Trust in God's Steadfast Love

C.S. Lewis said something to the effect that it is a much safer practice to meditate on the love of God for us than to meditate on our love for God. This is true, of course, because our love for Him flounders and is weak, but His love for us is strong and unrelenting and unending.

The Scriptures are full of different ways of encouraging God's people to depend and trust in His unfailing love for us. Ultimately this is the only place of peace and rest for the human soul. When all looks hopeless and impossible in the natural, we find rest in knowing that God is love and that He will not relent nor quit in His pursuit of us and in His pursuit of those that we pray for.

He is an all-consuming Fire of desire for weak humans, and He is filled with divine energy to tirelessly seek and chase us down! This is where I find my confidence in prayer for myself and for others - not in my zeal nor my intercession nor my efforts nor my love, but in His unrelenting zeal, His unceasing intercession, His divinely initiated works, and His selfless love. The cross of Jesus is the highest expression of this reality in God, and this is the solid ground on which I plant my feet when my zeal falters and I'm surrounded with impossible situations. If my focus and trust is in my love for God, I will be discouraged; if I meditate and trust in His love for me and for those I pray for, my heart will be strengthened to believe and to remain steady even while trembling.

Hallelujah to the Father and Son and Holy Spirit! May His name be known and loved by more men and women and children in the year 2011 because we, His own, trust in His steadfast love to accomplish it...He is worthy!

How Much More...!

My heart is full to overflowing with the magnanimity (vastness) of the Father's heart! Just today I got word of a generous and sacrificial gesture made by a dad and mom towards their son that was not necessary nor particularly deserved, but was given purely for love's sake and because he is their son - that's all! No other reason needed!

I know these parents and I know they are imperfect; Jesus' words come to me as fitting for them: "If you then, who are evil (imperfect), know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?"

There's lots of treasures to be mined from these words, but I want to focus here on the bigheartedness of God the Father so that our hearts are tenderized by His goodness and kindness towards us which comes our way simply because we are His children - no other reason needed! I believe that in these words, Jesus is addressing the suspicion that we fallen humans have of God because we imagine Him to be like us with our mixture of motives. So Jesus gives a picture of what fallen human parents are capable of (giving good things to their undeserving children simply for being their children), then adds, "...HOW MUCH MORE will your Father...give good things..." In other words, how much more eager and pure is the desire to give that comes from One who has absolutely not one trace of shadow or darkness in Him, One who is Pure and Holy Love and whose sole desire is for the well-being of His child even at supreme cost to Himself!

I believe that Christmas (Jesus' birth) and Easter (His death and resurrection) and His ascension and His soon return to place us in an honored position with Him throughout eternity are all loud expressions of the "how much more" of the heavenly Father! All of His giving flows out of that one great Gift of His own Life in His Son Jesus. He gives and gives and keeps on giving of Himself in His Son by His very own Spirit. If I'm moved deeply by seeing "evil" parents do extravagant and selfless things for their children for the only reason that they are their sons or daughters, how much more should I be moved by the perfect Parent who gives me good things when I ask, for the only reason that I am His daughter, no other reason needed.

If you are a parent, take a moment to consider how you would give anything for your child even when he/she is undeserving and unappreciative...THEN, in your mind's imagination, put yourself in the child role and ask the Holy Spirit to show you how much more your heavenly Father is like that towards you. Let your imagination, your heart's eye, see yourself as the one He wants to give good gifts to for the simple reason that you are His son/daughter, and bask in that kind of unconditional blessing.

If you are not a parent, pay attention to how healthy parents are with their children (and particularly when the child doesn't deserve the gift) and ask the Holy Spirit to give you a glimpse of how much more your heavenly Parent is like that towards you for the simple reason that you are His son/daughter, and revel in that reality of unconditional love.

Yes, we see this "how much more" of the Father played out in the birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and sure return of Jesus, but we also see it in living color around us in fallen human families. May the Spirit of Jesus open the eyes of our heart and imagination to see that He has bent over backwards to show us in everyday life and in His Word what His Father heart is like!

God bless you and expand your heart this season with the "how much more" of His fatherly heart!

The Normal Christian Church Life (#10) - Chapter Nine

Chapter 9 - "The Organization of Local Churches"

This is the final chapter of this book; after this I will be writing random thoughts for a few weeks.

I will give a brief summary of this lengthy chapter (please see entire book online at Google Books if you want more), then I will close this post with comments on the house church movement today.

Nee begins the chapter by listing three things that we typically regard as essential in our present-day concept of "church":

• A "minister"
• A church building
• "Church services"

He proceeds to deal with each of these in detail, explaining how the New Testament Church viewed them. The chapter also deals with the distinction made in the New Testament between "church" and apostolic ministry (which Nee refers to as "the work"). Some summary statements Nee makes in this chapter are the following:

• "The relationship between the work and the church is really very simple. A worker (apostle) preaches the gospel, souls are saved, and after a short lapse of time a few of the comparatively advanced ones are chosen from among them to be responsible for local affairs. Thus a church is established! The apostle then follows the leading of the Spirit to another place, and history is repeated there. So the spiritual life and activity of the local church develops, because the believers bear their own responsibility; and the work extends steadily because the apostles are free to move from place to place preaching the gospel and founding new churches."
• "Romans 12:5 Apart from Christ, the Church has no head; all believers are only members, and they are 'members one of another.' Mutuality expresses the nature of the Church...All those who compose a church take their place as members of the Body, not one occupying the position of head. The whole life of the church, and all its activities, must be stamped by this characteristic of mutuality."
• "The Scriptures show two distinct kinds of meetings - apostolic meetings, which are led by one man, and church meetings, in which all the local brethren are free to take part."
• "There are several purposes for which the church meets, as recorded in Scripture. First, for prayer (Acts 2:42; 4:24,31; 12:5); second, for reading (Col. 4:16; I Thes. 5:27; Acts 2:42; 15:21, 30-31); third, for the breaking of bread (I Cor. 10:16,17; Acts 2:42; 20:7); fourth, for the exercise of spiritual gifts (I Cor. 14)."
• "The apostolic meeting is not an intrinsic part of the church life; it is merely a piece of work, and it ceases with the departure of the worker (apostle). But the church meetings go on uninterrupted whether the worker is present or absent."

To conclude this post, I will share that I believe the Church, under the Lord's leadership, is beginning to move back to the ways of the early church when church gatherings were in inconspicuous places (like homes) and were much more effective in displaying the beauty of Jesus, in discipling believers, and in winning the hearts and minds of unbelievers (or "pre-christians") without the road blocks of hierarchical structures and systems, buildings and the huge expenses required to maintain these elements.

As I live and work among the younger generations, I increasingly see the ineffectiveness of our systems and structures as they get in the way of "parenting" them in God, which is what they desperately need and want because of the massive breakdown of the home in our society. House gatherings will provide family life for the upcoming generations; the Lord will increasingly find places where He can "set the solitary in families" (Psalm 68:6).

The movement towards house churches is growing rapidly and while there are various approaches to this, there is much common ground among those who are voices today in this movement. For those interested in knowing more I recommend the following books: "Pagan Christianity?" by Frank Viola and George Barna; "Reimagining Church" by Frank Viola; "Houses that Change the World" by Wolfgang Simson; "The Rabbit and the Elephant" by Tony & Felicity Dale and George Barna; "Organic Church" by Neil Cole; "Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours?" by Roland Allen.

The Normal Christian Church Life (#9) - Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: "The Question of Finance"

This chapter is one of the most, if not the most, offensive chapters of this book. Before plunging into Nee's teachings on the topic of money, I want to share two things for clarification's sake.

First, when Jesus said in Matthew 6 that you "cannot serve God and mammon", I believe it was another way of saying what the apostle Paul says to Timothy - that the root of all evil is the love of money. Both Jesus and Paul recognized the seductive power of money in the hands of fallen people and speak of it as "the other god" that vies for our loyalty and allegiance. Nee points out in this chapter that in most other areas of our lives we can get away with being theoretical, but the issue of money brings our walk with God into the very practical. This is where "the rubber meets the road".

Secondly, once again just a reminder of the context from which Nee is teaching. He is speaking from the house church paradigm, and this book is a recording of his discipling of apostolic leaders (or "workers" as he often refers to them). These are men and women on whom the hand of God rests for establishing churches and who are engaged in this as a full-time calling. So keep in mind that Nee's admonitions concerning finances are directed to those who are truly "sent ones" by God.

Having said this, I believe it's worthwhile for those of us who do not have this particular calling to pay attention to what he teaches for understanding of God's intention for church leadership and for our role as those who share in the blessings of apostolic leadership. Although we in the West are still a long way away from this, we can get a rough picture from the early church of what God's intentions and desires are for His Body. (This chapter, as the others, bears out how far away the present-day Church is from God's design as seen in the New Testament.)

For the sake of brevity, I'll skip much of the explanations of his points so if you have questions, I would encourage you to look at his complete book (see Google books where it's available in its entirety) for more material.

Nee begins by pointing out that while the New Testament goes into detail about other facets of the work of the apostle, there is nothing said about how the personal needs and the ministry needs of the worker were provided..."This is certainly amazing! What men consider of supreme importance, the apostles regarded of least consequence. In the early days of the Church, God's sent ones went out under the constraint of divine love...In grace God is the greatest power, but in the world mammon is the greatest. If God's servants do not clearly settle the question of finance, then they leave a vast number of other questions unsettled too.

"If the work is of God, it will be spiritual; and if the work is spiritual, the way of supply will be spiritual. If supplies are not on a spiritual plane, then the work itself will speedily drift on to the plane of secular business. If spirituality does not characterize the financial side of the work, then the spirituality of its other departments is merely theoretical...

"That God's servants should look to human sources for the supply of their needs has no precedent in Scripture...If they (temporal needs) can be met by the labor of his own hands, or from a private income, well and good. Otherwise, he should be directly dependent on God alone for their supply, as were the early apostles. The twelve apostles sent out by the Lord had no fixed salary, nor had any of the apostles sent out by the Spirit...

"There is an idea prevalent that if a worker has a settled income he can be more at leisure for the work, and consequently will do it better; but...in spiritual work there is need for an unsettled income, because that necessitates intimate fellowship with God, constant clear revelation of His will, and direct divine support...God wishes His workers to be cast on Him alone for financial supplies, so that they cannot but walk in close communion with Him and learn to trust Him continually...

"If a worker receives a definite salary from man, the work produced can never be purely divine...He who holds the purse hold authority...It is only to be expected that if we receive an income from a certain source, we should have to account for our doings to such a source...If we are supported by men, then we must seek to please men, and it is often impossible at the same time both to please men and God."

Nee proceeds to speak of what it means to "live from the gospel" (I Cor. 9:14), saying that Paul is not referring to our "modern system of paid service in the work of God" but that it is all a "matter of freewill. As the hearts of believers are touched by God, they give gifts to His servants, so that while these servants receive gifts through men, their trust is still entirely in God." There is no definite period of time nor definite sum of money nor definite responsibility attached to giving.

"But in Corinth Paul did not live from the gospel; he made tents with his own hands. So there are evidently two ways by which the needs of God's servants may be met - either they look to God to touch the hearts of His children to give or they earn it by doing part-time secular work..."

Regarding the financial responsibility of the churches, Nee says that the Scriptures indicate three different ways that money collected by the churches was used:

• For the poor saints among them.
• For the elders of the local church (when circumstances required that elders give up their ordinary business to tend to the interests of the church - in such a case, the local brothers should seek to help at least in some measure to supply what is needed.
• For the workers/apostles and their work. "This must be regarded as an offering to God, not as a salary paid to them." (II Cor. 11:8,9; Phil. 4:15,18)

Nee gives strong admonition about the worker's attitude towards money and the work of God, warning of the common danger of using human methods to expand the work: "If God sees the work needs extension, He Himself will extend it, and if He extends it, he will be responsible to meet the increased needs...Circular letters, reports, magazines, deputation work, special agents and special business centers have been means much used of Christian workers to increase funds for the work...The cross is no mere symbol; it is a fact and a principle which must govern all God's work...

"On the one hand, workers should be careful to disclose their needs to none but God; on the other hand, the churches should be faithful in remembering the needs both of the workers and their work..."

Nee concludes the chapter with comments about why he personally does not believe in organized faith missions (this is worth your looking at), but he graciously allows that some feel led by God to do this and only desires that "we all do not seek the increase or extension of the companies in which we work, but make it our one aim to work exclusively for the founding and building up of the local churches."

Lord, continue to open our eyes and understanding of Your great desire for weak humans; would You do whatever You need to do to make Your Bride pure and unadulterated in our love and devotion to You even if it means that You must remove all of the props that artificially hold us up that we are not aware of...for the sake of Your name in the nations, dear Lord!

The Normal Christian Church Life (#8) - Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: "Among the Workers"

In this chapter Watchman Nee speaks of how the early church organized itself. (When he makes reference to "workers" he is speaking of those with an apostolic calling to establish and build up local churches.)

A strong emphasis of Nee's is the independence of the local churches: "We never find any federation of churches there (in Scripture); they are all independent units." However, regarding "the workers", there was a certain amount of association, loose organization: "Paul refers to those who are with him (Acts 20:34), which indicates that while there was no organization of the workers into different missions, still they had their own special associates in the work...Such grouping of workers was ordained and ordered by the Lord. These apostolic companies were not formed along partisan or doctrinal lines...it was not because of natural affinity that they associated specially with some, nor was it because of difference in doctrine or practice that they did not associate with others. The deciding factor was always the ordering of the Lord."

Nee goes on to emphasize that although the Lord appointed certain associates to work together, they had no special name, system, or organization. Their only interest was to either establish a local church or strengthen a local church that was already in the area..."The Lord is the Head of the Body and not the Head of any organization." The worker's passion must be the Body of the Lord, not his own ministry or organization. "All carnal strife among the workers of God will be at an end once the Body is clearly seen as the principle of the work...(this) necessitates a deep knowledge of the cross of Christ."

In the New Testament "we see no trace of organizational missions on the one hand, nor do we see any workers going out on individual lines on the other hand...They are formed into companies, but such companies are on a spiritual basis, not on the basis of organization...The Lord united them; therefore they became fellow workers...In such groups none held special positions or offices. Whatever ministry the Lord had given them, that constituted their position. They received no appointments from the association..."

Nee then speaks of authority saying that in an organization it's possible for a man to have authority by virtue of his position in the organization without having any inherent authority in himself as a person..."in divinely constituted companies of workers...authority is exercised among them, but such authority is spiritual, not official. It is an authority...which is the outcome of a deep knowledge of the Lord and intimate fellowship with Him...In an organization its workers are obliged to obey, but in a spiritual association they are not...there is no compulsion; direction and submission alike are on the ground of spirituality."

There must be a working together but that isn't by means of an organization but rather by means of each worker hearing from the Head Who directs His work: "God's servants must work together in companies, but there is a kind of co-working which is to be avoided, that is, co-working in a man-made organization which restricts its members so that they cannot really respond to the leading of the Spirit..."

In the Scriptures "there is no universal organization or central control..." This is because "God does not wish the power of organization to take the place of the power of the Holy Spirit ...Whenever people cease to obey the Spirit and labor in the power of the flesh, then it is best if the work is simply allowed to fall to pieces. A good organization often serves as a bad substitute for the power of the Holy Spirit by holding a work together even after all its vitality is gone..."

Nee finishes this chapter by reiterating the importance of the worker's responsibility which is two-fold:

• First, when he comes to a place where there is no church, then he is to establish one in that locality.
• Second, if there is a local church in existence there, then "all his teaching and experience must be contributed to that church that it may be strengthened and edified, and no attempt should be made to attach that church to himself or to the society he represents." (None of the apostles went into regions to establish another church "brand" from where they had come.)

Holy Spirit, we continue to pray for workers/apostles who have had a deep encounter with Jesus and who seek Him above all else and whose hearts are ablaze with desire to establish His name across the earth in preparation for His return. Would You raise up leaders who understand what You are doing in the earth today, for Your sake, Lord. Thank You that You want this more than we do! Amen...

The Normal Christian Church Life (#7) - Chapter Six

Chapter Six: The Work and the Churches

In chapter six Watchman Nee stresses the importance of not confusing the "work" of the apostle (or the "servant of the Lord") with "the churches".

(Keep in mind that the lens through which Nee is seeing "local churches" is that of house churches.)

While God birthed the universal Church (comprised of men and women and children from all races and nations and generations) and THEN appointed apostles (I Cor. 12:28), the order was reversed in respect to the local churches. "The appointment of apostles preceded the founding of local churches... consequently it is obvious that the work of the apostles does not belong to the local churches...we must differentiate clearly between the work (of the apostles) and the churches."

Nee proceeds to develop this theme saying that when God raises up an apostolic ministry that has a particular focus, the local churches that may be planted by this apostle are not to be under the control of that apostle's ministry. Instead, that ministry must serve the local churches. "Every one of God's workmen (apostles) must have a clean-cut line of demarcation between his work and the church in the place of his labors. The work of the apostles and the work of the local church run parallel; they do not converge. When the apostles are working in any place, their work goes on side by side with the work of the church...On leaving a place, an apostle should hand over all the fruit of his work to the local church."

The new believers in an area should be instructed immediately to "take full responsibility for their private reading, prayer and witness and also for the public meetings of the church." In other words, the apostle must not be the one to prepare a place and invite the new believers to meet there but he should encourage them to assemble by themselves so that they quickly become self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating.

"Wherein lies the failure of missions today? They keep the results of their work in their own hands...instead of building them into, or handing them over, to the local churches. The result is that the mission extends and becomes quite an imposing organization, but local churches are scarcely to be found...to regard a mission as an apostolic company is not definitely unscriptural, but for missions to enlarge their own organization instead of establishing local churches is distinctly so."

The chapter ends with a reiterating of God's end, which is the Church. "All the various God-given ministries have one aim, the establishing of local churches...all His designs of grace center in that one company - His Church..."

The Normal Christian Church Life (#6) - Chapter Five

Chapter Five: The Basis of Union and Division

In this chapter Nee begins by pointing out that although the word "church" is used frequently in the book of Acts, there is nothing said about how a church was formed. After thousands were saved at the time of Pentecost, these believers were automatically referred to as the church in Acts 5:11. Acts 8:1 refers to "the church which was in Jerusalem." Nee says that from this "we know now what the church is. It consists of all the saved ones in a given locality."

"If in a given place anyone believes on the Lord...he is a constituent of the church in that place...No subsequent joining is required of him...his being a member of the local church is conditioned only by his being a believer in the locality...the ground of our receiving anyone into the church is that the Lord has already received that one. (Rom. 14:1,3; 15:7)"

After establishing this, Nee establishes what the simple basis of the oneness of the saints is: "...the Spirit of God dwells in every one of them. This is the secret of the oneness of believers, and this is the secret of their separation from the world...If you have the Spirit of Christ and I have the Spirit of Christ, then we both belong to the same Church. There is no need to be united; we are united by the one Spirit who dwells in us both." We aren't exhorted to have oneness but to keep it (Eph. 4:3). "We cannot insist on oneness of opinions or oneness of experience, or any other oneness among believers, except the oneness of the Spirit."

Seven Factors in Spiritual Oneness
Nee then presents seven scriptural factors to spiritual oneness as given in Eph. 4:4-6:

1. One Body. "If we do not wish to extend fellowship to anyone, we must first make sure that he does not belong to the Body; if he does, we have no reason to reject him (unless for disciplinary reasons as are clearly laid down in the Word of God)."
2. One Spirit. "If he has received the Spirit of Christ, and we have received the Spirit of Christ, then we are one in the Lord, and nothing must divide us."
3. One Hope. "If anyone claims to be the Lord's, but has no hope of heaven or glory, his is a mere empty profession. All who share this one hope are one, and since we have the hope of being together in glory for all eternity, how can we be divided in time?"
4. One Lord. "There is only one Lord, the Lord Jesus, and all who recognize that God has made Jesus of Nazareth to be both Lord and Christ are one in Him."
5. One Faith. "The faith here spoken of is the faith - that Jesus is the Son of God (who died for the salvation of sinners and lives again to give life to the dead)...the children of God may follow many different lines of scriptural interpretations, but in regard to this fundamental faith, they are one."
6. One Baptism. While there are different beliefs about the form of baptism, the significance of the "one baptism" Paul speaks of here is the name into which we are baptized (as seen in Paul's question in I Cor. 1:13). Nee says, "If you are baptized into the name of the Lord, that is your qualification for church membership."
   
7. One God. If you believe in the same personal divine God as your Father, then we belong to one family.

Nee goes on to point out that while these seven factors are the basis for oneness in the "Church" (i.e., believers in all the world) , there is one factor that justifies "division" among believers, and that is physical locality. As seen in the previous chapters, God defines the local church by means of a given geographical location/city (such as the"church in Ephesus", etc.). In the New Testament, churches were not divided by denominational names but simply by locality.

Seven Forbidden Grounds of Division
The chapter ends with the Scriptural grounds on which the Church must not be divided (I Cor. 1:10-17):

1. Spiritual Leaders. "It is in keeping with God's will that we should learn from spiritual men and profit by their leadership, but it is altogether contrary to His will that we should divide the Church according to the men we admire."
2. Instruments of Salvation. "Spiritual leaders are no adequate reason for dividing the Church; neither are the instruments used of God in our salvation."
3. Non-sectarianism. While denominationalism is not scriptural, neither is the attitude of exclusiveness on the part of those who will not fellowship with others who are in denominations. "All believers living in the same locality belong to the same church...We dare not alter 'all the believers in a locality' to 'all the undenominational believers in a locality.'"
4. Doctrinal Differences. "God forbids any division on doctrinal grounds...A church of God in any place comprises all the children of God in that place, not merely those who hold the same doctrinal views."
5. Racial Differences. "God has placed believers of different races in one locality so that, by transcending all external differences, they might in one church show forth the one life and the one Spirit of His Son."
6. National Differences. "The Word does not speak of the church of the Greeks (a race or nation), but of the church of the Thessalonians (a city). Scripture knows nothing of the church of the French, but it does recognize the church of the Parisians."
7. Social Distinctions. "In Paul's day, from a social point of view, there was a great gulf fixed between a free man and a slave; yet they worshipped side by side in the same church. Social distinctions are no adequate basis for forming a separate church."

The Normal Christian Church Life (#5) - Chapters Three and Four

This week I'll cover two chapters (3 & 4):

Chapter Three: "The Elders Appointed by the Apostles"
As seen in chapter two, because the apostles were constantly on the move planting house churches, they did not pastor or shepherd the local house churches. Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit they would appoint elders from among the new believers to oversee the local house church:

"The apostolic procedure was quite simple. The apostles visited a place, founded a church, left that church for a while, then returned to establish it...When the apostles left, some of the professing believers would leave too. Others would continue to attend the meetings and would prove themselves to be truly the Lord's, but would make no appreciable progress. (Still) others would eagerly press on in the knowledge of the Lord and show real concern for His interests. Those who had more spiritual life than others would spontaneously come to the front and take responsibility for their weaker brothers. It was because they had proved themselves to be elders that the apostles appointed them to hold office as elders, and it was their business to shepherd and instruct the other believers, and to superintend and control the church affairs."

Nee goes on to emphasize how critical it is that the apostles quickly hand off oversight to the elders: "We (apostles) need to know Christ as Head of His Church in no mere intellectual way if we are to let all its management pass out of our hands at the very outset...All who are engaged in apostolic work and are seeking to follow the example of the first apostles in leaving the churches to the management of local elders, must be spiritually equipped for the task...The Word of God makes it clear that the oversight of a church is not the work of apostles, but of elders...The characteristic of an apostle is going; the characteristic of an elder is staying."

Some other issues related to church elders addressed by Nee are the following:

• The appointment of elders by apostles was not based on personal preference but on those who God had already chosen (Acts 20:28); and the elders were not paid.
  
• On occasion when there was no apparent person and no clear leading of the Spirit when the apostle made his return visit, rather than force something, a "Titus" was left behind in order to see that an appointment was made later (Titus 1:5).
• The elders were the overseers, looking after both temporal and spiritual affairs of the local church. "The ordering of church government, the management of business affairs, and the care of material things are all under their control. But we must remember that a scriptural church does not consist of an active and a passive group of brethren. (I Cor. 12:25) Every church after God's own heart bears the stamp of 'one another' on all its life and activity. Mutuality is its outstanding characteristic. If the elders lose sight of that, then their leading the church will soon be changed to lording it over the church...Christ alone is the Head."
• "In Scripture we see that there was always more than one elder or bishop (another word for elder which means 'overseer') in a local church...To place the responsibility in the hands of several brethren, rather than in the hands of one individual, is God's way of safeguarding His church against the evils that result from the domination of a strong personality."

Chapter Four: "The Churches Founded by the Apostles"

In this chapter Watchman Nee speaks of what the New Testament church was like and points out that this is the pattern that God the Spirit has given us for how to do church.

First he distinguishes between the Church universal and "the churches" (local assemblies). The Church universal is made up of "all the saved, without reference to time or space...all who in the purpose of God are redeemed by virtue of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus, and are born again by the operation of His Spirit." Locality is the scriptural basis for the dividing of the Church of God into "churches." Nee says that "throughout the Word of God we can find no name attached to a church save the name of a place; for example, the church in Jerusalem, the church in Lystra, the church in Derbe..."

"What is a New Testament church? It is not a building, a gospel hall, a preaching center, a mission, a work, an organization, a system, a denomination, or a sect...A New Testament church is the meeting together for worship, prayer, fellowship, and mutual edification of all the people of God in a given locality, on the ground that they are Christians in the same locality."

What is a Scriptural locality? Ephesus, Rome, Jerusalem, Corinth, etc., were not "countries nor provinces nor districts but simply places of convenient size for people to live together in a certain measure of safety and sociability. In modern language we should call them cities." However, if it's a large city such as London, for example, "the political and postal authorities, as well as the man on the street, regard London as more than one unit. They divide it respectively into boroughs and postal districts. What they regard as an administrative unit, we may well regard as a church unit."

Nee finishes the chapter with the following points:

• Each local church (comprised of house churches in a locality) is independent of other local churches, but they learn from one another.
• Each local church's Head is the Lord Jesus, and it must not be formed around a strong personality nor a particular doctrine. "In the purpose of God, Jesus Christ is the center of all the churches, and the locality is their sphere...the children of God must see to it that they have no center of union apart from Christ..."
  

The Normal Christian Church Life (#4) - Chapter Two

Chapter Two: "The Separation and Movements of the Apostles - Antioch, the Model Church"

Using the church at Antioch ("the first church established on absolutely clear Church ground"), Nee deals with how the apostles were set apart and what their work was like as a model for church life today. I won't include all his detailed background material for the sake of brevity, but if you want to search it out more, his book is available online at Google books.

Keep in mind that when Nee speaks of the apostolic calling, he's referring to a particular calling, not to all believers.

First of all Nee observes that in Acts 13 Barnabas and Saul are actively engaged in local work when they are chosen from among the prophets and teachers in Antioch. "These prophets and teachers ministered so wholeheartedly to the Lord that when occasion demanded, they even ignored the legitimate claims of their physical being and fasted. What filled the thoughts of those prophets and teachers at Antioch was ministry to the Lord, not work for Him. Their devotion was to the Lord Himself, not to His service. No one can truly work for the Lord who has not first learned to minister to Him...It was to the divine call they responded, not to the call of human need...

"...their compassions had not been stirred by doleful tales of child-marriage or foot-binding or opium-smoking..No appeal had been made to their natural heroism or love of adventure. They knew only one appeal - the appeal of their Lord...if the Holy Spirit has not said, 'Set apart that man for the work to which I have called him,' he can never be an apostle. He may be a prophet or a teacher, but he is no apostle...God desires the service of His children, but He makes conscripts; he wants no volunteers. The work is His, and He is its only legitimate Originator...The tragedy in Christian work today is that so many of the workers have simply gone out; they have not been sent (by God)."

Nee goes on to point out that while the direct call of God is imperative for apostolic ministry, it also requires the confirmation of representatives of the local body of believers from which the apostles/workers go out. "God spoke to a representative company in the church, to men of spiritual experience who were utterly devoted to His interest...The call was personal, the separation was corporate...no separation of workers should be done hastily or lightly. It was for this reason that fasting and prayer preceded the sending forth of Barnabas and Saul."
Nee concludes this section of the chapter with strong words saying that these prophets and teachers did not represent a particular church or ministry (no special name, no particular organization, no fixed rules); and this is why there was unity among all believers. "Christian ministry is the ministry of the whole Church, not merely one section of it. We must see to it that our work is on no lesser basis than the Body of Christ. Otherwise, we lose the headship of Christ, for Christ is not the Head of any system or mission or organization; He is the Head of the Church."

The remainder of the chapter deals with what the apostolic ministry looked like in Antioch. To summarize Nee's teaching on this, I will give some simple bullet points:

• "In Scripture we nowhere find that apostles are under the control of any individual or organized company."
• "...constant movement characterized those sent ones....they were pioneers, not settlers. They did not wait till believers were mature before they left them. They dared to leave them in mere infancy, for they believed in the power of the life of God within them...they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The apostles might go, but the Spirit remained."
• They followed the leading of the Spirit, traveling from place to place, preaching the gospel, and planting (house) churches.
• They returned to visit the places where they had planted churches and spent a little time establishing the saints and appointing elders to bear the ongoing responsibility of the church in that place.
• They reported back to Antioch what God had done, but their reporting had nothing to do with raising finances for the work. Their simple and pure aim in reporting was two-fold: to glorify God and to bless His children through the good news of what God had done.

Watchman Nee is always careful to underscore the need for true spirituality in the worker. He ends the chapter with a gentle warning about following the model without a deep and intimate walk with God: "We dare not underestimate the value of apostolic methods - they are absolutely essential if we are to have apostolic fruits - but we must not overlook the need of apostolic spirituality, and we must no fear apostolic persecution."

The Normal Christian Church Life (#3) - Chapter One

Chapter One: "Apostles"

In this chapter Watchman Nee goes to great lengths to help the reader understand the calling and role of the apostle, both in the New Testament and in post-biblical church life. Although the teaching he gives on apostleship is directed to those who have this commission on their lives, and although many of those reading this may not have this calling, I feel it's important to have a general understanding of the vastly important gift that the "apostle" is to the church, particularly in light of the direction the Lord seems to be taking His people. This blog posting will be a simple overview of Nee's in-depth covering of this topic...

First Nee distinguishes between THE Apostle Jesus, and the twelve apostles who were chosen by Jesus to be with Him in His earthly ministry, and the apostles chosen and sent by the Holy Spirit that have served the Church throughout church history: "The first Apostle is unique; there is only One. The twelve apostles are also in a class by themselves; there are only twelve. But there is another order of apostles, chosen by the Holy Spirit, and as long as the building up of the Church goes on and the Holy Spirit's presence on earth continues, the choosing and sending forth of this order of apostles will continue too."

He then gives the meaning of apostleship pointing out that it means to be sent by God. It isn't a volunteering to go but a divine sending that constitutes apostleship: "'A slave is not greater than his master, nor the apostle (Greek) greater than the one who sends him' (John 13:16). Here we have the definition of the term 'apostle.' It implies being sent out - that is all, and that is everything. However good human intention may be, it can never take the place of divine commission."

Nee goes on to say, "The special position occupied by apostles is obvious to any reader of the New Testament. They were specially commissioned of God to found churches through the preaching of the Gospel, to bring revelation from God to His people, to give decisions in matters pertaining to doctrine and government, and to edify the saints and distribute the gifts." Nee points out that the role of apostle is qualitatively different from the other ministry gifts listed by Paul in Ephesians 4 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors/teachers).

What is the evidence of apostleship? From II Corinthians 12:11,12 "we infer that the evidence of apostleship lies in a twofold power - spiritual and miraculous. Endurance is the greatest proof of spiritual power, and it is one of the signs of an apostle...it was also evidenced by the miraculous power he (Paul) possessed...power to change situations in the physical world is a necessary manifestation of our knowledge of God in the spiritual realm...To profess to be sent ones of the omnipotent God and yet stand helpless before situations that challenge His power, is a sad contradiction..."

Nee closes the chapter with his conviction based on Scripture that women as well as men can be called and commissioned as apostles.

In summary, this chapter shows how imperative it is that there be men and women who have had a divine encounter with the living Christ and a divine commissioning for planting churches (house churches) with the qualifications of endurance and miracles in order for the birthing and the explosive and continual growth of the church in all lands.

Frank Viola says the following about apostles: "Apostles were extra-local, traveling, itinerant church planters. They were highly gifted individuals who were sent by the Lord and by a particular church to plant and equip new churches. Apostles enabled the church by giving it birth, raising it up from the ground. They also helped it walk on its own two feet. Apostles grew up in an organic expression of church life as non-leaders before they were sent out to plant churches of the same kind. In other words, they first experienced what they would later establish elsewhere. And they always left the churches they planted on their own without installing a clergy or religious ritual."

"May God give us more people who have had a head-on collision with Jesus, who have caught a glimpse of His radiance, and who, as a result, can meld a group of people together with a living knowledge of their God in the face of Jesus Christ. May He raise up countless servants who can faithfully steward the divine mystery and turn it loose on this world." (F. Viola)

Amen and amen!

The Normal Christian Church Life (#2) - Introduction

In the introduction to "The Normal Christian Church Life", Watchman Nee makes the case for how God cares, not only about our inner life with Him (the wine) but also about the expression of our corporate life in Him (the wineskin). He argues that God has not left it up to human ideas and preferences to determine how we are to live and walk together as His people and that the Scriptures show us what God desires related to this. The following are quotes from his book:

"We trust the readers of this book will bear in mind that its messages...were intended exclusively for the inner circle of my most intimate associates in the work, but by request we share our findings with the wider circle of all our brethren. The book is something private made public...so we trust our readers will pardon anything that seems unsuited to the wider public.

...The cross and resurrection, the Christ-life, the lordship of Jesus, the corporate life of the Body, the ground of the Kingdom of God and His eternal purpose...have been the burden of our ministry. But God's wine must have a wineskin to contain it. In the divine pattern, nothing is left for man to decide. God Himself has provided the best wineskin for His wine, which will contain and preserve it without loss, hindrance, or misrepresentation. He has shown us His wine, but His has shown us His wineskin also.

...the practical outworking of those truths (concerning the spiritual life of the believer and the eternal purpose of God) in the Lord's service is by no means unimportant. Without that, everything is in the realm of theory, and spiritual development is impossible. So we would seek, by the grace of God, not only to pass on His good wine, but also the wineskin He has provided for its preservation...

God demands both inward and outward purity. To have the outer without the inner is spiritual death, but to have the inner without the outer is only spiritualized life. And spiritualization is not spirituality. The leading of the Spirit is precious, but if there is no example in the Word, then it is easy to substitute our fallible thoughts and unfounded feelings for the Spirit's leading...God cannot lead a man one way in Acts and another way today. In externalities the leading may vary, but in principle it is always the same; for God's will is eternal, therefore changeless.

If we would understand the will of God concerning His Church, then we must not look to see how He led His people last year, or ten years ago, or a hundred years ago, but we must return to the beginning, to the 'genesis' of the Church, to see what He said and did then...Acts is the 'genesis' of the Church's history...It is the divine standard and our pattern for all time...

Christianity is built not only upon precepts, but also upon examples. God has revealed His will, not only by giving orders, but by having certain things done in His Church...He knows we learn more easily by example than by precept. Examples have greater value than precepts, because precepts are abstract, while examples are precepts carried into effect.

In closing...this book is intended for those who, having learned something of the cross, know the corruption of human nature, and seek to walk, not after the flesh but after the Spirit...May none of my readers use this book as a basis for external adjustments in their work, without letting the cross deal drastically with their natural life."

The Normal Christian Church Life (#1) - Preface

Before going to the Preface of Watchman Nee's book, "The Normal Christian Church Life", I want to write a personal note about the topic of this book.

For most of my walk with the Lord, I have not given attention to church forms and models, thinking that it didn't matter. I was even taught that the book of Acts should not be used as a model for church life.

In the past few years, I've been slowly waking up to how important the way we "do church" is to God and am increasingly aware of how the beauty and power of Jesus is obscured by the way we "do church". So I've been on a journey related to this topic, and in my journey I have made the delightful discovery of this book by one of my favorite authors. Because I didn't have a grid before for this issue, I was not even aware that Watchman Nee had written about it (even though I thought I had read almost every book of his).

I'm sharing this as one who has been steeped in the present model of church life all of my life and as one who is very much in the beginnings of exploring this topic, so my intention is not to debunk what I've known all my life but rather to share a bit of my journey into a different mindset concerning the way we have traditionally practiced Christianity together as God's people. Of course, in the process of exploring the New Testament model of church life, questions about how we have done church for centuries will come up because of how far we have strayed from God's design. My desire is that what I share from Nee's book will help awaken desire to seek the Lord along these lines and to pray for Him to have His way in His Church as we draw near to His appearing.

The Holy Spirit in the Apostle Paul yearned over the Corinthian believers, jealous that nothing seduce them from pure devotion to one Husband (II Cor. 11:1-3). I pray that the same Spirit that burned in Paul will remove all that gets in the way of God's people seeing Jesus clearly in our day.

In this posting I will only cover the short preface. Next week I'll cover the longer Introduction. If you want to read along, this book is available in its entirety online and you can access it by searching in Google Books.

Preface

"This book as it now stands is a greatly abridged and slightly revised edition of the Chinese...Because of the vastness of the subject and the importance of its issues, I have not found it easy either to write or translate the book...

To do the book justice, the reader is asked to finish reading it before passing judgment. The book is not intended for anyone and everyone. It is for those who bear responsibility in the Lord's service. But more than this, it is for such as honestly and truly mean business with God...The book may test one's sincerity and honesty to no small degree... The whole matter will grow upon the reader and become clearer with relaxed contemplation...

By prayerful openness of heart, the Spirit of Truth should be given a chance, and then what is of Him will cause all our natural reactions to die away. What is set forth in these pages is no mere theory or teaching, but something we have actually tested out."

The Holy Spirit and Jesus

T. Austin-Sparks says,

"The ministry of the Holy Spirit has ever been to reveal Jesus Christ, and revealing Him, to conform everything to Him. No human genius can do this. We cannot obtain anything in our New Testament as a result of human study, research, or reason. It is all the Holy Spirit revelation of Jesus Christ. Ours is to seek continually to see Him by the Spirit, and we shall know that He - not a paper-pattern - is the Pattern, the Order, the Form. It is all a Person who is the sum of all purpose and ways. Everything (in the early church) then was a free and spontaneous movement of the Holy Spirit, and He did it in full view of the Pattern - God's Son."

Because the revelation of the beauty and power of Jesus is imperative to a whole and holy people of God, it shouldn't surprise us that the enemy works to obscure this revelation by whatever means he can; this includes the forms and patterns that we as His people have used.

In light of this, I want to spend the next few weeks looking at Watchman Nee's book, "The Normal Christian Church Life". If you are interested in the book, it is available at amazon.com or you can find it in its entirety online if you go to Google books.

God bless you this week and may His Spirit increasingly magnify Jesus to you as you seek to know Him!

Jesus Our All in All (#10)

This will be the final quoted selection from Frank Viola's book, "Jesus Manifesto". I highly recommend this book to anyone hungry to encounter Jesus...

A House of Figs (Part 2) - The Significance of Bethany

"When Christ entered this world, He was rejected in all quarters.

Consider His birth...
When He was about two years old...
When He began His ministry around the age of thirty...
When He sought entrance into Samaria...
He was also rejected by His own hometown, Nazareth...

In short, the Lord had no home on this earth (Luke 9:58)...There was only one exception. Throughout His entire earthly life, there was only one place on the planet where Jesus Christ was received with welcome...a tiny, obscure village called Bethany and the home of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Simon the leper - Jesus' friends.

From Genesis to Revelation, the forces of evil have disputed God's right to have a home on this earth. But from the beginning, God has wanted a 'house' - a place where He could rest and 'presence' Himself. This is what Bethany symbolizes - a home for Christ.

Following are some of the outstanding features of Bethany, all of which depict what the Lord is looking for in every city across this planet:

1. Bethany is the place where Jesus was utterly welcome (Luke 10:38)...(this) means giving Him the place of primacy...Jesus desires to be more than a guest. And His Father expects Him to be Master of the house...(this) also means receiving His entire ministry...and receiving all who belong to Him.

2. Bethany is the place where women and men are His disciples (Luke 10:39)...Mary is seated in the living space with the 12 disciples...Every first century rabbi had male disciples only...Jesus was the only teacher in antiquity to include women in His circle of followers...Many Christians are busy serving God...But how many know the secret of loving Christ, sitting at His feet, listening to Him share His heart, and allowing His life to be the source of their service?...Bethany is the place where both women and men sit at His feet and hear His word.

3. Bethany is the place where Christ is loved and befriended (John 11:3,11)...Jesus desires friends over servants...It is possible to serve without loving...In the cold temple of Jerusalem, God was served. But in the warmth of a Bethany home, He was loved and befriended.

4. Bethany is the place of death and resurrection (John 11:43,44)...Lazarus has died...there is crisis and suffering in Bethany. The cross sits at the very center of a body of believers that authentically gathers as the church...Note that Jesus waited four days after Lazarus' death before He raised him up. Death is hopeless. But four days after death is beyond hopeless....every crisis you face is a God-given opportunity to rediscover Christ in a bold new way...So be prepared to meet a God who seems to have the disturbing habit of leaving the scene when you most need Him...if you endure, outwaiting your impatience for His timing, Christ will roll the stone away and raise you from the dead. While you may stumble and fumble at the goal line, Jesus will eventually carry you across.

5. Bethany is the place of liberty from bondage (John 11:44). 'Take off the grave clothes and let him go.' Jesus dispenses His resurrection life...(but) Jesus did not unbind Lazarus. He told the crowd to do it. We discover two things here: First, Bethany is the place where God's people are set free from all bondages (religion, legalism, sin, the world, serving God in the flesh...) Second, we are the Lord's colleagues in setting others free.

6. Bethany is the place where the supreme worth of Christ is recognized (John 12:3). (Here we see) a family feasting in the presence of Jesus Christ. They are supping with Him and He with them. That's Bethany. It's a riveting picture of authentic church life...Mary has with her a sealed flask of precious perfume...She breaks open the seal and pours the perfume upon the Lord's head as though He were a king...Jesus interprets this act as preparation for His burial...the value of Mary's flask of perfume was about $46,000 USD...Mary's act demonstrates extravagant worship. Profuse loyalty. Larger-than-life beauty. Lavish love and devotion. In Bethany, Jesus is valued for His exceeding worth...The disciples were scandalized that Jesus had defended luxury over justice. Few things are as close to God's heart as helping the poor and the oppressed. But preeminently important is Jesus Christ Himself...

7. Bethany is the place where Christ is ministered to (Mark 11:11). (Between Bethany and Jerusalem, Jesus) hungered and saw a fig tree with leaves...and discovered that it lacked figs. When a fig tree puts forth leaves, it's shouting that it has figs. But not this tree...It was announcing that it possessed fruit, but it really had none at all...Strikingly, Bethany means 'house of figs.' According to many scholars, the fig tree represents Judaism - the religious establishment of Jesus' people. Israel was supposed to feed our Lord, but she did not...But thank God, there was a place that could feed Him. There was a people - a faithful remnant - who could give Him rest and satisfaction. That people and place was Bethany - the house full of figs.

8. Bethany is the place of ascension (Luke 24:50-52). He ascended from Bethany. When Christ ascended, He was enthroned as absolute head over all things. And all things were placed under His feet...Christians aren't saved from all troubles or delivered from all problems. But we have been given an ascendant life with which to rise above them...We are 'seated in heavenly places in Christ'...it means that we can walk with Jesus without feeling as if we have one foot on a banana peel and the other foot in a grave. It means we can leave the footprint of our Lord wherever we go.

The earth awaits such...May it come. And may our Lord have what His soul longs for - a Bethany in every town - a place where He can lay His head and breathe His breath."

AMEN!!

Jesus Our All in All (#9)

From part of chapter 9 of "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola and Len Sweet:

"A House of Figs"

"God has chosen to vest all of power, authority, and life in the living Christ. However, God in Christ is only known fully in and through His church (Eph. 3:10).

The authentic Christian life, therefore, is not an individual pursuit. It's a corporate journey...Those who insist on flying life solo will be brought to earth with a crash. Thus Christ and His church are intimately joined and connected...You will never know the depths of Christ on your own. It matters not how intelligent, gifted, or spiritual you may be. It takes a functioning body to know Him fully...and to display His fullness. It's only by being vitally and organically connected with other members of the body in a living way that we experience the fullness of God (Eph. 3:16-19).

The church is Jesus Christ in corporate expression...Practically, this means that we know Jesus Christ through one another...We see Him, hear Him, touch Him, taste and smell Him through our sisters and brothers within whom He dwells. Genuine church life is born when groups of people are intoxicated with a glorious unveiling of their Lord. Jesus Christ is the only foundation upon which an authentic church can be built...

The calling of every person involved in church planting, then, is to build the ekklesia upon a ground-breaking revelation of the Son of God...May God give us more people who have had a head-on collision with Jesus, who have caught a glimpse of His radiance, and who, as a result, can meld a group of people together with a living knowledge of their God in the face of Jesus Christ. May He raise up countless servants who can faithfully steward the divine mystery and turn it loose on this world."

Amen and amen...this is our prayer, Lord, in these critical days of preparation before Your return.

Jesus Our All in All (#8)

Excerpts from chapter 8 of "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet:

The Forgotten Tree

"Jesus did not live by His own natural strength. Instead, He lived by the energy of His Father who indwelled Him...Therein lies the root of Jesus' amazing life.

We know that Jesus lived by His Father's life. But what about us fallen mortals?...The gospel teaches that just as Jesus couldn't do anything of Himself, we can't do anything of ourselves...We can try as hard as we wish to be like Christ, but the human effort will never touch the hem of that garment...The glory of the gospel is that we who are fallen, tarnished and marred have been invited to live our lives in the exact same way that Jesus lived His life: by an indwelling Lord...

What the Father was to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is to you. He's your indwelling Lord...But there is more. Because all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell in Christ, the Father and the Spirit also are pleased to dwell in you...allowing Him to live His life through you is one of the most freeing things that you can do.

(In the garden of Eden) God wanted humans to eat from the tree of life...(which) meant receiving the uncreated life of God into oneself...Today the tree of life is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Living by God's life is very different from living by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A person who is living by the tree of life doesn't say, 'Let me try to do good and avoid evil.' Instead, he allows the life of God to flow within and through him. He yields to the instincts, promptings, and energy of that God-life.

Religion gives people the notion that they have God under control. Religion says that we can understand God absolutely and completely...The Christian religion teaches that the Bible answers virtually every question that's brought to the sacred text. The problem with this...is that the true God cannot fit into anyone's box. God will always end up breaking out of our human expectations and understandings...

Yet many Christians have turned the Bible into a form of the knowledge of good and evil. They approach the Bible as raw material by which they gain control over their lives, so life can be more understandable and under control, less unnerving and unpredictable.

...The Pharisees' attempt to promote high moral values was based on the knowledge of good and evil. For this reason, the Lord Jesus - who had a reputation of being a 'friend of sinners' - constantly collided with the leaven-dispensing Pharisees.

Jesus pushed the boundaries of religion to their limits. He was also a fierce critic of the priestly temple system of His day...If you examine Jesus' exchanges with the Pharisees, you'll discover a common thread. The Pharisees would ask a question on one level, and Jesus would answer it on a completely different level...it would appear that Jesus was answering a different question.

Why is this? It's because the Pharisees' questions were coming from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Jesus' response was coming from the tree of life - the life of God.

Regrettably, there is a great deal of pharisaism in the Christian family today...

The Bible teaches the highest possible moral values. But the Bible is fundamentally not about morality. Following the Lord Jesus Christ involves living out the highest moral values. But following Jesus is fundamentally not about morality. Conversion to Christ involves a moral transformation of life. But conversion is not fundamentally about morality either...It is Christ, not religion, that saves us.

...it is all too possible to confuse an academic knowledge or theology about Jesus with a personal knowledge of the living Christ Himself. There two stand as far apart as do the hundred thousand million galaxies.

...the fullness of Christ can never be accessed through the frontal lobe alone. That's why Jesus did not leave His disciples with CliffNotes for a systematic theology. He left them with breath and body. He didn't leave them with a coherent and clear belief system by which to love God and others. He gave them wounds to touch and hands to heal. He didn't leave them with intellectual belief or a 'Christian worldview.' He left them with a relational faith and an indwelling presence.

...unless the cutting edge of your life and ministry is Jesus Christ, you're building castles in the sand and skating on invisible ice. That's why...the church must be awakened to the Christ who lives within her and being to understand the limitless resources of His indwelling life."

Deliver us, dear Spirit of Jesus, from living by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and fill us with desire for the Tree of Life, Jesus Himself. Jesus, You are Life within us, Your people. Teach us to live by Your resurrected life! Thank You that You hear our cry. Amen.

Jesus Our All in All (#7)

From chapter 7 of "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola and Len Sweet:

A Collision of Two Empires

"Paul said that Jesus is 'head over all things (for) the church.' Notice, Jesus is head over all things not for the state but for the church...Some have made Jesus the chaplain of the American dream. Others have made Him the chaplain of the Democratic Party. Still others have made Jesus the chaplain of capitalism and Republicanism. All are equally blasphemous...

We must never avoid social issues. But the distinctive mark of a Christian is that you don't begin with a social or moral issue. You begin with God...You make the Light of the World, not culture, your reference point. Our time should be spent figuring out our relationship to Jesus and what He is doing in the world. Why? So we can join Him in what He's already doing. If we start anywhere else but Christ, we lose our way.

...Granted, there are times when the church should stand up prophetically and speak to power, saying, 'This is wrong because it outrages the image of God in human beings.' Slavery, sex trafficking, genocide, abortion, etc., are some of those issues. But such ministry is not what the church specializes in.

Don't misunderstand...Our relationship with Christ has intense public and social dimensions. But the social and political reform of the world through the powers that be has never been the agenda of the body of Christ...

Christianity is rooted in a Passion narrative in which the worst was done not by wicked people, but by good people in cahoots with district attorneys and justice departments. Jesus was executed not by some frenzied mob or rogue justice, but by the best religion, the most powerful state, and the most perfect legal system, functioning as they were designed to do...when justice becomes a goal in itself, or God is equated with justice, then we have moved from Christianity to another religion...

'Having faith' is less a knowledge of God's justice than trust in God's mercy. Christians want to live just lives, but we are justified not by works; we're justified by grace. Grace alone saves. The redemption story features the promise that where evil abounds, grace abounds more. God doesn't judge our lives in terms of our performance or success or length of service. All that matters in the end is the freewheeling generosity and audacious mercy of God. That's why whenever Jesus metes out justice, it turns out to be an unjust justice, a bending of the letter of the law to the spirit of the law.

Christians don't follow Christianity. The follow Christ. Jesus believed that the purpose of the Law was to structure a way of living together that He called 'love.' It is not law versus love. Rather, it is the law of love. The main theme in the preaching of Jesus was that life with the Father was all about love."

Lord Jesus, You are God's chosen Messiah, the only One Who will establish the kingdom of God on earth when You return. Thank You for showing us that our hope of justice lies only in You and Your kingdom to come, not in the religious or political systems of this age. Thank You that one day You will make all right; meanwhile, teach and empower us to live by Your life in an unjust world. Come by Your Spirit and free Your church from alliances with political parties and religious systems for Your sake and for the sake of a lost world that needs to see Your beauty in us. You are beautiful, dear Lamb of God!

Jesus Our All in All (#6)

Another portion from "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet:

"Most people think of evil as a mystery. We believe the mystery of goodness, beauty, and truth is an even greater mystery than that of evil and wickedness...After all, Jesus is the most beautiful at the ugliest moment of His life: His execution on the cross...According to the New Testament, the mystery of God is Christ, and the mystery of Christ is the church. (Col. 1:26,27; 2:2; Eph. 3:4-6; 5:32)...

There are basically two strategies that religion can employ when dealing with divine mystery: hide the mystery, or display the mystery through prayer, worship, art, and conversation. Byzantium and Eastern Christianity chose to display the mystery, whereas Western Christianity chose to hide it. But it even got worse. Beginning with Descartes, Western Christianity moved from 'truth as mystery' to 'truth as certainty.'...

When truth is encountered as certainty rather than mystery, open spaces of providence and possibility begin to close. The idea that you can discern truth by diagramming propositions or analyzing principles disenchants the world and 'drawstrings' the heavens. Only by living the mystery can truth be discovered.

This is not to say that we cannot be certain about anything...Hebrews 11:1 calls it (faith) the 'evidence of things not seen'. By faith we know God...(faith) is as real as our physical senses.

At the same time, the mystery of our faith opens the door for embracing paradox and even logical contradictions...As G.K.Chesterton once put it, 'The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.'
...embracing mystery opens the door for appreciating how infinitely 'beyond' all of us our Lord really is. It produces heart-awe mixed with a peaceful confidence in a God who is bigger than we can ever imagine.

To the person who walks in the Spirit, paradox, mystery, and uncertainty propel him forward instead of bogging him down. Those who live by faith can live in the presence of mystery and be motivated to rest in God's loving care...

Concerning the reality of Christ Himself, all the fullness of God dwells within Him. It is for this reason that every theological system breaks down somewhere...no matter how coherent or logical, eventually (it) meets some passage of Scripture or passage of life that refuses to fit into it. Such passages have to be bent, twisted, and forced to fit the system...Christ is too immense, too imponderable, and too alive to be tied into any immovable system of thought constructed by finite humans. Thus, He will always break out...Jesus Christ is too alive to be caged in any human system...

When you say yes to Jesus, you are saying yes to a person, not to a proposition...

What do you seek?

Do you seek righteousness? Jesus Christ is righteousness and sanctification. (I Cor. 1:30)
Do you seek wisdom? His name is Jesus. (I Cor. 1:24,30)
Do you desire peace? Jesus Christ is peace. (Eph. 2:14)
Do you want truth? That's what Jesus is. (John 14:6
Do you seek the power of God? Jesus Christ is the power of God.(I Cor. 1:24)"

Lord Jesus, there are no words to express all that You are! We love You, our Lord and God...

Jesus Our All in All (#5)

I'm going to continue to quote from "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola (and Leonard Sweet) because of more wonderful material there about this Person who really is too good to be true: Jesus!

"According to Scripture, Jesus Christ (and not a doctrine about Him) is the truth. In addition, Jesus Christ (and not an ethic derived from His teaching) is the way. In other words, both God's truth and God's way are embodied in a living, breathing person - Christ...

When Christ is understood in terms of a cohesive theological system, Jesus becomes subordinated to a human description. The 'idea' of Jesus is treated as the equivalent of the reality of Christ. We are then hindered from growing in His life, being tied down to a frozen construction of Him...

When Christ is understood in terms of an ethical standard, He becomes simply a means. There is one thing that all ethical teachers have in common. In every case, they are only a means to an end. They are merely the vehicles of something far more important - their ethical teaching. Once a person has leaned the teaching, he or she could lose the memory and identity of the teacher and still possess his teaching...this is not the case with Christianity. Jesus Christ is the main event. He...is the end and goal...

Aristotle said to his disciples, 'Follow my teachings.' Socrates...Buddha... Confucius...and Muhammad said to his disciples, 'Follow my teachings/sayings/meditations/noble pillars.'

But Jesus says to His disciples, 'Follow Me.'

While Jesus is flawless, our religious sensibilities - whether our doctrinal or ethical systems - are always subject to error. Thus they are only redeemable as they are made subject to Christ's constant transformation.

The end of existence is not understanding faith. It is living faith - a walk of utter dependence upon and loving attentiveness to Jesus Christ.

G.K. Chesterton: 'Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.'"

Jesus, You are our Life and Portion and Goal! How wonderful that being in You is about getting to know and love a Person who is magnificent and beautiful in every way. Oh, send forth Your gracious and powerful Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts and minds to see You more clearly. Strip away all that dims our view of You, most of all that which religion has constructed to obscure Your beauty. Thank You for Your fiery zeal towards us, dear Lord! You will do this for us...thank YOu, thank You!

Jesus our All in All (#4)

Once more, here is more from "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola:

"Watch Him as He sits before a woman caught in the act of adultery. See her with bleeding cuts on her body, dragged like a rag doll before a hungry mob of judgmental men, waiting for the first stone to crush her head and bring her to a death that she justly deserves. Behold your glorious Lord. He asks one question, a question that pierces the heart of every man who is ready to send this woman to her grave. Mesmerized by the Lord's words, each man drops his stone and walks away. Christ's parting words to the guilty woman? 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'

What a Christ!

Watch Him as he is taken before Rome's delegates in the city of Jerusalem. See Him standing before Pilate - rejected, dejected, bludgeoned, beaten, spat upon. Behold Him who created the heavens, the Lord of the universe, suffering the most horrific gruesome form of torture that was ever invented by the human imagination.

Observe Him hanging on a wooden stake, dying a slow, hideous death, covered with blood - naked, mocked, and shamed. The Messiah has become a public spectacle that elicits the spine-chilling, gleeful laughter of satan himself...

The powers of Rome may have defeated the suffering artisan 2,000 years ago, but in the end, He shall triumph...for upon that bloody hill, Jesus of Nazareth defeated the powers of darkness and won for Himself the keys of death, hell, and the grave...There is no circumstance too hard for Him...He now lives by the power of an endless life, and He never fails.

And one day, every kingdom, every ruler, every principality and power shall bow their mortal knees to the rejected Nazarene...Indeed, it will be His time, and He will have the last word."

Beautiful Jesus...thank You, thank You! Come to us by Your Spirit and help us love You as our eyes are opened to see how You love us. Amen.

Jesus Our All in All (#3)

More about Jesus from "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola:

"Watch Him as he encounters a battered, abused, shamed, and forgotten woman. She's a Samaritan of ill repute - a five-time divorcee. Your Lord breaks all social conventions by talking to her in public. But that's not all. He shares with her one of the greatest truths that a human being can know. In addition, He breaks Jewish custom by using her utensils and eating with her friends in a Samaritan village (something Jews were forbidden to do). Here is a Lord who embraces a dejected woman and woos her and her friends to Himself.

What a Christ.

Watch Him as He allows a prostitute to love Him in the house of a Pharisee. She pours expensive perfume on His feet, unbinds her hair and uses it as a towel to anoint His feet. Such an act is scandalous (for a woman to unbind her hair in that day was akin to publicly removing her bra in our day). The Pharisees move into high-octane-judgment mode toward Jesus and the woman. And what does the Lord do? He accepts this woman's extravagant act of love and adoration and rebukes the finger-pointing Pharisee for his self-righteousness, saying, 'Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.' To the woman He said, 'Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.'

What a Christ."

Lord Jesus, You are beautiful in every way! Would You help us see as You see by Your Spirit? Come to us and renew our minds related to what You value and to what Your heart counts as precious. Thank You for Your undying love and affection for weak humans!

Jesus Our All in All

Continuing with quotes from Frank Viola's book, "Jesus Manifesto", about the wonder and beauty of Jesus:

"Let's go back to the first century and take another look at our Lord. 'Come and behold Him.' We bless and are blessed as we simply 'behold Him', not as we boast of talents or do great things, but as 'we look full in His wonderful face.' Everyday 'beholding' releases Jesus, especially when that beholding is done by a community.

"Watch Him at a wedding in Cana. According to the custom of that day, the bridegroom was responsible for supplying the food and wine...The wine ran out. This represented a social disgrace - a grave oversight on the part of the bridegroom.

"Behold your Lord's first miracle. He turns water into wine - but no ordinary wine. He creates a wine that is finer than the wine that had run out. In one brilliant stroke of compassion, Jesus Christ removes the bridegroom's shame. He supplies the lack. He covers the mistake. He removes the disgrace. He reverses the failure. And He makes the bridegroom look like a champion.

"What a Christ."

Dear Spirit of Jesus, reveal to us the extent to which you go to cover us in our weakness and lack. Thank You for such a heart that delights to cover us in failure...may we be transformed into Your image as we behold this truth about You. We love You, dearest Lord!

Jesus our All in All

For the next few weeks I'll be sharing quotes from the recently released book, "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola. I pray that Jesus will grow larger and larger in our view until He fills all our vision and the issues of life "grow strangely dim" when seen next to His beauty and glory and power.

From "Jesus Manifesto":

"The body of Christ is in dire need of a reconversion to Jesus...To say He that He is our Savior and Lord is correct, of course, but it's inadequate. He is so much more. Christ is:

your Shepherd
your Advocate
your Mediator
your Bridegroom
your Conqueror
your Lion
your Lamb
your sacrifice
your manna
your smitten Rock
your living water
your food
your drink
your good and abundant land
your dwelling place
your Sabbath
your new moon
your Jubilee
your new wine
your feast
your aroma
your anchor
your wisdom
your peace
your comfort
your Healer
your joy
your glory
your power
your strength
your wealth
your victory
your redemption
your Prophet
your Priest
your kinsman redeemer
your teacher
your guide
your liberator
your deliverer
your Prince
your Captain
your vision
your sight
your beloved
your way
your truth
your life
your author
your finisher
your beginning
your end
your age
your eternity
---your ALL IN ALL."


Jesus, You are all of this and more...You have a name that no one knows, and we will be knowing You eternally. Spirit of God, come and reveal this One that You know and love so well! Amen...

Good News about God: The Lord our Refuge

Psalm 142:5 "I cry to you, O LORD; I say, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.'"

Human history is full of stories of God's love expressed through His miraculous protection of His children in very tangible ways. Over and over He protected His people Israel from her enemies, and He provided divine protection for David and Elijah and Paul and many others throughout human history in a variety of ways.

There is another dimension to His being our Refuge that is just as real, though not as visible; and that is His protection of our hearts and minds in the spiritual conflicts that we continually encounter in this age.

Psalm 142 from which the verse above is taken is David's cry to God for refuge and protection from his enemies; he recognizes his vulnerability ("no refuge remains for me") and that his enemies were "too strong for me." He felt his need of greater protection than a cave in the side of the mountain. From there he cries out to God, "You are my refuge..."

As I thought on this good news that the Lord is our refuge, I kept thinking about the woman in John 8 who was accused of committing adultery and on the verge of being stoned. Jesus was her Refuge! He protected her by placing His own body between her and her accusers; He stood in the place of vulnerability to take the beating of the stones rather than she. Through this action He foreshadowed the ultimate place of refuge, the cross. There He took all of the accusations and attacks of the evil one into Himself, thereby providing Himself as our Refuge, our place of protection and shelter. All that is hurled at us is blocked by Him if we are in Him by faith.

The prophet Isaiah (chapter 28) spoke of a "precious Cornerstone", a tested Stone, that God has laid as a foundation in Zion in whom God's people are to trust and believe. He spoke of this chosen Cornerstone after denouncing the leaders for "making lies their refuge and taking shelter in falsehood." He calls them to make this sure and tested Cornerstone their refuge rather than lies and falsehood.

As I continue to know the true and living God more, I realize how I have sought refuge in half-truths about Him. When the increasing pressures of life bear down, these half-truths about who He really is aren't enough to carry me through. If I think wrongly about Him, my soul can't find refuge and protection in Him, but as I grow in correct understanding of Him as He really is, I am protected and sheltered from the accusations and attacks of the evil one.

Demonic activity will increase as we approach the end, and our understanding of the Lord our Refuge will be increasingly real and precious to us. May we be as the woman found in adultery and accept His protection and not try to face and debate our pursuers who "are too strong for me" but who are no match for Jesus! His name is a strong tower into which we run for protection.

Lord, Spirit of God, would You put the name of Jesus on our hearts and our lips continually as we encounter increasing opposition to You and Your kingdom in the days ahead? Jesus, "YOU ARE MY REFUGE", we say with Your servant David and all of Your saints throughout the ages. Thank You that Your name reflects Who You really are, and in You is our protection and shelter from the lies of the enemy!

Scriptures for meditation:
John 8:1-11; Isaiah 28:14-22; Psalm 142:5; 141:8; 16:1; 46:1; 62:8; 94:22; Joel 3:16.

Good News about God: Jesus our Righteousness, Part 2

Psalm 140:13 "The upright shall dwell in Your presence."

Jesus, your blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
Mid flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

Bold shall I stand in that great day,
Cleansed and redeemed, no debt to pay;
For by your cross absolved I am
From sin and guilt, from fear and shame.

(By Count Ludwig VonZinzendorf)

Good News about God: Jesus our Rightness

I Corinthians 1:30 "...of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us... righteousness and sanctification and redemption..."

We all yearn to be righteous. We're made to be aligned with God's rightness, and when we're not, we fight to prove we are right. The so-called atheist fights by denying there is a God; the reprobate deals with this by justifying and giving himself totally to his sinful lifestyle; the religious person copes with it through trying harder to please God; and the evangelical handles his fight to be right through proving he's correct doctrinally.

The evil one knows of this human yearning to be right, to discern between right and wrong, and in the Garden of Eden he played on this by highlighting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, therein obscuring the tree of life.

As followers of the Lamb, we never mature out of the place of being tempted to shift our energies and focus from Him (the Tree of Life) to trying to figure out on our own what's right and wrong (Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil). The Apostle Paul calls this "self-righteousness" or "righteousness which is of the law".

The drive in us to be right is very strong and causes great and many conflicts in our relationships. God's desire was (and is) that humans would understand right and wrong IN HIM rather than independently of Him, and so He instructed Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of life and forbade them to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. By partaking of Life, they would have discerned rightly between right and wrong. Jesus said of Himself that He judged nothing on His own but only in alignment with His Father. In other words, His evaluation of people and situations was not based on His own independent ideas and feelings but on how His Father viewed them.

Jesus lived His life wholly dependent on His Father, and our only hope of being aligned with God's rightness is Jesus' righteous life active within us. We don't acquire a righteousness of our own; Christ in us is our righteousness! In our simple daily submission and obedience to His voice and nudges, His life increases in us and our independence decreases. We grow increasingly sensitive to His life within and live by His rightness rather than by our own independent opinions based on our natural life apart from Him.

"He must increase, but I must decrease."

Scriptures for meditation:
Isaiah 11:3-5;I Cor. 1:30; Philippians 3:8,9; John 3:30; 5:30; 7:24; 8:15,16,28,29.