'A church exists by mission as a fire exists by burning', a modern theologian once wrote. From the New Testament it is also clear that a Christian continues in that mission by the continual fire of the Spirit at work in their lives (e.g. Rom 12:11).
That fire of the Spirit, the ongoing experience of God keeping us ablaze, infectiously affects those around us. It drives us out to the last, the least the lost against the odds. That fire of the Spirit enables lives to be touched and transformed, to join in too when likewise on fire for the Lord.
We must never let flame of God's work sizzle out, or worse replace it by institution. Yes we will build structures to attempt to manage the various people in discipleship, worship and mission ... but the real ongoing force will be the work of the Spirit individual by individual.
Wesley wrote of the Methodist movement: 'My fear is not that our great movement will eventually cease to exist, but that our people will become content to live without the fire (of the Spirit)'.
Let us continually burn ... keeping in mind that institutions must ultimately come second place to that need for the ongoing work of the Spirit in each of us. No fire, no mission, no church!
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
Slow Burn
Everything in society now wants to be a super speed, with no waiting or latency. It affects our own life and expectations, it affects the way we do church, it affects our understanding of God's mission.
Yet leadership is best done through relationship and shared values ... and this needs time. There is rarely a high speed download option for this kind of stuff - it is typically learnt through the ongoing university of life. Of course there are different universities to choose from - we need to repeated choose the University of Spirit-filled life, founded by God, where Jesus Christ is the Principal.
The Godly influence we have is therefore generally a slow burn process, permeating what we do, how we structure, and what we attempt. I was struck by the leadership book 'The Tortoise Usually Wins' by Harris who covers this subject more thoroughly.
Bible commentators reckon Jesus took about three years to prepare the way for Kingdom/Spirit age that he inaugurated, yet technically he could have covered the journeys/events recorded in the gospels in just a matter of weeks. In those three years he forged relationships; characters that could then carry the scripture-understanding download that he gave late on, and the Pentecost experience that would follow.
21st Century Mission needs to be open to God's high speed download for when He chooses to give it, but must also realise the appropriate place of slow burn too.
Yet leadership is best done through relationship and shared values ... and this needs time. There is rarely a high speed download option for this kind of stuff - it is typically learnt through the ongoing university of life. Of course there are different universities to choose from - we need to repeated choose the University of Spirit-filled life, founded by God, where Jesus Christ is the Principal.
The Godly influence we have is therefore generally a slow burn process, permeating what we do, how we structure, and what we attempt. I was struck by the leadership book 'The Tortoise Usually Wins' by Harris who covers this subject more thoroughly.
Bible commentators reckon Jesus took about three years to prepare the way for Kingdom/Spirit age that he inaugurated, yet technically he could have covered the journeys/events recorded in the gospels in just a matter of weeks. In those three years he forged relationships; characters that could then carry the scripture-understanding download that he gave late on, and the Pentecost experience that would follow.
21st Century Mission needs to be open to God's high speed download for when He chooses to give it, but must also realise the appropriate place of slow burn too.
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