Jesus has been challenging and asking me to reassess many things over the past year. This process has been really hard. It's extremely difficult to have all your paradigms shattered 2 - 3 times in a matter of 9 months. My experiences during this time have felt like one super-extended wrestling match with God. I have learned more in the last 12 months than the rest of my life combined. It's been exhausting, troubling but incredibly rewarding.
Did you know that
every historical revival or awakening has taken place when the 3 - 4 following requirements were present?
- Return to sola Scriptura
- Re-reading of Scriptures in modern vernacular (as if reading again for the 1st time)
- Rediscovery of Jesus (returning to our 1st Love)
- Disciples regain their true identity and get possessed by the Spirit of Christ
Here are a few extractions from the Gospels to ponder in regards to what made Jesus' model of discipleship starkly different; not to mention, at odds with the average church program today...
- Jesus modeled and trained His disciples to proclaim and share the Good News in the open air. You can count on two hands how many people were reached or delivered in temples/synagogues during Jesus ministry, according to the Gospels. He clearly taught and modeled GOing into the highways and byways, to those places that sinners gather, until the whole world hears.
- Jesus' disciples walk according to the Spirit and do not give heed to the flesh because it ought to be dead. Jesus' model of discipleship is a lifestyle, while we have diluted His message and molded it to fit our desire for a more-comfortable, less-demanding ministry. We promote weekly, monthly or annual outreaches instead of equipping the Church to serve Jesus in/out of season.
- The content of Jesus' preaching and teaching was far different than our quick-fix evangelism of "ask Jesus into your heart so you can become a forgiven sinner and get to heaven." Who doesn't want to make it to heaven? Jesus preached repentance and the arrival of the Kingdom of God on earth. He taught in such a way that heaven's rule would invade, pervade and replace our self-directed rebellious rule. Our desire for intimacy with God and pleasing Him by faithful obedience to Jesus' directives authenticates the validity of our adoption into His Kingdom.
- Jesus commissioned His disciples to heal the sick; to do the very works that He did regularly in their midst. God's will is for adopted sons and daughters to avail themselves to teaching and training on how to walk in such power with true humility and grace. This power is for today. To deny that makes us guilty of the judgment in II Timothy 3:5. I did not make this stuff up. Healing the sick was a core competency included in Jesus' model of discipleship. Further, we are not commanded to pray and hope the sick get healed. We are taught to command sickness and brokenness to flee in His name. It's in my Bible…Therefore, I believe it regardless of my previous experiences or any respected theologian's past or present opinion. I will learn to walk in the Spirit as a son so that the Father can entrust true riches and power to me once I have proven to be faithful in the small things.
- Jesus commissioned His disciples to cast out demons. While the world and the majority in the church debate over the actual existence of demons, countless souls wander the earth in fearful bondage to a power they don't understand or acknowledge. The world will again take notice when His disciples differentiate themselves from the fold with their authentic love and concern by getting messy and engaged in the battle to demolish strongholds. It's what Jesus did. We should be learning from Him to do the same works of the Father.
What I have just shared are the exact specifics of what Jesus taught as His model of discipleship according to the Gospels. It's a tragedy that we hide behind religion and shrink away from His unmistakable call to give our lives away to this so we might revive and continue the Acts of the original disciples! To deny this is possible or meant for our time is pure unbelief. I'm not concerned if that sounds harsh because it's the truth, and sometimes we need to be rattled by it to get free!
If we can allow Jesus to convince us of our true, new identity in Him, then we, the Church, can become relevant again. Ask yourself this question with me…Are contemporary disciples of Christ truly relevant in culture today? What have we done with the Commission that Jesus left us?
Did you know that there is a really easy way to know what the world thinks about Christians in the west? A simple Yahoo search can tell us, and I already referenced this in my previous post. I simply typed in "why are christians so…". The rest was auto-filled by the 10 most common adjectives people use to describe christians in their searches. This must change because Jesus was the total antithesis of these things.
While I'm not exactly sure where my journey will go from this point, I do have my eyes and ears wide open listening for the Comforter to direct this wind forward. I long for the day when His people rediscover their clear identity and purpose. I long for the destruction of the sectarian spirit of denominationalism among Christians, which is on par with the
High Places Yahweh so disdained in the Old Testament. I long for the day when we will walk in exceptional unity and power to His glorious praise!
The Reformation of 1517 was great in its narrow scope, but there remains so much need for more. There remains a truly urgent need for
Restoration. I understand this sounds like a generalization, but my points above can prove it. Our observations of the worldliness in the professing
church along with the degradation of our culture serve as additional proofs.
(Disclaimer: The true Israel/Church of Jesus is without spot or wrinkle and only composed of those born again and sealed by His Spirit. He knows all those that truly belong to Him). [
Matthew 7:20-22]
I could also reference all of Jesus' parables that flow out of the Sower which speak to true and false profession/conversion. Take the Wheat and Tares, Good and Bad Fish, Doers vs. Hearers, Sheep and the Goats, 5 Wise & 5 Foolish Virgins as examples.
Here are a couple of good resources I've been feeding on to experience powerful renewal and
restoration in my own life. I know these resources will encourage and strengthen others:
