Posted: 07/23/2012 at 2:04pm | IP Logged

What is our goal? What are we shooting for?

As is the nature of the carnal Body, we continue to compartmentalize the attributes of Christ that fit our gifting and preferences into segments we believe will ultimately morph into the fully functioning whole. The fallacy of this approach is seen in the imagery of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians where he compares The Body of Christ to the human body with the gifts represented by various body parts. No matter how many feet you assemble in a room you will merely have a room full of feet, not a functioning body. (this would be a really fun analogy to pursue--pedicures anyone?)

Attempts continue to abound in the hopes of producing Spiritual life by establishing the proper ‘biblical’ order. Apart from the extremely tricky problem of arriving at what constitutes authentic ‘biblical’ order, there is the fact that you cannot produce life in a body by properly assembling the skeleton. The ‘build it and they will come’ approach apparently only works in new-age baseball movies. The pursuit of ‘accountability’ by imperfect leadership only leads to some form of legalism that highlights the folly of human behavior rather than revealing the character of Christ. Who are we to be answerable to ultimately? The Grand Apostolic Council of the Universe? I think they (whoever they are) have repeatedly and sufficiently demonstrated their ability to be fallible. Or perhaps we should follow a more conservative approach and identify with a denominational or institutional group of integrity and impeccable credentials. They never miss it.

Ultimately, I believe there is one scenario that yields the results that so many of us yearn for and are giving our life to pursue. My reason for believing in this approach comes from a lifetime of observing the Church and the people who make up His Body. My conviction comes from the pragmatism of having seen what has come the closest to producing the desired results, while readily acknowledging the residual imperfections.

When the Holy Spirit fills the people of God, genuine Church happens. In what we term revival, a dynamic is released in which the gifts begin to function in an ordered chaos that results from genuine transformational real-life encounters. An atmosphere of love and faith combine to produce a fellowship who are simultaneously pursing perfection while graciously nurturing the flawed. As the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifest, true New Testament order is established by the evident usefulness of each individuals supernatural enablement. Apostles apostle, prophets prophecy, healers heal, administrators administrate...you get the idea...and they are recognized and released to function because they are obviously doing what needs to be done. I am no longer naive enough to expect utopia, simply a genuine expression of the life, nature and character of Jesus revealed in the earthen vessels of human beings.

Critics will immediately point out that what we call revival has not produced very many permanent displays to the efficacy of this approach. I have a response. It has been my observation that very few have adopted a model of ministry leadership in which the presence of God in the midst of the people is pursued as the continuing and permanent goal. While many have begun in the Spirit, most opt to be perfected in some form of the flesh, thereby voiding the possibility of witnessing what happens when the glory of the Lord takes up habitation instead of a temporary visitation. After a season of refreshing, most simply return to some form of business as usual or pursue one of the endless array of distracting tangents. What if revival is simply the means to restore the experiential manifestation of the life of Christ to His Body that is meant to be the normative baseline for everything else that we do?

The jaded and wounded have all but given up. The arrogant and self absorbed continue in manipulative pursuit of fodder for their machines of advancement. The hungry hope and pray for more. It is my belief that there is more and that the end time work of the Holy Spirit is to assemble a people who are consumed with the love of God and the light of Jesus Christ shining for all the earth to witness. It won’t be called revival anymore, it will be the normal, restored and reborn Church.