The purpose of a title is to bring definition and clarity to a ministry which is already in operation. Self proclaimed ministries should be discerned, but proven callings and gifts to the Body of Christ should be respected and honored for what they are.

Pastoral Leadership Working With Apostolic Leaders

God has set into the church an order in leadership.  Our church structure paradigm in America is changing, but still needs reshaping and reformation.  We have eliminated some very important roles in the church and replaced them with a pastoral only church structure.  There is a present shift taking place where God is restoring the proper place of apostles, prophets and teachers into his church.

1 Corinthians 12:28 “And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles…”

For the sake of time, I will not delve into the details of each ministry gift.  For now, I will just submit to you that much of the ill that we see infecting the Body of Christ would be helped if we had seasoned, true, apostolic leadership combined with prophetic insight and sound Biblical teaching.  These three ministries should be primary leaders in God’s house.  Working together with appointed overseers (elders), these ministries will see to it that God’s church advances and is preserved in holiness and righteousness. It is important to note that this verse is not to be used to build a doctrine of priority, but that Apostles are first in “sent capacity”. The function of an apostle is hallmarked by a pioneering spirit. They are often the spearhead of the mission.

Plurality of Leadership

In this chapter, I also want to present the concept of a plurality of leadership versus the single, pastor led, leadership structure we now see. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find one person dominating over a local church. When the Scripture refers to the role of elder/pastor, we always see it being referred to in a plural tense. (1 Timothy 4:14, 5:17, Titus 1:5) We also don’t see one apostle lording over several churches himself either. We find that in the letter to the Corinthians this had become an issue of division in the Corinthian church. Take a look at how Paul, addresses the matter:

“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. “ (1 Cor. 3:1-7)

What is interesting in this text is that Paul makes room for the other co-laborers he was in relationship with. He acknowledges the watering work that Apollos did in the lives of the Corinthian church. Paul planted, Apollos watered, God made it grow. What a wonderful attitude for a church leader to have! Unfortunately, there is so much insecurity within many church leaders that we hardly would give credit to another person for watering and harvesting the work of Christ that we have at one time planted. Instead, we begin to act like what Paul calls “mere men” when we begin to choose our favorite apostle or celebrity Bible teacher. We must begin to understand that God’s people need access to a plurality of leadership in order to be exposed to and learn the different facets and dimensions that are found within such a multifaceted God. Just to clarify, I am not advocating we give just anyone with a ministry influence within our congregations. However, I am proposing that we change our ministry format to one that is much more relational and done within team ministry. We will see much more fruit with more gifts present, more hands to do the work and more increase in the anointing that it genuinely takes to bring God’s people to maturity.

Chapter 5

Celebrity Leaders

The bigger the ministry, the harder it falls.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians about an issue that he had in his life that he prayed to God to remove three times, but God did not. Instead, God told Paul that, “My grace is sufficient for you and that my power is made perfect in your weakness.” There are many people who debate what exactly the issue was. Whether the issue was a physical infirmity that affected Paul or a character flaw Paul was working on is irrelevant. I am impressed by Paul’s consistent humility displayed throughout his letters and his ability to be transparent, even to the point of admitting his faults and issues. Keep in mind that in his letters, he is opening up to his own church members, people who he had stood as a leader and spiritual guide to, something you see very rarely in the lives of pastors today. Too often, instead of admitting weakness, leaders have to defend themselves if an issue is brought to their attention.  I have sat and listened with a close ear to many pastors and leaders about the problems they are having in their ministry and the issues that surround people in their church. In the short 35 years of my life, I can probably count on my hand the times within those conversations that a particular pastor took responsibility and owned up to his own problems, insecurities and weaknesses. Not always, but most often, the blame is shifted upon the people.  It is like a parent that is afraid to admit they are wrong to their kids and ask for forgiveness.  I learned early on in ministry that most people will respect you even more when you admit wrong. Blame shifting just puts others on the defensive and you will ultimately loose all credibility with them.

While I was in college, I was part of a team that pioneered a college worship meeting called “Upper Room”.  The worship in our college community was changing. This was during the 90’s when worship songs had just hit mainstream America and many young people were embracing a different style of music in church outside of the traditional hymns and organ they were used to. A group of us were asked to take over the student weekly worship meeting and bring a fresh vision and format to the campus.  Needless to say, the Lord did a mighty thing that year bringing hundreds on our campus to a new experience with God through worship.  There was a freedom that had probably not been experienced for a long time.  There was prayer for healing, lifting hands, different expressions of worship…even dancing!

One time I had a prophetic word for a family that was visiting.  There would often be off campus visitors coming to check out the move of God in our midst. The family and others seemed to be blessed and encouraged by the message. The content of the word I do not remember, however during our debrief meeting some of the leadership felt that the manner in which I gave the word was inappropriate and concerned some others.  I felt it was delivered well and judging from the reaction of the family they were totally blessed!  The leaders asked me to share an apology at the next meeting in front of the people.  I remember wrestling with this for a few days, but eventually came to see how I could have done things differently and agreed to share an apology, not for what I said, but for how it was done.  One of my fears was that the people would lose respect for me, maybe even diminishing the ministry of the word by admitting fault.  However, it had the exact opposite effect.  I found that not only did the respect of my fellow leaders increase but the worshippers were able to receive the word with more security after they saw that I was able to admit my weaknesses and also accountable to the rest of the team.

People can see right through the walls you build.  I believe God wants his leaders to become transparent and vulnerable with the people once again.  Sometimes you might even be totally “right” in a situation but that issue, in and of itself, becomes the very stake in the ground you place before you, that person and group of people.  Your need for being right begins to become this huge beam in your eye that creates a blindness that you can’t even see anymore.  It takes a leader of great maturity and stature to be able to concede sometimes, even when they are right and especially when they are wrong.

Just to illustrate the point even further, I will share another experience where I feared loosing my “official” credibility. Believe it or not, I used to umpire little league baseball in high school.  If you know anything about me, I am not a sports guy and have no business umping baseball.  I do not even know the rules!  One summer in high school I had a friend that pulled a few strings to get me a summer job.  At a game one time, I was calling balls strikes and strikes fair all night.  A young kid stepped up to the plate and hit a line drive which I called foul.  His father sitting in the bleachers jumped off his seat and was furious.  I knew by the speed at which he was coming at me, that he was not happy.  Needless to say he got in my face in disagreement.  Deep in my heart I knew he was right, however to cover my authority as an umpire I could not renege the call.  I ended up throwing him off the field.  Some leaders are like the umpire that makes a bad call, but sticks to his call because he doesn’t want to lose credibility with the people. We have to be willing to take off our umpire mask, humble ourselves and allow the power of God to be made perfect in our weaknesses.

The things I mention in this section may or may not apply to you.  If they apply to you, it is only to help you to become a better leader and to move away any blockages that might be hindering your effectiveness to advance what the kingdom of God is really about.  If this does not apply to you, then maybe you might even know someone who carries these attributes.  Reading this may help you to put your finger on some of the ideas and thoughts that you see might need to be addressed with them. Either way, getting in line with, not only the pattern of Biblical leadership, but also the correct attitude of Godly leadership, will create a freedom and peace amongst the church overall that will launch us into a revolution of church life not seen before.  As long as we are open, God can do amazing things.  But one thing God will not do is force himself on a closed heart.

Another thing I have witnessed in lots of churches is a leader that is unapproachable.  Some leaders are so unapproachable, not even their wife or family can touch them!  It is almost like a mafia mentality, or a wall or barrier that some leaders put around themselves to protect something.  They may have been wounded by people in the past or been burned by sheep doing some “ankle biting”. We all do it.  You have vowed to yourself that it will never happen again, even if you have to close yourself off to your own people whom you love so much.  Situations like this create a ministry centered around an individual that leads from a distance.  The leader is protected from looking bad and is upheld by an image which is usually fake.  If the leader is wrong, makes mistakes or otherwise the people are expected to not say anything.

Why is there so much cover-up?  What are you hiding dear leader?  Do you not know that God sees your every move and knows even the intents of your heart?  Your motivations are searched by He Himself?  You might be able to fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool God.  I am not suggesting that every church leader entrust their life to any stranger off of the street.  Even Jesus himself didn’t entrust himself to people.  Your trust and your strength lie in God and God alone. However, it is time to come out from behind the image.  You are not a celebrity and the time of celebrities, especially in the American church, is coming to a close.

I have also seen some church leaders that use bodyguards!  Talk about a lack of vulnerability!  I understand that for some preachers, they have gained so much influence that they become powerful and the more power you possess, the more people may attack you. If you legitimately have a need for security, then by all means we must keep people safe. However, I am referring to pastors I’ve seen who are less than influential and still require an entourage. I am less concerned about the desire to block off people as I am about the practice of church leaders blocking off their character and heart from being checked. Church leaders are commanded in scripture to be available, approachable and checkable. We, as the church, must be able to see the manner of life of those who desire to lead us. How else will we really be able to imitate them as they imitate Christ?

This unapproachable attitude has to go.  Jesus set the perfect example for all of us to follow. Jesus did not wait for people to pursue Him, He pursued people.  Before Jesus commissioned His disciples to work for Him, He called His own disciples to intimately be with Him.  While they were working as fishermen, He called them.  And when He called them, He told them to leave what they were doing.  Jesus pursued people and so should we as leaders.  No matter how much the cost or the price of vulnerability is to pay.   The word “ministry” means service.  A good leader is not hiding behind an office door or a group of thugs.  They are right there with the people, in the dirt, raising up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty.  They are able to show people who they really are and in fact, it is their tailor made personality that God uses to display His glory, weakness and all.

Matthew 23:11 “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Woe to you, teachers of the law, and Pharisees, you hypocrites!”

Jesus said that if you want to be great in the kingdom of God, then you must become the servant of them all.  The role of a church leader is first and foremost to serve the people.  This does not mean that they are doormats and get walked all over.  This means that they exist in God’s house to equip the PEOPLE for the work of the ministry.  Too many churches have it the other way around.  The result is usually a “one man show.”  People come to be entertained by a personality.  The result is often a show, not church.

God has put His leaders in charge to come under God’s people, to support them, to feed them and care for them, not to play political games and be shot callers or ballers.  As I have stated previously, a large part of the problem has to do with an improper structure of the church.  The church in America is largely led by pastors who have become personalities, something that, from the Bible’s standpoint, was never meant to be.

For many, the position of leadership has become nothing more than a job for seminary students. Lost in the realm of academia is the sense of calling and purpose.  Christian universities pump out professional church leaders every year, many of whom which are disenchanted and disheartened when they find that much of what we call church is nothing more than a nonprofit business.  This has created a culture of leaders that has the church from top to bottom in a mess.

Leadership in God’s house is a privilege, a calling, and not a job.  Somehow, we have turned church leadership into a professional position.  I am disgusted to see advertisements for professional pastors and other positions in the back of Christian magazines and job boards. If you read some of these “job descriptions” it usually sounds less like a lover of souls and more like the CEO of a fortune 500 company.

I read something a while ago on a bookmark I found that kind of summed up my feelings.  It said something along the lines of “a job is something you do in expectation of a check at the end of the week. A ministry is something you do without expecting anything in return.”  A pastor is a pastor with or without a paycheck and with or without a title or recognition.  I do not carry around my “Prophet” business card in my pocket to hand out to other people at church networking events and I certainly do not see anyone requesting a resumé for a prophet to come to their church.

There are no such things as “sabbaticals” or vacations for those who are called in church leadership.  If you are a pastor, you pastor people wherever you go.  It is your calling, your life commitment.  If you are an evangelist, you are constantly sharing the good news whether on staff with a paid position or not.  If you are a prophet you are saturating yourself in prayer, listening for the voice of God to speak to you. The essence of a “calling” means what it says.  The calling calls you, you cannot take a break from it or do something other than that which you are “called” to.  I cannot imagine the Apostle Peter telling the rest of the disciples that a good vacation would do him and the family some good for the next year.  I especially could not see Peter telling Jesus that!  I am not arguing against recreation or a balanced ministry life.  I am all for church leaders receiving rest and relaxation, especially for all they do.  What I am trying to highlight is the error of those who classify their position merely as a job.  Those that require a certain dollar amount, or lavish accommodations can be classified as hirelings.

There is no such thing as being “hired” to serve Jesus.  I have personally seen the concept of “hiring and firing” in the church cause so much hurt and damage to emerging leaders.  Along with money attached to these positions, so are certain political expectations.  Some churches even have quarterly reviews similar to that of a corporate environment.  Is there really any price on the privilege of being able to serve God’s people?

My reward as a church leader is the people I lead. There is no price tag placed upon them.  They are the reason giving my life to the cause of Jesus Christ makes it all worth while.  They are stock into which I choose to place my investment of time, money, prayer and my very heart and soul.  Jesus gave his blood for this precious people.  He did not lay his life down for ministry positions, or programs so the church can have a great organizational structure.  He gave His blood unreservedly, without evaluating the cost.  This is the true example of ministry.  A church leader that is called by God understands that they could never be fired by an elder board or committee.  They could never be stripped of their authority, because their calling and authority was not given by men, but given by God Himself.  Ephesians 4 says that God Himself has set into the church His own leadership structure.  He does not look for them on Monster.com.  They are forged within the fire of adversity, identifying with both the death and resurrection of Christ himself.  They cannot be bought with 30 pieces of silver and will not compromise their office for the sake of status or salary. Unattached, they are able to lead with a full force of love and commitment to the one who gives the instructions from the heavenly throne room.

Chapter 6

Consumer Church

I would like to take a moment to discuss the structure of church.  There is a big discussion today about the model of church changing and the patterns of which we do things evolving into something more organic and fluid. I think there was a big movement in the 90’s that was part of something God was doing in the modern church. Many people, rightly wanting more, desired to be a part of a more lively, relevant and bigger church experience. This resulted in the mega-church boom of the 90’s, that in some ways still continues to this day. Many of these churches became so huge that they felt the need to become more programmed, more organized and more structured. Instead of growing deep, these churches tend to grow wide with access to large resources and housed in campus type buildings driven by a “brand name” type of model.

I am not bashing mega-churches, that’s not my goal here, but I would like to point out how God is stirring the change within his church for today. The Lord is moving us away from experiencing church simply as an institution and breaking us out of the form of church into an organic expression. God, today, wants His church free from limits, boundaries, and forms. The church must spill out from the upper room and begin to permeate society, transforming communities and bringing revival to cities and nations. The current patterns of church make it difficult for many of these things to happen. We must keep in step with the Spirit and understand that God might have moved previously in an old pattern, but that doesn’t mean he is using this same pattern today.

God is changing the face of the church. He is restoring the biblical, organic nature of the church in order to accomplish what His plan has been all along, to fill the earth with His glory. I am well aware of other books that have addressed this topic well, so I will not spend too much time laboring on it.  Men like Frank Viola, Neil Cole and Alan Hirsh, among others, have done a more sufficient job in stripping away the institutional baggage of church and explain how new wineskins are required for new wine. I would recommend their books if you are looking to be sharply challenged in your thinking.

The truth is brothers and sisters, if we were to put a corporate business side by side with a church in today’s culture, you would be hard pressed to find much of a difference.  For example, you will find both have extensive marketing plans, both have CEO type figures and both are driven more by the demands of consumers.  In many of these types of churches, relationships are largely based on your connection to the organization, just like your affiliation with a job would be. Leave the church, loose the relationships. This has to cause us to wonder how deep these relationships really go in the first place!

When it comes to money, churches have to manage large expenses that take away from the main focus as well. According to a 2009 report produced by Christianity Today, “salaries and wages comprise the largest expense in church operating budgets at 38%. A distant second is building expense at 12%”[3]

We spend so much time, energy and resources keeping the “institution” of church going that we have seemed to have lost perspective on what is really important.

I have even seen in some cases where churches have partnered with corporate sponsorship to allow their people to be marketed to.  I am talking about Coca-Cola billboards in the auditorium, Starbucks in Sunday School and Abercrombie and Fitch marketed to the youth group! The sheep have been treated as if they are simply a demographic.  This is largely a reflection of our American culture of corporate conglomerates and consumer society. Many simply attend church to see what they can get…and we feed into this by giving them exactly what they want instead of proclaiming to them what they need.

The reason for all this is because spiritual slumber has fallen upon many in such churches. Because of spiritual anemia, we simply do not have the spiritual strength to fight this or to stand up and put a stop to it.  We have caught the spirit of the world and have become partakers with those who’s belly is their appetite.  In other words, they consume, consume and consume some more.

Philippians 3:19 “Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things.

In churches who catch a worldly spirit, you will find a large focus on earthly things.  The mention of spiritual blessings and dynamics of the spirit realm is almost unheard. Yet carnal Christians can tell you about the latest fashion or who got voted out on the last episode of American Idol. They cannot name to you the 10 commandments or reference much of what is in the Bible. Half of them do not believe in the Bible as a book of truth and many have no clue about foundational aspects of their own faith. I have no specific references for you here, but the statistics are publicly available through George Barna if you want them. Or you can simply ask the average church goer to confirm my point. It is that desperate. The church that bows the knee to the culture of the world will be filled with worldliness and flashy presentation for the purpose to appeal to the soul and flesh of a person.

For some reason, we seem to believe that a person can be truly transformed under the influence of a moving song or eloquent speech!  Speeches ARE powerful.  They can cause us to think.  They make us reflect and give us information, but unless the presentation given is from a source of REVELATION, it will be largely ineffective to turn a heart toward God.  Ultimately it is the Spirit of God that draws a person.  Institutional churches depend on the human element to draw men instead of a demonstration of the power of God. This is one clear distinction between Spirit-filled churches and those that have fallen into the trap of church in a box.

One of the ways the enemy tricks churches into becoming institutions is by removing the spirit of prophesy, which is the testimony of Jesus. (Rev 19:10) Once prophecy is removed from the church and not allowed to operate, the church begins to set into the status quo and go unchallenged, unprovoked and slipping toward the patterns of the world.  The call of the world becomes more appealing than the call of God. The call of God shakes a person to the core of their being.  It appeals to the very reason why they were created and the seed of destiny inside them. Prophesy will call people back to the standard of God’s word and the level of relationship with God that He is worthy of. We must wake up out of this slumber, stop being consumers and become the blessing to the nations of the world as God had intended!  The challenge today is reform. There is centuries of tradition that has taken root. God wants to tear down the traditions that violate the commandments of God and that have immobilized His people.

Chapter 7

Humility: The Key To Unity

When God looks at the earth what do you think He sees? Do you think He sees his church in different colors, different denominations or different locations? I believe that when God looks in a city, He only sees one group of people when it comes to the church. He only sees hearts and those who are truly sold out to Him. He doesn’t look at denominational divides, cultural differences or external name badges. He sees one church, one body and one family.

From our perspective things do not seem to look this way at all. There are all kinds of fleshly divides between churches. We have differences over doctrines. We have arguments over personality, leadership style and worship music. We even disagree over how to disagree! The question is this: what can we do to start moving forward together instead of separating?

I believe God’s heart is for pastors and church leaders to begin to work together in cities.  We have a long way to go, but we must start somewhere. How is this going to happen?  I think we need to begin with humility. The scriptures have plenty to say on having the attitude of humility. Phillipians 2 is the classic passage on humility:

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…” Philippians 2:1-6

Humility is not thinking of yourself as less than you are. Humility is having an accurate assessment of who God says you are. A person that has confidence in himself, his calling and who he is will have no problem stepping down to meet people where they are at, even if it is from a high position of authority. Paul is telling the Philippian church to be one in spirit and purpose. How can we be one in spirit and purpose? We can foster this by considering others as better than ourselves. This is almost a foreign concept in an era when churches feel they have the corner on truth. Having a humble attitude, just as Christ did by laying down his power and authority to come as a man, will go a long way with people.

One of the ways we can exercise this on a local level is to begin to humble ourselves and reach out to build relationships with local leaders. No matter how high profile a pastor might be or how small his congregation might be, we must begin to humble ourselves and communicate with one another. Without humility, there cannot be any progress.

Second, we can make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called -- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:1-6

There is that word humble again. Paul is constantly reminding the church to be completely humble and gentle. We also see here that keeping the unity of the Spirit is accomplished through the bond of peace. Wars between churches have destroyed the bond of peace. There should not even be a hint of fighting, arguments or division between churches of a local city. If we cannot exist together peaceably, how can we even begin to move toward a greater unity of faith? This includes avoiding attacks against each other that are over minor issues, gossip and second hand information. The bond of peace expresses the idea that we are bonded together through a common peace that we have with God and one another. If God has awarded us individually peace through Christ Jesus, how could I not award my brother, who is also Christ’s peace as well?

I do, however, permit for some things must be brought into the open between churches. False teaching, immorality and lack of moral character among leaders must be brought out into the open and in most cases done publicly. Paul told the Corinthian church that there must be divisions among them so they could see who was in and who was out.2 However, differences that are a matter of interpretations or misunderstandings must be eliminated in order to keep the bond of peace.

Becoming humble and keeping the bond of peace is just a beginning. I believe what God requires, based upon his Word, is that the church ultimately would come into a unity of faith. That means that we would not only be one in Spirit, but also actually begin to believe and speak the same things.  The book of Revelation speaks of a church in which they speak the same language, having the same heart and mind.  John calls her the voice of many waters before the throne of God.

“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: 'Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.’” Rev. 19:6

I live in a city where there is a church on every corner.  There is a Lutheran church on one corner, an Episcopalian church on one corner, a Church of Christ on another corner and a Presbyterian church on the other.  Literally.  I often wonder what they are thinking when we are supposed to be part of the body of Christ, but are so segregated on a Sunday morning.  I wonder how much money each of those churches wastes to maintain their buildings.  I also wonder what needs each individual church has that could potentially be met by the other churches.  I wonder what would happen if the churches decided to sell their buildings (or use them for some greater need) and all meet together in one place.  Could you imagine how the dynamics of church life would change?  Could you imagine the impact on the community?

By selling the property, the church could possibly provide financial assistance to the poor in the church or outside the church.  One church may have a need for several school teachers, which could be provided by working together instead of each church building its own ministry.  Maybe the leaders need a break from doing all of the preaching and could disperse the load a little bit amongst the other leaders?  Doesn’t this look a little bit more like the “one body, many parts” the Bible talks about or am I just dreaming?  If it happened, it would probably make the news.  What about baptism?  What about communion?  What about healing the sick and the charismatic gifts?

Much of the problem is simply a lack of humility, stubbornness and an unwillingness to change. Denominations are usually started when God did something great in history and the church became frozen in that particular move of God.  When God wanted the church to embrace His next move, rather than allow the next generation to rise up, or the next move of his Spirit to occur, the church digs in for safety and begins to draw lines with creeds and doctrines.  A.W. Tozer said it best,

“The treacherous enemy facing the church of Jesus Christ today is the dictatorship of the routine, when the routine becomes 'lord’ in the life of the church. Programs are organized and the prevailing conditions are accepted as normal. Anyone can predict next Sunday's service and what will happen. This seems to be the most deadly threat in the church today. When we come to the place where everything can be predicted and nobody expects anything unusual from God, we are in a rut. The routine dictates, and we can tell not only what will happen next Sunday, but what will occur next month and, if things do not improve, what will take place next year. Then we have reached the place where what has been determines what is, and what is determines what will be.”

Unity within the city will foster accountability to one another, support, encouragement and refreshment. Many leaders nowadays have no sense of accountability to therest of the body of Christ at large and do not feel they need to.  They only choose be accountable to people who will agree with them, which is no real accountability at all. How can I really be accountable to someone who always will side with me and tell me what I want to hear?  Isn’t it better to be accountable to people who will help steer me when I am off or help me make changes in areas in which I possibly don’t see?  Accountability is based on relationship and the lack of unity in the body of Christ world wide is large in part due to a lack of relationship with one another.

Even something as simple as a Lutheran pastor becoming friends with a Catholic priest may spark a world of change in the life of a person.  Let us not begin changing doctrines just yet, but let us start by building upon the true foundation which, last I checked, is supposed to be Jesus Christ.

Chapter 8

Rumbling At the Gates: Releasing Future Leaders

All these issues within leadership leads to a problem that affects the generations. It is a sad commentary on a person’s life when he has become a faithful attender of church, but yet has lived his life unfulfilled and gifts wasted or unused for God. William Ross Wallace once said: "Every man dies - Not every man really lives.” As it stands, there are many future leaders locked up within the gates of some churches.  In order to pass the baton to the next generation of emerging leaders we must begin to raise them up, equip them and give them a full release into their ministry.

It reminds me of the time as a college student where I was visiting the Cook County Jail doing ministry with some friends from South Park Church in Park Ridge, Illinois.  Every Friday night we would call the inmates down to the barber shop area to share our testimonies with them about the saving power of Jesus Christ and the power to overcome.  Oh how the presence of God would fill that room there!  Most nights the room would be packed wall to wall with drug addicts, murderers, thieves and sexual predators.  Without any instruments, the inmates would begin to get a rhythm going on their seats as if they were playing the drums and begin to sing their prison songs with all their hearts.  I had come to minister to them, but they were the ones really ministering to me.

I remember standing up to share my testimony or something from the Word of God and seeing the potential leaders, pastors, worship leaders, prophets and evangelists locked up behind bars.  Just as there were many called men behind bars in the Cook County Jail, so there are many called men and women of God locked up behind the four walls of the church.  They aren’t being raised up and they aren’t being given opportunity to be released into their callings.  It’s almost as if we have skipped a generation somewhere.  Sometimes it’s because of a lack of security on the part of the leader. Sometimes its a demonic assignment against that person who may bring collateral damage to the world of darkness. They enemy is bent on keeping God’s people in captivity, religious enslavement and comfort to prevent them from any potential impact that could be made through an individual with a strong calling and anointing on their life. Some pastors feel threatened that an individual under them could actually be more successful than they are.  So in an effort to continue their addiction to be needed, they will sabotage a person’s destiny. I know this sounds crazy, but it happens all the time. Leaders must be aware of the spirit of competition that operates within themselves and within their church. It must be dealt with humility, grace and the Lordship of Jesus.

The sound from this future generation of leaders is rumbling at the gates in the Spirit.  They are a mighty generation that will do much for the kingdom of God, and because of this the gates of hell are trying to hold them back.  The enemy knows what he is doing and we are not to be ignorant of his devices.  (2 Cor. 2:11)

If you are a leader reading this book, ask yourself, “Who are the future leaders in my church that I can clearly see an anointing upon their lives?”  Next, ask yourself, “What am I doing to train them and give them opportunity?”  These future leaders need to be fathered, cared for, trained up and released.  And when I say released, I mean a full release, not whip lash.  I call it “spiritual whip lash” when a leader gives an individual a certain level of release and then keeps reigning them in.  The leader continues to have their hands in the work so they eventually pull them back.  They release them again, then pull back again.  Its like fly fishing in church!  Future leaders need to be recognized and fully released, supported and backed to do exactly it is what God has put in their hearts to do.  Future leaders don’t need to be released into independence, they just need to be trusted.  A full release into ministry should include the following:

1. Public recognition by leadership and the church. This includes prayer ministry and a laying on of hands by those who carry spiritual authority. The work and ministry should be clearly defined and declared for the rest of the church to identify and acknowledge so there is no misunderstanding.

2. Financial support if necessary. Depending on the scope of work or the job that the Lord requires of that individual, ideally the church would financially support the ministry of the person if possible. I fully understand that some churches are not able to do this or may be able to do this in some capacity, but any and all help should be available for the individual to fulfill their ministry duties.

3. Ongoing support and accountability. Rather than “regulating” a person in ministry, the individual should receive on going support, prayer and relationship. Many people are set into ministry as a formal religious practice with no followup or ongoing support from those who had been a part of the process. It is also important to see those released give reports back to the supporting church or to continue to stay connected for times of refreshment and fellowship.

God’s heart is to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."  Malachi 4:5-6

This verse speaks of the hearts of natural fathers being turned to their natural sons. Yet, we can also relate this same principle to spiritual fathers and sons. Notice it begins with the hearts of fathers. Many spiritual fathers expect the heart of the son to be turned toward them first before they will take interest. Yet, the responsibility begins with spiritual fathers. These are the mature ones who will take the time, energy and resources to invest in a future generation. Much of the turning of hearts will take place once leaders take the initiative.

Sometimes the issue isn’t with the leaders and often times there is so much rebellion in future leaders that they do not listen.  There is often lack of patience, youthful lust and immaturity within a younger person. This is not to say that these young ones should be held back in any way. Again, operating in the context of relationship, we can fix these things and properly see the future leaders and generation of sons and daughters released to their full potential.

Releasing people not only includes those who are future church leaders, but also includes those in other areas of life and culture.  Leaders need to make room for artists, business people and others in their church.  If you have a successful business person in your congregation, why isn’t that person helping other small businesses succeed in some capacity?  Unfortunately, most marketplace ministers go to places outside the church to become mentored and raised up.  Most of our Sunday morning meetings are not conducive for artists, business people, or athletes.

What if your gift is painting?  Is there room for you to express yourself and bring your gift in some way to the church?  I have suggested several times for leaders to find the artist in their congregation and allow them to display their paintings throughout the church.  For some, It’s way too out of the box and unfortunately the artists feel isolated and ignored, maybe even stifled.  I give credit to those leaders who are releasing the creative arts and futures leaders up in ministry.  This is part of the rumbling and the revolution taking place today in the church.

We must become a “sending church” once again, where instead of holding on to all of our leaders for dear life, we are raising them up, recognizing them by the Holy Spirit and launching them to their full potential in God.  We can accomplish much more exponentially than we can with one person running the whole show.  If we ever want to take cities and nations for Christ, we are going to have to mobilize leaders properly without the fear of them going further than we are.  A good leader will want to see the person with them go farther and do more for Christ than they could ever do alone.  Even Jesus was so secure that he told his disciples they would do greater works than he had done.  Astounding!

Chapter 9

Developing A Culture of Giving

It has been said that the New Testament talks about money just as often as any other subject in the Bible. Although God lives in an immaterial realm, money and material possessions are a serious subject to God. I believe the reason is because the way we handle money, in most cases, is a reflection of ourselves.  Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”  Matthew 6:19-24

Usually you can tell where a person’s heart is by looking at where they spend their money.  Where you put your time, energy and resources is what you ultimately make a priority. For example, if you truly believe that education is a top priority for your children, you will invest your time, energy and resources into education. If you see your relationship with God as a priority, you will spend time, energy and resources fostering that relationship with God. Our time is one of the most valuable resources we have, and in our finite human existence, time often equates to money.

We often think of money as just a material object, but money is more than just paper. We must begin to understand the spiritual significance of money. Along with money comes attitudes, emotions and spiritual significance. Our attitude towards money and how we save, spend or steward it is often tied into our motives, heart and patterns of thinking.

When we think of money, a few immaterial subjects come to mind.  Power, influence, control, fame and status are just to name a few.  These are the subjects attached to money.  Money alone is an amoral object.  It is neither good nor evil.  Money can produce a world of positive change to solve many of the world’s problems (No pun intended.) Money can also produce a world of hurt when it becomes misused and mistreated.

My mom did her best to raise me, but in a single mother situation where money was tight, I was not taught to respect money. It was not because my mother was a bad parent, it was just because often there was never enough money to respect in the first place. As a young man, when I got some money in my pocket, it seemed like there were holes in the bottom. That’s because as soon as the money was earned, the money was spent on what ever I laid my eyes on that I wanted at the time.  Now, those were my days of immaturity.  I, through some hard lessons of life, have come to understand that money is not something you want to play around with for good or for bad.  I’ve learned to respect money.  I even made it a point to “apologize” to money because I had abused it in the past. Over the years I have learned that what you respect will move toward you and what you abuse, will move away from you.  This applies to a number of situations, including money.

There are many sub issues involved in money such as debt, tithing, giving and investing. Some of these I don’t feel qualified to speak on; however I feel the Lord wants to deal with the overall subject of money and our attitudes toward it in church.

There is certainly enough in scripture to teach us the kingdom way to view and handle money.  If there is anything we must understand in the church it is how to handle money correctly and responsibly.  Because of the flashiness of some ministers and preachers, there has been a huge misappropriation of money in the church.  To become a more credible witness to the world and to answer global issues such as world hunger, poverty and financial problems, the church must stop playing games with money.  Lets be honest: many people have negative perceptions of church because of a negative perception of how leaders have handled money. Our slick marketing campaigns and telethon fundraising efforts have been great ammunition for those who are looking for an excuse not to become a Christian. Often our view of money has simply not been compatible with the teachings of simplicity, compassion and generosity that Jesus our master taught himself.

An obvious example of this contradiction is the look and feel of our churches themselves. The churches in America look more like retail malls than places to connect with God.  Just the other day I saw an advertisement for a church on a city bus. The title of the series this church was promoting was “Authentic Jesus.”  I thought to myself, “How ironic.”  The last place to find Jesus is posted up on an advertisement poster on the side of a transit bus.  Not to mention, Jesus does not need to be promoted as authentic.  Could He be anything else?

Especially in America, we are guilty of this more than any other nation.  A religion called capitalism has taken the place of Baal in our nation.  We will capitalize on everything and anything that moves, even on God’s people, the sheep of his pasture.  It’s called “pimping the church.”  With the amount of money and resources going into some of these multimillion dollar ministries, it makes the average Christian wonder why he can hardly put a dent in the spiritual atmosphere in their communities.  The worldly capitalism which I speak against is one in which the ends justify the means, where results become more important than the reason why we do things.  It should not be so in the church!  I believe in hard work, innovative business and ethical entrepreneurship.  I also believe the church needs to release businessmen and train them up with integrity so they can be effective in using their wealth for the kingdom of God.

Please don’t misunderstand me: I am not against prosperity, far from it. We have to be careful to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. It takes money to keep the lights on, to send preachers out, and to help those in need.  However, I would like to spend more money on authentic evangelism programs than just advertising.  God created the best marketing program ever and it has been working for the past 2000 years.  It is called word of mouth evangelism, and it costs less.  We used to call it “evangelism” or even “witnessing”.  But in a society so blessed with money, we would rather pay a poster to tell people about Jesus than go out ourselves as Jesus commanded us.  Why do we believe that people would just one day wake up and actually want to go to our churches anyway, void of personal relationships?  God’s plan for the church is to go out to where THEY are and the gates of hell should not prevail against us.

On the opposite spectrum, there are those in the Body of Christ that actually believe it is God’s will to be poor or it is okay to be poor without taking into account some of the reasons poverty exists. Some actually take vows of poverty.  This religious error has led those in church to have a poverty mentality.  Someone with a poverty mentality fears the responsibility of becoming rich.  They only buy what they need and end up hoarding things to themselves.  This mentality is far from the truth of all provision given by God through his son Jesus.  Prosperity is actually part of our spiritual birthright in Christ.

In the chapters following we will discuss both the problem of the lust of money and also the problem with the lack of money.  For the lack of money is also the root of all evils in our society.  Mother Theresa once said that America is one of the richest nations in the world, but most spiritually bankrupt.  I find that those who chase after material things are the poorest spiritually, because if you were to see how rich you already are in Christ, there would be no need to chase after anything.

Chapter 10

Greed: The Enemy of God

When I was in our Jr. High youth group we used to play this game called “Bigger and Better.”  The way it worked was that each team started off with a small twenty-five cent pack of gum.  The object of the game was to go from house to house, knock on doors and ask someone to trade you something bigger or better in exchange for your twenty-five cent pack of gum.  You would continue to trade until a time limit is up and meet back at the church to see the crazy things people come back hauling.  I remember people coming back with refrigerators, couches and other furniture.  In some ways the “bigger and better” exemplifies the prevalent attitude with our churches these days. If it is not big, it is not successful.

It is completely ironic that I am even writing about the subject of greed when I am living in the wealthiest country in the whole world.  I have a modest apartment that my wife and I live in. My refrigerator is packed with food.  I have the choice of what clothes to wear and if I need medical attention there are two or three hospitals in my own town.  I am very fortunate, and very blessed to have such privileges.  I can’t recall, but I remember reading somewhere that 80% of the wealth of the world resides in our country where only 30% of the people actually live in the world.  Something is truly wrong with this picture.  There are different debates ranging from politics to religion on why a particular country is blessed financially or not.  Some people would even say that the reason for prosperity in America is because it is a Christian nation.

There is no denying America is a great nation where people are provided with opportunity to go to school, work and become successful.  Yet America, along with every other nation, still needs to bow to the knee to Jesus.  To think that since the founding fathers of our country were seemingly Christians does not automatically indicate that a nation is a Christian nation. It is often debatable whether or not our founding fathers were in fact Christians or not to begin with. So the correlation goes out the window.

The world’s system is bent on resisting the rule of King Jesus.  One of the enemies of God is greed. Where there is greed, there is lust and a consumer mentality.  Unfortunately, because of an effort to become relevant, the spirit of the world has seeped into the church in America. Instead of influencing the world, we allow the world to influence us. Along with other worldly attributes, greed has crept in as one of them.

Recently a local church here in the Chicagoland area spent over 1 million dollars creating a wing of the church that would be dedicated for youth, with the works included. The 1 million was spent with on video games, a coffee bar, high tech lighting and a mega sound system.  Some people might ask “what’s wrong with that?”  My answer to that is a biblical one.

James  1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

As long as there are single moms in the church struggling to pay their rent and put food on the table and as long as there are widows and poor that need help, the church has no right to waste such resources.  Only when there becomes no need in the church can we safely steward God’s money to build ourselves a mega youth center.  I am not questioning this church’s desire for outreach or the spiritual significance of a youth center. What I am trying to highlight is our priorities.

If the early church is any example for us, we must recognize a profound selflessness of this church:

“There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales…” Acts 4:34

They had all things in common, meaning that they shared resources. Being in community in such a way really revolutionizes our thinking. Of course, this doesn’t gel with our capitalistic Christianity that is anti-sharing, anti-distribution and anti-participation.  Our hard work and earnings are safely guarded by so called “financial wisdom.” I’m not a political communist, but I am challenged by the culture of generosity the early members of the church possessed. It is almost foreign to us.

This is especially frustrating when God has commanded the blessing upon his people to be transferred over to the nations of the earth.  We are blessed to be a blessing! (Gen. 22:18) Are you part of a “bless me club?”  This term comes from church members who keep the blessing in close knit circles.  Maybe they keep it too close!  They pray for each other, prophesy over each other and have little to no contact with the real world.  Sometimes we even place conditions on our giving to the poor to manipulate them to come to church. When we do this we often pat ourselves on the back only to feed into the delusion that we are really expanding God’s Kingdom. Our prosperity should first come to our own lives to provide for our needs, and then secondly spill over to effect the community and the rest of the world. Our baby boomer fathers and mothers seem to want to have everything bigger and better.

Do I really want the first thing people come into contact with at my church to be a bookstore or slick coffee shop?  What does that communicate to visitors, the lost or new Christians about God?  Our churches should reflect the glory of Him, not the glory of the dollar and great businesses.  It seems that nothing is sacred anymore.  Our meeting rooms used to be called “sanctuaries,” a place which was believed to be holy and set apart for the presence of God to dwell.  Now we come to church with Starbucks in hand and to show off our new outfits from Abercrombie and Fitch.  More often than not, our Sunday morning experience seems to be more about a show for others to see than about lifting our eyes to heaven to experience vertical worship.

We all know God does not dwell in buildings and the idea of sacred space is passé. Yet there has to be more to our spirituality than shallow consumerism.  There has to be more than this.  Think of what could be done with our million dollar church budgets to affect communities, cities and regions of the world.

Have you heard of Tony Robbins?  He is a national motivational speaker and well known as a powerful communicator and motivator.  His story began on Thanksgiving when his family couldn’t afford a decent meal.  A charity worker came by and donated food to them.  The reaction and embarrassment on the faces of his parents awoke something in Tony and on that day he decided that he would never face the embarrassment of having to rely upon charity again and instead vowed that he would become a provider for those in need.  He now feeds more than a quarter million people every Thanksgiving through his foundation that hands out Thanksgiving baskets.  Tony Robbins, every Thanksgiving, feeds enough people to fill a whole city.  Yes, I said it, a whole city in California.

The reason I tell this story is to give an example of what one person can do.  This is one person, not a Christian (as far as I know), and he is feeding a city single handedly.  This is embarrassing!  Not all of the church is guilty of this. I admit there are very generous mega churches in America who donate thousands, if not millions, to help the needy and those who are marginalized. Yet I still have to point out that to whom much is given, much is required. Before we consider increasing our spending on our latest building project, could there be better use of such a powerful opportunity creator such as money?

Wealth is not bad.  Who doesn’t like nice clothes? I believe all God’s children should be dressed like the lilies of the field.  However, our wealth and financial success must go beyond making us apathetic.  We must become givers.  Extreme givers at that!  We have a responsibility, being the most blessed nation in the world, to become the most charitable organization on the planet.  Our giving should revolutionize cities and countries.  We are called to be “wealth distribution centers” in which the money is distributed throughout the world for the sake of God’s glory.  Too much of God’s wealth is clogged up in local churches.  The result is a greed mentality resulting in poverty.

Sell Your Possessions

Luke 12:33 “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.  Provide yourselves with purses that do not wear out-a treasure in heaven that never decreases, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys”

I love Jesus don’t you?  I love Him because of the truth He hit people with right between the eyes.  I don’t find Jesus pulling punches with people.  Yes, He told parables to the general crowds, but at times, it seems that with certain people, He wanted to make Himself clear.  God is a radical God.  He is extreme in all He does.  Jesus didn’t tell us to just give what we have left to the poor.  No, He told us to sell all we have.  When I first read this scripture, I was stunned.  I tried to justify myself in keeping my possessions.  I said to myself, “Surely Jesus isn’t being literal here.”  The bad news is, I don’t see how anyone could ever take this scripture out of context.  He meant what He said folks.  Not only did He mean what He said, but He lived it, taught it and His disciples lived it out as well in the early church.  They had all things in common together and no one had need among them.

There were certain folks in the church that literally sold their homes and brought the money to the apostle’s feet for the various needs in the church.  We must note that one certain couple even fell dead, not because they didn’t give.  No, they fell dead because they lied about how much they gave. (Acts 5) God wanted it all then and He wants it all now.  It all belongs to Him anyway.  We are simply stewards of the wealth He does bless us with.

Chapter 11

Going From Default to Surplus

Money is not the problem.  In fact, money, when used for righteousness, can be a powerful influence to bring change. Money itself is a neutral object to be either used for good or used for bad.  Someone even said that the only difference between the rich and poor is that the rich sin better!  What scripture does tell us is that the LOVE of money is the root of all types of evil. (1Timothy 6:10)

With that being said, I would like to add the opposite is also true.  The LACK of money is also a root of all types of evil.  Because of a lack of money, some people are desperate to do anything for it.  They cheat, they cut corners, they steal they rob and they even hold people hostage and bribe them to get money.  People do desperate things in moments of desperation.

Lack of any kind should not be found within the church.  God is a God of giving, generosity and good gifts. In the midst of a few financially affluent churches, there are more smaller churches that struggle to keep the doors open and lights on.  There are numerous reasons this problem exists. We can begin by exposing a religious deception that has been perpetuated in the church that spirituality is associated with poverty.  This lie tells us that the less we have, or the poorer we are the more spiritual we are or closer to God. This is just as much false, as is a love or lust of money.  I know just as many poor folks that want nothing to do with God as a I do wealthy, so this statement isn’t exactly true.

Lets look at it this way, if we are called to become a blessing to the rest of the world does it make sense that I should live with just my needs met?  Far from it!  How can I be a blessing to help the poor and feed a city if first I only have enough money for myself?  First and foremost, God is the owner of a cattle on a thousand hills (Ps. 50:10). The silver and the gold is His and more than that, He has promised to pour out a blessing on those who follow him and live in obedience to Him. We are His children and sons of a King.

Galatians 3:8 “And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the Gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying, ‘All nations will be blessed in you.  So then those who believe are blessed along with Abraham the believer.’”

If this is true, then what an inheritance that we have! That inheritance from our father Abraham is not just to be able to pay my own bills and have my own needs met, but also to have more than enough to be able to possibly pay someone else’s bills and become a source of life to those suffering and oppressed.  Abraham was a rich man!

The revelation of Biblical prosperity has been abused by many people both in the church and outside the church.  A greedy mentality has gotten America in the financial crisis it sees herself in right now and has caused a world of hurt for those in the church that have been disenfranchised by an overemphasis of a teaching.  Friends, to err again in abandoning this revelation would be a mistake not needing to be repeated. Our supernatural provision is an important revelation the Holy Spirit has brought to light and restored to the church.

We are not much of an answer or solution to financial problems when we ourselves are busted, broke and struggle to stay above money waters.  The first step to not only stay afloat, but also to catch the wave of God’s heart, is to believe that God intends to prosper you, to give you hope and a future.  (Jer. 29:11) Not just a little drop of blessing, but a whole hurricane full of blessing poured out from the windows of heaven.

Sometimes we get into a mentality of living in the default clause of life. Instead of leaning into the promises of God, we might have been so burned or worn out that we just resort to safe territory. We do this because of fatigue. We do it because we just need to catch a breather for once from all the advancement, work and progress. What breaks my heart and demotivates me the most is when I see people who have potential and have been given the tools they need to succeed, but then do not live to their fullest.  So many Christians have been given wonderful new life in Christ, power to live this life by the Holy Spirit, victory and prosperity.  Yet so many seem to still live in the default clause.

Prosperity is not automatic for anyone. God is not some type of magic genie that we rub and we get what we want. No, prosperity that comes from God is a rich source of satisfaction that comes from the inside out. We will prosper as our soul prospers first.

“Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 1:2

You would think that these truths should have already been established in the church by now, but they haven’t.  Christians all over the world still struggle with finding out their true identity.  If you don’t know who you are, you will never become what you’re supposed to become.  If you don’t become who you are supposed to be, you’ll never do what you’re supposed to do.  If you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, God will have to raise up another to attend to the task.

I don’t know about you, but I want to fulfill my purpose and reason for living.  Therefore, it’s so important that we find out who we are, what we have and what we’re called to accomplish for his Kingdom. Once we find the answer to those questions, we will find the resources needed to accomplish it. For God never calls without equipping for the task.

Broke, Sick and Busted

The bottom line is that you are not called to be broke, sick and busted.  God’s people should be and are the best people on the face of the earth.  Not that we are perfect, nor that we should be arrogant about it.  It’s just who we are.  It’s our spiritual DNA.

There used to be something in America that people called the “Christian work ethic.”  Christians were at one point in history known for their excellence, hard work and gentle spirit.  Think about it for a moment, what are Christians known for in this day and age?  Do we still have the same work ethic?  Do we still handle our finances with integrity and the most honorable way?  Do we rely too much upon the world’s system to influence us?  When someone is sick is the first thought we have in our mind to run to them to the doctor to prescribe some pills, or do we pray the prayer of faith that they might get well?

I am determined to see a people in this generation be formed and aligned with who God says they are, to have what God says they can have and to do what God says they can do.

Chapter 12

Coca-Cola and The Gospel

I have an original bottle of Coke from the 1950’s sitting next to my computer.  Coca-Cola has gone through lots of phases throughout the years.  You can purchase a Coke in various different types of packaging.  You can get Coke in a can.  You can buy a two liter plastic bottle of Coke.  You can even get coke straight from the fountain.  Though you may choose the packaging, anyway you buy it, its still Coke.  The name stays the same and the content never changes.

I am aware that the culture in which we live has drastically changed.  It in fact is changing faster and faster each year.  What was popular last year is out this year?  People are constantly looking for the new trend, fashion or market.  I am also very aware of the struggles that we face as the church communicating our message of Good News to a world that knows nothing of the ancient context in which our message originated.  In an effort to win the world, there is a large temptation in the church to put away everything of the old and incorporate the cutting edge elements of culture.  This comes in many forms.  It could be something as trivial as adding multimedia into our gatherings, or it could be something more important such as language barriers or terminology.  Some of these issues may seem minor at the surface, but have huge implications on a deeper level.

Either way the church must evolve. We must have progress in accomplishing our mission.  Part of the problem is that the church has lost focus on what exactly its mission is.  In the process of becoming culturally relevant, we have switched the emphasis from the message to the medium.  We have put our energy and money into larger buildings instead of larger people.  The introduction of technology has changed the focus from meaningful face to face relationships to “cyber” pastors, satellite churches and an isolated church experience.  Do not get me wrong; I love every aspect of technology.  Obviously there has to be some good to what we call “technological advancement.”

There is a valid argument, however, on the over reliance on media. Is this really a technological advancement at all, or has it just made things more complicated? Many of the goods and services fed to us by media moguls (internet, blackberries, iPhones) are complete time wasters and can suck us dry of the life that can only be found between two human beings.  The blood in the body flows both ways, from the heart to the rest of the body and then back again.  The old saying is true: “You can’t get blood from an iPhone.”

I am not in favor of burning computers or boycotting Youtube.  I would be a hypocrite if I did.  What I am pleading for is a healthy utilization of technology as tools used in our effort to communicate the Gospel.  That’s what it’s really all about isn’t it?  If Paul was alive in this generation, don’t you think he would utilize the internet in some way shape or form to get his message out?  Or possibly, instead of logging all those miles of missionary trips on foot, he could put his frequent flyer miles to use by purchasing a jet for travel?  Is the package in which we present the Gospel important, or should anything go as long as we preserve the message?  Can we just straight preach the message without any kind of responsibility for the presentation and expect to really be relevant?  These are the questions I have wrestled with for probably the past 10 years.  Ever since the emergence of the “seeker sensitive” movement and the birth of “mega-churches” in America I have been studying, thinking and pursuing answers to some of these questions. I invite you to humor me for a bit in the next few chapters as we discuss where the church is at in terms of fulfilling the commission and mission of Christ.

Chapter 13

The Message: A False Gospel?

The way we evangelize is so important.  The message we preach needs to be sound and firm.  I believe the source of many of the major problems we have in the church today is a result of improper birth.  There are literally thousands of people who go to church every Sunday believing they are saved, safe and going to heaven without having been told the true message of the Gospel and experiencing what it truly means to be born again.  It could be because of a denominational teaching, or it could be a result of a watered down message that didn’t include a clear conviction of sin, repentance or even the possibility of hell.  Improper birth will lead to a lifetime of birth defects.  I believe the reason for the immaturity and weakness of Christians right now in the church can be traced back to the message they heard with which they were saved.

In relationship to evangelism I am asking us to hold up, wait a minute and reevaluate the message we preach.  Let’s regroup, re-strategize and revisit our mission.  We really must begin to take a second look at both the methods we use and the message we preach.  You say, “Why are the methods important?” I will address that a little later.  Right now let’s see how the Galatians dealt with similar issues.  It was a different situation, but the same problem.  They had subtly accepted a false message.

Galatians 1:6-8 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all.  Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.  But even ifwe or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!”

I like what The Message says: “If anyone, regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, let him be cursed.”  It’s hard to protect yourself from a false message if you don’t know the original message.  Clearly there must be a counterfeit gospel if there is an original.

I believe the variant is more subtle than obvious.  We aren’t talking about false religion such as Buddhism or clear idolatry here.  We are talking about a message with a twist that Paul warns the Galatians about.

“The epistle to the Galatians shows Paul in conflict with other missionaries. Jewish-Christians from Palestine had visited the congregations of the Galatians after Paul's visit there and taught that Paul's Gospel was incomplete. They persuaded some of the Galatians that salvation required observance of the Torah laws, including circumcision. Paul writes to rebuke and to persuade the Galatians in this letter.” http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/galatians.html

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, even brings condemnation on himself saying that even if HE should preach a message other than the original one he preached that he should be cursed.  How many preachers today would allow their messages to be held under that kind of microscope?  The truth is they should be.  We must evaluate the message we hear.  We are not to be critics, nor Holy Spirit policemen.  But we are to be on guard of what we hear and what we preach ourselves.  We will no doubt be held responsible for our words and those who preach or teach will be held double.

The Truth Hurts, It’s the Lies That Kill.

There is a prevalent spirit that we in the church are fighting against.  It’s called “relativism” and “plurality.” If you’ve never heard of these words, after I describe them to you, you will more than likely understand it and have came across it somewhere in your life. Knowing this philosophy has also crept into the church, you may even have become susceptible to this spirit yourself and will need the truth to break in and deliver you from this lie. According to the American Heritage Dictionary relativism is the “concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration.”  Relativism is the idea that certain aspects of experience or culture are relative or dependent on other things.  In other words, there is no absolute truth.

We know that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers of this dark age. (Eph. 6:12) The concept of relativism is nothing more than a spiritual deception of this world. This spirit holds to the lie that there is no such thing as truth with a capital T.  It is inclusive in nature and tries to make everyone included regardless of religion, creed or lifestyle.  It is often hidden under a worldly view of love, acceptance, unity and peace.  However, it is deceptive and a stronghold that is wrought to bring confusion on the earth and keep God’s kingdom from advancing.

If you are any bit active in ministry or sharing your faith to your friends, neighbors or coworkers, this is the first issue you usually run up against.  The message of Jesus Christ was all inclusive, everyone who believes has the right to be called the children of God. (John 1:12)  However, Jesus compared himself to many non-inclusive analogies. He said, “I am the way,” and, “I am the door,” and, “I am the bread of life.” These statements make it clear that Jesus was making himself available to all, yet singular in the way.  Contrary to popular religion, all roads do not lead to heaven. This is where the rubber meets the road for most Christians.  On an intellectual level, this spirit will tire you out with debates and arguments trying to convince you,that for the sake of love, we should compromise our message.  Although there might be many roads that lead to Jesus, there is only one way that leads to salvation. It is found in the man Jesus Christ.

The church must once again recognize the spiritual warfare that we are in and handle situations such as this with mighty prayer.  Churches, because of fear of losing members, will give up because of the stronghold of relativism.  In order to grow the church they will compromise the message of the Gospel, water it down and reduce it until it simply becomes a positive, inspirational message.  The temptation is too strong, especially when you see the mega growth of some churches or ministries and especially when money is needed to keep the institutional machine running.

There is a principle in mass media that I learned from my college professor: “The masses are asses.”  There are some discerning people out there, but overall, the crowds will believe what you tell them.  Anyone who works in mass media understands that when you deal with crowds, you must appeal to the lowest common denominator.  Relativism is one of those “can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” spirits.  If you don’t have the spiritual fortitude and confidence in Christ, you will be in danger of falling prey into the trap of truthlessness.  Many churches have already done so and thus allowed another message to creep in the church. Why have these things occurred?  They have fallen away from the original message that we have heard.

This is where apostolic and prophetic ministries are vital to the health of a local church. Unless there is some apostolic and prophetic involvement to preserve and guard the church, some will be led astray.  One of the jobs of a prophet is to protect and guard the church. Prophets are able to confront out of a heart of love and deal with false teaching head on. If you have prophets in your church, we must begin to understand how to allow them to function to get the most benefit out of the gift that comes along with the prophetic anointing. The same way that Paul appealed to the church as a father in the book of Galatians, the same way many apostolic leaders need to step in when churches have given in to a spirit of relativism and stepped away from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The gospel message is not inclusive.  Becoming a Christian has possibly been one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life.  There has been many things I’ve had to give up.  There has been pleasures I’ve had to abstain from.  There has been sacrifice, suffering and sometimes great loneliness.  But it has all been worth it and will be until I die.  In Hebrews it describes the race set out before us:

Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

This is He whom we claim that we follow.  He is the lamb that was slain, yet the lion of the tribe of Judah.  Entering into the kingdom of God is not easy, otherwise Jesus would have compared himself to a “open road tollway” rather than a “door” to salvation.  It’s only after we enter into the kingdom of God and become born again can we then freely move about the cabin.  And so the Gospel is not inclusive in the sense of the message we preach.  Jesus is not just one way to God; He is actually the only way.  He alone is the door AND He has laid out requirements to enter. (John 10:9)

It’s almost a dichotomy isn’t it?  The message is hard to accept, but easily administered.  There isn’t a list of rules and regulations, just a simple turning away from sin and turning toward God.  As easy as we would like it to be, it often times is not all that simple.  Man’s heart is deceitfully wicked and resistant toward God, but our great hope is that God is bigger and nothing for Him is impossible.

So what is the message then?  The word gospel simply means “good news.” However, we can’t stop there. In order to understand the good news, we also have to understand the bad.  Philosophically there is no good without bad, there is no clean without filthy and there is not positive without negative.  Much of the preaching from televangelists that has crept into local churches is nothing more than Anthony Robbins with Jesus sprinkled on top.

Remember the story of Anthony Robbins I mentioned in the chapter on money?  I admire the powerful human potential found in people like Anthony Robbins, but I point to him here to highlight the popularity of his message. His positive message points people toward themselves, yet disregards the truth about the emptiness of the human condition.  Like many preachers today, he dare not mention any bad news. There is no mention of sin, no mention of hell and very little demand on the sinner to repent and turn toward God for forgiveness. What we offer people in most cases is a better life, purpose driven life or the hope to become prosperous.

Call it what you want, but when I read the scriptures this is not the message proclaimed by the Apostle Peter.  If Peter was selling a more prosperous, better life after accepting Jesus as Lord, then he was the biggest scam artist in history.  As a 1st century follower of Jesus, it actually meant your live was about to become rougher and harder.  He declared:

Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know – this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God,you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. But God raised him up…”

Note that Peter’s message was not all that positive.  He had to explain the bad news, before he could expound on the good.  Peter confronted these “innocent bystanders” with the accusation that THEY had nailed Jesus to the cross. These people were pierced to the heart and responded with the words we all long to hear from those we love and care for. “What must we do to be saved?”  Here Peter’s response includes 4 simple insights that will lead someone into the Kingdom of God.

Repent

Repentance is a clear foundation of a life in Christ Jesus. (Heb. 6.) Repentance simply means to “do an about face,” to turn from or away from your life.  But it doesn’t stop there. In order to turn away from something, you must also turn toward something. We must actually turn toward God. The second foundation listed in Heb 6 is “faith toward God.”  So we must repent and turn away from our wicked lifestyle of breaking God’s law, and then turn toward God with hot pursuit.  Many people have only been told they need to repent, only to be left at an altar at some evangelistic crusade somewhere. They were robbed by not being told that now since they have repented, the must turn toward God and steadily walk with Him in faith.

Baptism

It is interesting that the second response the Apostle Peter gives to answer the question of salvation is baptism. There are many in the body of Christ that actually believe baptism by immersion is an optional extra.  Friends, the call to baptism is not a suggestion, but a command.  Baptism is an outward experience of an inward reality.  Arthur Wallis said in his famous bookThe Radial Christian that people will go tooth and nail against each other over baptism more than they will on any other subject in church.

Baptism in water is such a sentimental subject for some Christians, especially my Catholic and Lutheran brothers and sisters.  With respect to sentiment, I believe Scripture clearly teaches a believer’s baptism and it was demonstrated in the New Testament as full submersion in water, symbolizing the death of the old self and resurrection of the new.  This is an act of obedience in following Jesus Christ.  There are many, on the other hand, that have been baptized without the firm commitment to follow Jesus and have left us with lots of nominal Christians.  Again, I emphasize that if we properly expressed the message of the true Gospel more understanding would come and we would see the weightiness of baptism and less falling away.  Baptism is more than getting dunked or sprinkled; it is an invitation to your own funeral.

Be Filled With the Holy Spirit

No one can come to Christ unless the Spirit draws that person to Jesus.  Therefore upon conversion, an individual has been conferred a measure of the Holy Spirit in His power to regenerate and renew a person’s spirit.  However, the infilling and power of the Spirit discussed in Peters message is something altogether different and subsequent, I believe, to faith in Christ.

Jesus, upon leaving the disciples, mentioned that they would themselves receive the Comforter from heaven. (Notice he didn’t say the Spirit would come to make you comfortable).  The Comforter also has another name, “The Enabler” or the power from on high.  The sending and infilling of God’s spirit had a specific purpose. The purpose of being filled with the spirit is not to speak in tongues, it is not even to prophesy, even though those are signs and clear benefits of being filled with the Spirit.  No, the Spirit had been sent to give the believers power to become witnesses ultimately to the ends of the earth.

“He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’" Acts 1:7-8

The believer without the baptism of the Holy Spirit is like an alarm clock radio compared to a Bose surround sound system.  Without the power from God’s spirit, you in your own strength will deflate and burn out.  But with God’s spirit activating the gifts of God in your life, you not only will have the power to be a witness to others, but you will also have the power to live holy.

Be Added to the Church

Now Peter does not mention in his Pentecostal sermon this point, but I figured that I would add to that revelation because only a few more verses later we clearly see that 3000 wereadded to the church that day as a result of this message.  Talk about a church growth model! The previously mentioned hallmarks of the Gospel message are prerequisites to becoming a part of the church.  Your tithe is not a membership requirement, nor your agreement to a man made creed or covenant. If you have repented from sin, been baptized in water and filled with God’s Spirit, then you have been adopted into the universal family of God.  That universal family of God is lived out with other likeminded believers who gather together as a local expression of this experience in what we would call the “local church.”  There is no better place to be or no other people to fellowship with than God’s lovely people, the household of faith. (Gal. 6:10)

Chapter 14

The Method: Disciples Not Churches

The motto of the modern day house church movement is “form follows function.”  The design of the model will determine how the object will operate in any given setting. For example, a spoon is designed a certain way to be able to perform certain duties. For instance it has a divot in it to be able to scoop. If you would try to perform the same function with say a fork (I know you’ve tried this before), it just doesn’t work. You may even pick up some of your food on a fork, but the overall purpose of the design of the fork was not to scoop.  Therefore you must use a spoon.  Jesus said that you cannot pour new wine in an old wineskin or else the wineskin would burst and thus ruining both the wine and the wineskin.

“And He was also telling them a parable: ‘No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.’” Luke 5:36-38

I like the illustration Steven Atkerson uses in his bookHouse Church Theology.  Anyone who is familiar with the art of wine tasting knows that the wine glass is shaped a certain way in order to enhance the flavor and taste of the wine.  We would never want to serve wine to our guests in dixi cups.  Instead, we use a wine glass which is shaped for the exact purpose of drinking wine.  Our salvation is so great and the content of the life of Christ is so valuable that we cannot simply present it in any old way.  The way in which we represent our Lord and Savior says something of Him.  The method is certainly just as important as the message.

The method of “doing church” is not so black and white in the Scriptures, yet we cannot afford to do church however we want either. There are some clear apostolic patterns given to us that lend themselves to the house church model. None the less, this is not a book about house churches per say, but I will draw from the house church understanding, placing a priority in relationships over programs.

Discussing the message and the content of what the commission of the church is, we must also take a look at the form or the method which God has laid out from his word for us to be able to do this. Most evangelicals in America today would argue that the message is sacred, the context is not. Therefore, there is a license to do things any old way you’d like to. Although I clearly understand the importance of being relevant, I beg to differ with a “whatever works” approach. One brother mentioned to me that we need to pay attention to cultural trends in order to evangelize. He wanted us to pay close attention to the “up and coming” new ways of getting the message across. In my response I asked him to consider not looking for something “new and up and coming” but to look at what is biblical and any pattern that the Bible might suggest in our search for winning the world to Jesus and to see lives transformed.  We all want the new prophetic word, but very few of us have worked out the one we already have.

What we must keep in mind is that Jesus never commanded us to go out into the world and make converts. No, instead he commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to the unbeliever and makedisciplesof all nations. We are to baptize them and then teach them to obey. Friend, the day of “every head bowed, every eye closed” is finished. This has not done us any good. At the very best, this is one of the faulty methods that has produced undiscipled Christians, if they are born again at all. I’m not against preaching to large crowds of people. Surely there are passages in scripture where large crowds were gathered and the gospel was preached to them. (I might add that the attraction to these meetings were signs, wonders and miracles, but we’ll save that for another section.) However, with that being said, the main method for new testament evangelism was discipleship through relationships.

I never thought that I would the one typing away at my computer promoting “relational” evangelism. I have always tended to fall on the other side of the pendulum. I spent most of my early years as a spirit filled Christian preaching on buses, trains and street corners. My idea of evangelism was to walk up to a complete stranger and tell them that God loves them and has a plan for their life and share the “Roman’s Road” with them. Although I had a good time doing this and other forms of witnessing, I can’t say that I ever saw anyone at that very moment come to know the Lord Jesus personally. If I can recall ever leading someone to Jesus this way, I can certainly say that I have no idea where that person is to this day and he sure didn’t follow me to church.  Yet in those younger years we all celebrated the numbers of people that got saved at our large evangelistic crusades, none who were added to the church and made a disciple.  We didn’t care back then. We were young, on fire and willing to make a difference in our world. In those days I would run into certain Christians that were uncomfortable with the concept of going to the highways and byways and would argue for relationship evangelism.  Being young and naive I would debate with them; however I wish I would have been a lot more open minded and open hearted. Ever since then, every single person that I have lead to Christ has been through a relationship that I have had either at school, or on my job or a family member.

What we call “The Sinners Prayer” is found no where in the Bible.  Other unbiblical traditions such as altar calls, raising the hand and tent revivals are also not found in the Bible.  Can we say that people are responding to the preaching of the Gospel by these methods?  It could be.  Can we say that these methods are Biblical?  No, we cannot.

Sometimes I think we make the Gospel out to be more complicated than it is.  We feel that in order to reach someone we need to create a slick presentation.  We need to brush up on our cultural relevance or even need some sort of intellectual credibility.  I personally believe that the world sees right through all of our phony efforts to convert them.  What they are looking for at the core of their being isrelationships.  People want to be loved and they want to know what their purpose is for living.  They don’t want a slick three point sermon and multimedia presentation.  Yea, that might entertain them for a bit, but does it really change a person’s life?  I cannot recall anyone ever telling me that a movie or film seriously changed their life.  I can recall countless people that can name at least a few individuals that have made dynamic impact on them.  I can name individuals by name who have influenced my relationship with Christ.  It is Jim Hardman, Miguel Villareal and Dr. Bob Laurent that rubbed shoulders with me and loved me through my messy conversion into becoming sold out to Christ.

At the end of the day, the method for effective evangelism has not changed.  It is shared person to person, and it is more than oratory.  It is shared in a lifestyle that has been accurately transformed by Jesus Christ.  I know many people who are good speakers, great musicians or performers.  I know even fewer people who have rock solid integrity and can really claim they live what they believe.  From Sunday to Sunday and church to church there is lots of talk, but very little action going on.  We say we want prophetic ministry, but do we?  We want the prophets to speak the mind and heart of God, but do we give them the authority to do so and then not just hear it but do it?  We say we want community, yet the least attended meetings are the home fellowships where true community is built.                              Instead of making the priority the priority, we tend to put the focus, energy and resources on the Sunday morning celebration service.  I have learned from a good friend of mine to not listen what people say, but watch what they do.  It is the same way with the Gospel.  It’s one thing to hear it, but it is another thing to hear it backed up with the lifestyle to prove it. This is what is fundamentally lacking in Christianity today.  I believe the reason is that we have de-emphasized discipleship and exalted the stage.

A Few Words on Baptism

I’d like to throw in a couple words regarding water baptism in this section.  I think we have to ask ourselves some real questions about our methods and evaluate our effectiveness in making disciples for Christ.  We have already briefly covered the subject of water baptism in relation to the content of the message we preach.  But I would also submit to you that water baptism need be part of our routine church practice when it comes to our methods of leading someone to Jesus.

I am not advocating works based salvation, nor am I attempting to promote legalism.  I am promoting the idea that is closer to what we find in the scriptures.  In the Bible, once someone had made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, he was immediately water baptized as an outward expression of an inward reality.  I like to call water baptism a funeral service for your “old man”.  The person you once were before Christ is buried with Him and raise up to new life going forward. (Romans.)

It seems to me that water baptism is not an optional extra that we can take or leave it when leading someone to salvation.  We do people a disservice by not “sealing the deal” with them.  I think we have simply compromised this fundamental truth for the sake of knots on our salvation belt.  Many a person might very well raise their hand or come forward in an emotional appeal for salvation, but on the other hand, many would think twice about their commitment if they were coming forward with an understanding that they will take their old man to the watery grave with the expectation of a new life going forward.  That’s not to say that those who would or HAVE been baptized have gone back to their old life, or strayed from the faith.  But I strongly believe that this would be the exception to the rule if we emphasized water baptism and made it our normative church practice upon profession of belief.

Chapter 15

Being Changed By Love

My wife and I are going on our third year of marriage.  I can honestly say I’ve been changed by love. There should be a before and after picture of every man that shows his demeanor pre marriage and then shows how he acts after marriage.  These pictures should be put on display every year of anniversary of the couple and there should be a transformation party thrown! I am truly softer, much more gentle and wiser than I was three years ago, all thanks to my wife.

There is something about love that changes a human being.  I’m not talking about the warm fuzzy, 70’s love. So often in our modern culture, love is associated with uncontrollable feelings or passion. No, I’m talking about hesed love…agape love. Hesed is the Hebrew word used for “covenant love”. The word is used to describe, in the Old Testament, a love that is obligatory, not because its forced, but because its commanded to be reciprocal within the context of commitment.  In some translations the word is translated as “steadfast love” denoting the everlasting nature of it or “loyalty”.  God’s love is truly a covenant love for his people.  It is everlasting, unconditional and binding upon our lives.  Agape love is the Greek word for the unconditional love of God used in the New Testament.  Preachers always like to expound on the eros love, phileo love and the agape love.  (How many times have we heard that sermon?) Without going into yet another boring love sermon, all I will say about agape is that it is a selfless love, that gives without ever asking for anything in return.

How does it feel to be loved in such a radical and passionate way?  You would think that love like this is guaranteed to change a person.  How does this process work?  To sum up all of the discussion and dialogue we’ve had in this book, I’ll leave you with a love perspective.  We are changed by love and this should be something that we are rooted and grounded in. Love is the cement that holds all of the bricks together.

Gods Love Toward Us

More than 2000 years ago, planet Earth was rocked by an enormous earthquake.  The size of this earthquake was enough to split open rocks and open graves where the dead crawled out, coming to life again.  That earthquake would be followed by another earthquake three days later where another grave was opened up. Jesus himself walked out victorious over death and hell.  That earthquake was the greatest demonstration of love anyone could ever show to humanity.  The love of sacrificing one’s life for another is the ultimate form of selflessness.  It is the essence of agape love.

Love First is Selfless.

As God has demonstrated to us by sending his son, the ultimate demonstration of love is giving oneself for the life of another.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

If we want to know what love looks like, God did not just tell us he loved us. He actually demonstrated it! Sometimes, in between the debates of church theology and polarization of politics, we lose sight of love.  Why do we forget this most profound statement?  Jesus demonstrates His love for us by sacrificing His own life, and here we are missing the whole point that we even were won over by in the first place!  We need to keep things in perspective.  We need to see life through a love perspective, or as my friend Derrick Camardo calls it, a “love lens”.  It was because of a deep love for humanity that God sent His son.  His initiation of love toward me caused life to be born again on the inside. My desire to be right in my theology or my gift or calling should all take second place next to my relationships and allow for love to take first place.

I have to admit that this is a hard subject for me to personally tackle. I struggle with loving people. If we are completely honest with ourselves, I think we all do. It is easy to love those who are friends, family or easy to love. It’s a lot harder to express love to those who we disagree with, are hurtful or even our enemies. It is not that I do not love them deep down, but I show it differently.  I want to love like the 1 Cor. 13 description of love reads.  I want to display a love that is patient, kind and gentle.  I tend to be a little rough around the edges still, but God is dealing with me.  Even still, I feel that I must write about it.  I don’t write as an expert on love (I’ll leave that to Francis Chan), but as a student of it. The Lord obviously wants to teach me and teach you something about his love for us and how that eventually translates into love for others. I think it is this love that will revolutionize the way we look and treat ourselves and the way we look at and treat others.  This love will create a revolution that will change the world.

Love for others comes from experiencing the love of God.

1 John 4:11 “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

I find the operative word there is “ought”. We surely “ought” to love one another, but it does not always work out that way.  In the process of getting to know people, we begin to find out the differences and diversity that makes us unique as individuals.  Everything is usually fine as long as the relationship stays on a surface level, but its only until the surface is penetrated and we begin to dig deeper wells of relationship that we begin to find out who people really are, what makes them tick, even what they truly believe.  It is in those moments of challenge, where the dirt gets thicker and harder to plow, that we have the true opportunity to love.

I have always been quoted saying that you do not really have a relationship with a person until you have survived a fight, disagreement or argument. The deepest relationships I have with people are those whom I have had knock down, drug out battles with and was able to continue on in my relationship with them. Those are times that test our relationships and our ability to love.  Most of us are content with only being around people that are like ourselves.  I agree that we need to find people of “like mindedness” to be around.  It is quite difficult to make progress with something when we are spending all of our time trying to work out our differences.  Sometimes it might feel like we are taking one step forward and two steps back. Yet, I have to ask myself how solid are the relationships that we have with those who are simply “yes men” and agree to everything we think or say?

Even Jesus, when choosing the twelve did not choose men who had tons in common. They were all different people, from different backgrounds and personalities. They were challenged to the core in their love for Jesus and love for one another. The relationship was especially challenged at the moment of his crucifixion when they all fled, except for John. Ultimately, they would be won again by love and the bond created by agape would even end in giving their lives for the lover of their soul, Jesus. No, those who stick with us, even in the face of disagreement, and conflict are more valued and prized than those who simply support our every whim.

Our ability to love only comes from experiencing the love of God first hand in our lives. The cold hard facts of life might be in front of me, but because of the fact that God loves me, those limitations or circumstances become light and momentary. We must walk in the reality of God’s love.  God’s love is not just a mental ascent to have knowledge of God’s love. No, I’m talking about experiencing personally, first hand, the love of God.  We must be able to look in the mirror everyday and see someone that is loved by God.  Not because “the Bible tells me so,” like the song says, but because we have been first hand touched by God’s love in the form of Jesus Christ His son.

Romans 8:35 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ…”

The word love mentioned in Romans 8:35 is the “agape” love I mentioned earlier. That agape love is actually translated as “fondness, good will toward, and affection”.  Could you wrap your head around the fact that God is actually fond of you?  God does not love you because he has to, he actually likes you!  And why shouldn’t he?  He created your very being and made you exactly who you are.  All of your quirks and inadequacies He knows and loves about you.

There are things about my wife that she might find that she doesn’t like about herself.  She might think she needs to lose a few pounds, or maybe the fact that she has thick curly hair seems to be problem for her.  But as her husband, those are exactly the things that I love about her, even though sometimes she doesn’t realize it. This is the amazing part about love!

Love like this should bring a security in our lives. Knowing that God loves me, no matter what, allows me to be myself with no masks, no barriers and no falsehood. Having an encounter with the wild, passionate love of God will bring us to a place of living only to please Him. The answer to being a people pleaser is to experience the love of God. Often times our desire to be recognized, or loved and accepted by people is driven by the void in our lives that can only be filled by unconditional love from God. Being loved by God can cause a holy boldness to come upon even the most timid individual! The love of God will also break the chains of legalism and the power of sin in our lives. Love becomes the motivating factor in our obedience to the Lord instead of obligation, fear or dead works. We go from a place of trying to earn someone’s affection, to understanding that we are not trying to win the approval of God by being a good person. No, we are good people because love has taken hold of us and gripped us so to the point that we are overflowing with compassion and love for others.

Love Is the Opposite of Fear

I recently was at a church meeting and the pastor asked the question, “If Jesus came up to you, face to face and said to you ‘I love you,’ How would that make you feel?” I was interested in the response. Several people said that they would feel shame, guilt, and even want to run away! The sad part about this story is that the pastor then began to confess to the rest of the people that he felt the same way. The level of faith in the room totally dissipated and the more he talked about his difficulty accepting the love of Jesus the more fear began to be exalted higher than love. I appreciated this person’s honesty, however I was quite shocked with his answer. It is one thing to try and take a personal experience and relate with people, but if you’re going to speak from experience in order to minister to people you must mention how you have overcome or how God has helped you heal from the problem. This pastor simply left it at that, allowing fear to have its way in the people.

Our encounter with the love of Jesus should cast out fear, because we know that the love of Jesus has come to restore us, heal us and deliver us. I had several discussions with this leader about trying to minister out of his insecurity and fear.  Certainly, we cannot expect to have much success winning people and leading without being grasped by the love of God.  I am especially concerned when you are a church leader and are counseling people who need to be delivered and set free from addictions, bondage and sin. We ourselves must have a head on collision with the agape love of Christ before we can help someone else.  We should be walking in a spirit of faith, love and power, not fear.

I’ve heard fear explained as an acronym. False Evidence Appearing Real. I like to use that acronym to help remind me that fear is a useless emotion that is usually triggered when I am perceiving something that is not reality.  God’s love is a higher reality greater than any other reality out there.

Love and Truth Go Hand In Hand.

When love is given without truth there is potential for great error. This is exactly what is morally wrong with sex outside of marriage.  There is nothing truthful about it! Sex was designed to be shared between two people who are have made a truth commitment to each other.  Within this safety love can be expressed to its fullest, which culminates with both people being completely unashamed and vulnerable. Love void of any truth is not really love at all.  The love that God has consists of a message, it has substance and is meaningful. It goes beyond mere passion and emotion. Its logical and rational at the same time fierce and strong as the grave.

There seems to be a greater emphasis in our post modern Christian culture on love. At the time of the writing of this book, celebrity preacher Rob Bell is under fire for his controversial book,Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. The reason he is under fire is because of some of the claims that somehow because of love, God will ultimately accept everyone into heaven, even at the possibility of after death. I have not myself read the book yet, but I have watched several interviews with Bell and also watching his video introducing the book where he mentions that no one can say for sure that Ghandi is in hell. I appreciate Bell’s sentiments and the fact that God is in fact all loving and his total essences is love. But we have to keep in mind that even God’s judgments are an extension of his love. God doesn’t send anyone to hell. In fact, the Bible tells us that hell was created for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Quite simply, people go to hell because they want to be there. No one goes to hell by “mistake”.  Those who reject God, want nothing to do with him and have reached the point where they would rather spend eternity without Him, will ultimately, but with God’s sadness, get what they want.

Love, in a worldly sense, can be blind. But love from a spiritual sense rejoices with the truth. In the truth there is light and where there is light, it removes the blindness. Therefore, if we truly are experiencing love and walking in love, we also are able to discern wrong from right, good from evil and truth from deception. The judgments of God are righteous and true. Who are we anyway to question what the God of the universe decides to do? He will have compassion on who He wants to have compassion. I will be satisfied with His decision either way, because I fully understand that He is God and His will is best for my life. We have to begin to differentiate the difference between carnality and spirituality again in the church. Much of the love discussed today in Christian circles is carnal in its origin. It’s a love that is selfish, conditional and sensual.  By sensual, I mean that it is all about what we can feel, sense and warm fuzzies. We assume that because it does not “feel good” that it is not love, which brings us to our next point.

Love and Discipline Go Hand In Hand

I am always surprised when I hear that parents do not spank their children. I myself am not a parent yet, but I have seen the results of both parents who spank and parents who do not. Often times the parent who refuses to spank their child resorts to other “friendly” forms of discipline such as time outs, taking away privileges and grounding. I understand that under the umbrella of discipline there are many tools in your toolbox; spanking is just one of them. Just with any other teaching, we must not allow the abuses dictate to us the truth that a parent who loves their child will correct, train and discipline them, even if spanking is necessary.

The devil has done such a great job twisting the perception of love that any time the word discipline is mentioned, fear is automatically associated with it. When we say “discipline,” the words abuse, punishment and beating come to mind. To clarify things, when we discuss discipline, we are not speaking about the way the enemy has twisted this concept. Instead we are talking about discipline out of a loving heart of a father. A parent that does not discipline his children does not really love them.

“But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Hebrews 12:36-38

To this day, I remember getting the whoopin’ of my life. I had been left with a babysitter while my mom had gone to the store with my step-dad. Apparently they didn’t inform me they were leaving. Looking throughout the apartment complex for my mom, I eventually became scared that I had been left behind and began to walk about 3 miles back to our apartment by myself. Mind you I was probably about 8 years old. Needless to say, my mom probably came back to find me missing and was worried sick, looking all over for me only to find me back at our apartment. All I remember that day was going to my room and getting a spanking that would leave my bottom red for the weekend. Even though that discipline hurt me for that weekend physically, long term I have come to appreciate my mother and her effort to raise my brother and sister and I as a single parent. Children need boundaries.  The times in my life where I felt unloved the most were when instruction was not given, no expectations were set and I was left to do whatever I wanted to do myself. Obviously, this led to lots of heartache, sin and rebellion in my life.

When you really love something, you will discipline yourself towards it. In fact, if you cannot create discipline in your life to meet your goals and achievements then I would think it’s safe to say that we must question your real love and passion for the subject. Discipline is delayed gratification. Discipline is a long term commitment. Discipline says, “I love you enough now to delay the pleasure I would temporarily receive to allow you to eventually become all that you need to be in the future.” Many people dodge discipline to avoid the painful temporary conflict it brings or the confrontational aspect of it. However, we must resist the temptation for the easy way out in exchange for true love that endures with a vision for the end. This was the same discipline Jesus experienced at the cross. He endured the present pain and suffering for something greater that was set before Him. This enabled him to do it joyfully. Better is open rebuke than hidden love.  The writer of Proverbs associates rebuke with love (Prov. 27:5). He is actually saying that if you really love someone you will rebuke them and not withhold the privilege of being rebuked hidden.

Our Love for Others

The key is how we treat each other during these times of confrontation.

A good checklist to help us know how to practically love others is listed in 1 Cor. 13. I remember growing up and 1 Cor. 13 seemed more like something you knit on blankets and wall decorations than God’s word to us.  It seems that this scripture has been overused so much in secular greeting cards, tapestries and so forth that we have simply trivialized it.  However, let us be reminded that 1 Cor. 13 is just as much God’s word to us as the rest of scripture.

1 Cor. 13

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

If our love doesn’t measure up to this check list, that is okay. We have room to grow! Love is a fruit of the Spirit in our lives. That does not mean the love is not there in our lives, it just means that more of our flesh has to die in order for that fruit to come forth. We cannot love unconditionally apart from God’s help.

I find an amazing attribute of Jesus was His ability to love others who might have been considered hard to love. His ability to forgive, even in the midst of the most severe persecution is something to be marveled and one of the greatest demonstrations of love He left as an example. In Luke 6:32 Jesus asked the people, “What good is it if you love those who love you back? Even “sinners” love those who love them back.” But Jesus’s standard of love seems to be different than the world’s standard. The worldly standard of love seems to only love someone for something they can get in return. As I mentioned earlier in this chapter, the love Jesus demonstrated is a love that desires nothing in return. Unconditional love. One of the things that confuses me about church is why leaders seem to only spend time with people with whom they will receive the most benefit from? Sure if you spend time with influential people and individuals of great resource you will receive your reward, but of what credit is it to you? Even sinners do these things. We certainly should find ourselves different than the world. If this touches your life, just say “ouch” and repent from your selfishness.

Here are some practical love principles to live out when trying to walk in love with others:

Learn the Art of Listening

One of the keys to proper Biblical communication is practicing the art of listening. Some of the issues that lead to arguments, disagreement and anger can be solved by simply listening to others. Often times we are so quick to respond with our own thoughts or opinions about something that we never take the time to really understand the other person. We should not be so selfish to think that our way is always the best way or that we have completely understood the matter. We listen by simply closing our mouth and allow the other person to share their thoughts. More often than not, we will better understand each other and remove the possibility of miscommunication. Sometimes there is a legitimate disagreement and no amount of discussion is going to resolve the issue. At that stage, sometimes its best to leave the discussion until a better time.

Practice Patience

In our society, we want it our way and we want it fast. Who could blame us when things change at such a rapid rate? Our culture almost forces us into a fast food mentality. However, we should really strive to go against the flow of trying to hurry people, push people and driving instead of leading. Leading requires patience. The reason why you are a leader is because you often see things others don’t. You have the awesome task of persuading others and communicating that vision in a way that people will receive the best. Sometimes it takes others a while to get what your saying and there are certainly other things on people’s minds than your agenda. Yet, if we are patient and persevere in relationship with people, a mutual respect will be gained and people will come around in the timing that God wants them to come. Until they do, we need to respect the place in life people are in and love them in spite of that place.

Give Generously Without Expectations

I learned a great lesson from some pastor friends of ours, Ron and Ava Smith. Each year for Christmas they host a dinner banquette called “Blessed to Be A Blessing” where they give away literally thousands of dollars of gifts and food to friends and family. They are truly an example of generosity in our community. Ron has shown me that giving will often remove walls and barriers people set up against God. Overwhelmed with blessing, people will soften before the Lord and become more receptive. With Ron and Ava there is no catch, just a demonstration of love. I guess the only catch they have is a deep desire to see others grow closer to Jesus. If there is any agenda that is appropriate it would be this one. God demonstrated his love to us by giving and when He gave His best to us, His one and only son. Through this giving, the result was many sons coming to glory. It is always better to give than to receive.

Keep Watch Over Each Other (protect)

Love always protects. If we truly love on another then we should have a desire to actually be involved in each other’s lives. Instead of turning a blind eye or dodging each other, true love will always draw us closer to each other. There is a difference between being controlling, nosey and manipulative and being protective, loving and intentional. We should never be involved in someone’s life uninvited, but as our relationship grows with people we should take the initiative to be involved in their life. It’s not only the pastor’s job to watch over the flock. He can hardly watch over groups of people more than 12, therefore we need to begin the grasp of loving and watching over one another to make sure needs are met, care is taken and love is poured out.

Don’t Give Up Hope

Love always hopes and never gives up. People who seem very difficult to work with, stubborn, picky and immature are always the ones you want to cut off, let go of and just wish them the best on their way. The truth is, both you and I fit within those categories. I am difficult to work with, stubborn, picky about some things and then some. Yet, even in my weaknesses, God didn’t give up on me. He loved me enough to endure the cross for the sake of seeing his plan come to fruition in my life. Love doesn’t see where a person might be in the present, but it has the vision enough to see what they will become in the end.

Love is the tone of which the truth should be displayed. God doesn’t sacrifice one for the other. He is able to be both loving and truthful at the same time. Love is the motivation, the tone and the attitude in which we should deliver the truth.

So as we consider ourselves, families, churches and the world around us, let us keep in mind that our motivation should be love. Love may look different and take on many different forms, but the Lord who knows the hearts of men will search our motives to make sure the stamp of love is upon it. There will be many within the last days that will grow cold of love. Because of weariness, hurt and disappointment, their hearts will grow cold. May it never be said of us! May our hearts always stay full of hope for the future of our churches and may the actions we take be backed with a firm foundation of love behind them. When we act out of self righteous judgment and not a judgment that expects the best to come out of a person, we operate out of an opposite spirit of Christ.

Chapter 16

Maintaining Revival With New Wineskins

The question in our culture today is this: “Do we have to do it the way they did it in the Bible? If the Bible does not mention specifically that we should practice something a certain way do we need to adhere to those practices?”  To most, the content is sacred while the structure is not.  Without being legalistic, I would ask those reading this book to consider thatboth are important.

Matthew 9:17 “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

I do not know about you, but from what I can see, much of the paradigm in modern churches looks like an Old Testament temple model of worship. Sometimes this is displayed in such things as robes, garbs, and rituals. The hierarchal structure of leadership resembles the ruling priestly classes versus the priesthood of believers we see mentioned in the New Testament. Another common Old Testament equivalent I recognize is placing a high priority on buildings and sacred spaces.

Even our churches music seems to be based off of an old temple worship style.  Now, I believe that God will restore the “spirit” of the tabernacle of David.  Not that he will restore the temple system of worship with all its sacrifices, but that God would restore the attitude of worship found in the life of David, an act of worship that is pure and passionate.  As far as the use of buildings, Paul, while giving his sermon to the Athenians, made it clear that God does not dwell in temples:

Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things…”

This was further alluded to when the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 A.D. It was a prophetic sign to God’s people that through the sacrifice of His perfect Son, He provided direct access to Himself for all mankind.  The temple veil was torn in two! Praise the Lord! This truth became part of the Apostolic teaching of the new testament church.  So much so that they didn’t meet in building for 300 years and so much so, Paul explains to the Corinthians that THEY themselves are now the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Not only did God provide access to Himself, but He also fully indwells those who believe. Together, we make up the temple of God.  Talk about being countercultural.  During a time in history where pagan temple worship was so fixed in religion, this was a radical revolution. There is so much to go into about this, but I will digress.

Now, I am not attacking the progress and work that God has done through the traditional model.  All I am saying is that we could be missing out on the blessing that comes with keeping 1st Century Apostolic models of building churches. I would suggest that we follow the traditions and patterns that were established by first century Apostles and build upon that foundation.

I don’t believe we’ve lost it all completely.  Most churches will carry on withsome Apostolic traditions such as water baptism by emersion, the Lord’s supper (at least in the form of crackers and grape juice shots) and singing. Why not be consistent?  Why not build as close to the Apostolic model of church as we can possibly identify? Not only will there be a blessing upon us when we do this, but when God decides to pour out the new wine of his Spirit, it will be poured into fresh wineskins. Both will be preserved.

I have witnessed several small revivals and moves of God in my short period of life.  I am convinced that God has done significant things through these moves of His Spirit. However, in each one we see that the move of the Spirit had an inability to last due to a lack of Apostolic foundation able to carry the new wine. We could also argue that the moral failure displayed in some cases is a result of a lack of community and close knit relationships that were found in early New Testament church life.

Chapter 17

Now What?

There has never been a greater time to be alive in history than the present. I wonder if those who lived before us said the same things while they were alive. I guess the greatest time to live in is the present. To live in the past is futile and to worry about the future is burdensome. The only thing we can be sure of is to live “today” like it is our last. This is the reason for writing this book, to take a look at the changing season around us and how this effects church and the way we build God’s Kingdom. We cannot expect to get different results by doing the same things over and over again. This is the pure definition of insanity. Many of us are hungry to see the face of the church begin to change and once again experience spiritual results that are Biblical and realistic. Even within this desperation for more, without God guiding us through the process, we will end up repeating the same old patterns and mindsets and calling them “new and improved”.

I find that even churches that claim that “church was never like this” are still “this,” just with some slick bulletins and a high tech worship band. It is time for us to start living what we advertise. There has to be more than this. Isn’t there? There must be a way God genuinely wants his church to be expressed in the earth. For we are the fullness of Him that fills everything in every way. We are His hands and feet, His mouth and His body. Yes, we are diverse in our personalities, but one in the same.

Some of your views of end times might be the things that are a stumbling block to change. Many people have a defeatist view of the church. Their theological backgrounds have taught them that it will only get worse and worse and to expect the church to change is pointless. In fact, many with this type of thinking are far from expecting any positive change in the church, but instead are awaiting the greatest falling away we have ever known. While I truly believe that in the last days evil will be on the rise, at the same time, I expect that the light of Jesus Christ will shine even brighter in the darkness. While many will fall away, revival will bring the greatest harvest of souls we have known and the influence of the church will increase. In fact, many nations around the world are experiencing massive influx of faithful believers. Here in America, we are experiencing a plateau, if not decrease, in growth of the church. On a global scale, the church is victorious. Rightly so, as Jesus is coming back for a bride without spot or wrinkle. She will be mature, faithful and ready with oil in her lamps and a song in her mouth for her bridegroom.

Others have a “perfection” view of the church. She can do no wrong and there is no need for her to change. She is doing just fine now, leave her alone. Not to mention, don’t you dare speak a word against her. These people would like to bury their heads in the sand and are too chicken to admit the problems and blemishes that do in fact exist. The first step in bringing forth change is to identify something that can be improved or done better. Not to mention when some of the things that need to change are the very things that hurt us as God’s children. We must both have hope for the future of the church and have the courage to address our need for change.

So I suppose that I am mainly speaking to the American church in this book, but I feel that my words can apply to any nation in which the Gospel of the Kingdom is experiencing little to no effect. Nations like England, France, Spain and Russia are in great need of a new vantage point to launch the Gospel from. I believe that over the next 50 years, we are going to witness breakthroughs in ministry. By the Spirit of God, He will pour out innovation, revelation and insight into new church strategies, ministry and understanding of God’s word. Not only will many understand His word, but we will begin to now understand his ways. We will understand His heartbeat and what concerns His mind. The truth is that there is not much hope for America if we do not change what we are doing as the church. So I pray we take heed to the message of this book.

Recently I was in the meeting of a well respected church growth expert and Charismatic leader. I was very excited to hear from this man of God who has contributed so much to the Body of Christ. He is now in his later years and I’m sure he will be with us for a while, yet one never knows. He has such vast experience with such a broad scope of vision of some of the things he has seen throughout the church. He has been around to see at least 5 decades of ministry. As I sat and listened to him speak I was quite surprised to hear his view of the future of the church. He had coined a term used to describe these so called “new” wineskin churches. However, in my summation of his perspective that there is nothing “new” about the wineskin he is promoting. It’s still more of the same. And so many church leaders, like myself, have traveled from conference to conference trying to figure out the latest research, the current trends in culture and the cutting edge ministry tools. All the while, we have the greatest manual right under our noses to glean from and follow. Not that those church growth concepts are all bad. There were a few nuggets I gathered from the workshop I attended. What I’m interested is a REAL new wineskin. Something that we have yet to really discover and something that is meant to really give us the results we want.

New Apostolic Patterns

After finishing my degree in Biblical Studies at Judson University, I found out very quickly that although I had my bachelors degree, the specified field that I’ve been educated in only prepared me for professional church ministry.  I considered going on to get my masters in theology and continue on to a Phd which would allow me the opportunity to teach on a college level.  However, after I compared the amount of money it would cost me to obtain the degree, versus the demand for Bible teachers in academic settings I realized that all in all, it was probably not worth it.

I’m not against education by any means, but at the end of the day I’ve often wondered how we have gone from unlearned, foolish men leading the church, to professional, high-minded Bible nerds.  At Judson I had completed a lot of coursework in my second major, Media Studies.  My wife and I decided that it might be a good idea for me to obtain a quick-track certification in a specialized field that would be practical and enable me to gain a skill I could use with my hands.  Elgin Community College provides a certification in Web Design.  This would be a perfect, fast track, program for me to continue my interests in media and allow me to gain a special skill that would be in high demand.

Being launched smack dab into the web design program taught me a few things.  For me, it was a great learning curve.  Building beautiful looking web pages is more than just throwing up some images and text. I found out very quickly that some technical, computer knowledge is required, mixed in with some fundamentals of good design, art and conceptual visualization.  After many weeks in the program, I would just begin to grasp one concept when another layer of web design would be unearthed.  It seemed to be an endless maze of new information to learn and I often wondered if I would ever get off the ground as a web designer.  I also found technology changing so quickly.  What might have been “in” last year, was “out” this year.  The latest form of web page functionality was no longer the latest trend.  There were new and more advanced developments in web design that clients and businesses were looking for!  Quickly I learned that in the technology field, there is always refreshment and learning that must take place in order to stay with the game and be good at what you do.

In the next year there will be a need to stay ahead of the game at what God is doing within His church.  The house church is one example of the face of the church changing.  Alongside the house church are various expressions of God being birthed in the earth today, all having some form of value we must recognize and ingraft into the Body of Christ.  We must be careful to not over generalize, or “throw the baby out with the bath water.”

Although we promote small, house sized churches, there is also room for the larger, corporate gatherings of worship, teaching and impartation.  To choose sides in this hour of the church is debilitating, when what we need more than ever is the uniting of His bride.  We need to learn again what it means to bear with one another, love one another and understand one another.  Not at the stake of compromising absolute Biblical truth, but ever still reaching to move forward in the current of the river of God together.  Surely God has released revelation and understanding to His church that would benefit them for today.  Not revelation that is new in terms of doctrine and essential theology that we understand to be orthodox, but revelation and understanding in terms of illumination of the Scriptures in a fresh perspective and NOW application for the time and season that we are in.  The church will look different in every part of the world. The key is that she will be organic, free flowing and free from institutional merchandising and political control.

Some of the suggestions in this book will strike a chord with the reader. I’m hoping that you can take what you’ve read in this book and continue the dialogue to discover what it truly means to be the church in our present time. I am hoping that some of the things I stated challenged you and the way you do ministry or view church. As I stated in the beginning of the book, I do not claim to have all of the answers. My word is simply bread crumbs compared to the living word of God. If you have made it this far in the book, then I commend you for that much. Now the rest is up to you to write your own chapter in the book of life. While you still have breath in your body, God has given you grace enough to make the changes needed to fill the time you have been given here on earth. May His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

1 http://www.christianitytoday.com/cbg/2002/sepoct/27.136.html

2 1 Cor. 11:19

[1] Paul Vitello, Taking A Break From The Lord’s Work, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/nyregion/02burnout.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 (August 2010).

[2] Steve Atkerson, Elder-led Congregational Consensus, 2008, http://www.ntrf.org/articles/article_detail.php?PRKey=13 (October 2008).

[3] Christianity Today Your Church Media Group, Church Budget Priorities Survey Executive Report, http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/domoreministry/npsEE9.tmp.pdf (2009).