What God is doing…
This is from Dave Black’s blog from 6:23 AM on Tuesday, February 23:
It’s a special joy for me to witness congregations in which something dynamic and exciting is happening. (A good example is Highland Christian Fellowship.) These churches are refocusing their priorities, especially on missions. Don’t be deceived into thinking that church renewal is primary organizational, or that devising new programs will bring about new life in the church. Church renewal happens when we get beyond the surfacy and superficial, when the external becomes internal, when what was secondary becomes firsthand. And what is firsthand? Read Matt. 28:18-20. Or Mark 16:15. God wants to make us radical, life-long disciples of Jesus, people who have met God at the core of their being and whose lives and priorities match His own. For such men and women, being the people of God means more than “going to church,” or “believing in Jesus,” or “being good.” It means becoming a part of what God is doing worldwide to bring man back into a vital relationship with Himself. They are “on mission” 24/7. This mission is both personal and social. It is always redemptive. And every Christian — young or old, educated or uneducated — is called into this ministry. I’m seeing this new set of priorities in more and more churches, and I’m glad for it. “Working for God” no longer means just contributing money to pay for salaries or teaching Sunday School or working with youth. It means giving our lives to God in behalf of the world He is seeking to redeem. It means that we join with Him in that work.
It seems that for Dr. Black, “dynamic and exciting” happenings within a group of believers naturally (supernaturally?) expresses itself as “becoming a part of what God is doing worldwide to bring man back into a vital relationship”. Are you seeing this in your community of faith? How can you continue to grow in your life with other believers and in your life in the lost world?
Hi Alan (we’re stuck in IN in a blizzard!) – I have been especially challenged within our body of believers by the phrase “Working for God” that Dr. Black referred to. There are many within our congregation (Ed and I included) that came to seminary with the idea that we didn’t want to “waste our lives” and that we wanted to “work in the ministry”. Our eyes have been opened to what that really looks like through the many examples in our church. Going about the business of God is for each and every follower of Christ – for us, it doesn’t mean choosing a profession within “churchdom”. This challenges me to be intimately involved in the lives of the believers around me so I can learn, be challenged, be encouraged. I can’t rest in the title of “church worker” and think my life now counts for something. I have to continually seek the Spirit and the counsel of my brothers and sisters to know how to thrive in that “vital relationship” with the Lord.
Leah,
I’m sorry to hear that you are stuck in Indiana. I’m sure that your family is happy, though Ed is probably VERY sad! (I could tell that he was really missing you two!)
I agree with everything you said here. My life has also been turned upside down. But, somehow, it now makes much more sense.
-Alan