Recovery

It is imperative that we recognize the deepest gnawing within the human breast is for adequate answers to the purpose and meaning of life. Man can only be a saint or sinner by choice, but he is first a philosopher by nature. There is no attribute of man’s personality more evident and universally recognized than this sense of purpose and of divine destiny.
(C.A. Jones)

I believe we are at a crisis point in Western Christianity. Many in our churches genuinely desire to move forward with the Lord, but in spite of all the outreaches, inreaches, programs and busyness, we instinctively know something is missing – something very personal and integral to our spiritual advance. We’re very busy and very empty at the same time.

Leaders feel the burden of confused congregations; of precious souls in our churches who are hurting and seeking answers they can’t seem to find. We’re in a time of political, social, cultural, religious and philosophical shaking. Everything that can be shaken is being shaken so that only that which is unshakable will remain (which, of course, is exactly what God said He would do – Hebrews 12:26). As DeVern F. Fromke put it,

We are past the point of revival; we have gone beyond the possibility of repair. Christianity must experience a vital revolution! The only solution to the problem of the Church today is a destruction of the philosophy that is ruining it and the introduction of another theme . . . one that is ultimate and final in every sense.

As our Lord made clear, You cannot put new wine into old wineskins (Mark 2:22).

There are a large number of pastors who are perfectly content with the way things are, and for them this writing will either be irrelevant or heretical. But I’ve also met many pastors who are increasingly open to the idea that we may have missed something vital, something central, in our obsession to stay relevant and cutting-edge. In our moments of quiet reflection we instinctively know that something is wrong, or at least “incomplete”. We can guess, but we’re tired of guessing. Trying the newest thing; going to another inspirational conference and getting pumped up only to find ourselves back at square-one within weeks (or days); all of these things make us feel like we’re treating skin cancer with cosmetics. It seems like there is something foundational we haven’t seen or haven’t considered.

I am writing this paper hoping to provide some clarity to those who are in a search mode. Obviously, this is just one man’s opinion. Like a million other voices who claim to have “the key”, I may be simply one in a succession of disappointments for you. But what have you got to lose? I’m not selling anything, Freely you have received, freely give. . . (Matthew 10:8b).

We must begin with a recovery of the essential truths related to the eternal purpose of God and then see the implications of that purpose to our generation and to us personally.

As we seek to understand the purpose and plan for God’s people, our natural tendency is to start with man, not with God. The outreach-based pastor sees the desperate needs of the world and emphasizes the work that needs to be done by men to build bridges to the lost. The inreach-pastor, while recognizing social needs, believes the emphasis must first be placed on understanding what God has done for us. And the sanctification-pastors insist that all this is too shallow, and say the emphasis must be on the work God is doing in man. All three are right, in part. But all are man-centered rather than God-centered in their focus. It is man they are primarily occupied with: Man-centered instead of God-centered, redemptive and kingdom conscious instead of eternal purpose conscious, blessing conscious instead of all things for the ultimate satisfaction and honor of God.

But Romans 11:36 declares a different philosophy, For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. All things are of God. This implies something more than from God. All things are through God. All things are unto God. All things find their ultimate fulfillment and purpose in God’s thought and purpose.

So, let’s start with a foundational question - Why are we here? When God created the human race, what exactly did He have in mind? Or we might say, after looking around at the general state of things, “What was He thinking!?” We know God’s ultimate purpose it isn’t all about us, though we are obviously included in a major way. Our Lord died to insure our continuance in God’s eternal plan. God would not have made that kind of sacrifice if we weren’t a very precious and integral part of His ultimate intention.

Sometime in eternity past God decided to create a race of beings we currently call mankind (Genesis 1:26). God is invisible. Humans were to be visible, made in God’s “image”. In the Biblical use of this term, an image is something that provides a visible representation of an invisible reality. We see this perfectly in Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus was “the express image” of God. God was made visible in Christ;

The Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh and lived among us; and we beheld His glory (John 1:1, John 1:14).

When our Lord walked the earth, if anyone wanted to find out what God was like, they would look at Jesus – God expressed visibly so we could see and hear and observe Him. As Jesus said in John 14:9, If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.

Numerous times Jesus called Himself the Son of Man. In Romans 8:29 He is called the “first born”. In 1 Corinthians 15:45 Jesus is called “the last Adam”, and in 1 Corinthians 15:47 He is called the “second Man”. The point of these designations is simply this: The first Adam, though made in God’s image, failed to express that image. When Adam fell he became something other that what God had in mind. However, Jesus as the last Adam did not fail. As we saw in Hebrews 1:3, Christ perfectly expressed the image of God. Jesus was exactly what God had in mind when He created mankind. In Him God was well pleased. To look at Jesus was to see the exact image or expression of the invisible God in a visible form.

Jesus was what “Man” was always intended to be (. . . Let us create man in our image, Genesis 1:26). So, it’s no surprise when we see Paul stating that God’s ultimate purpose for you and me is to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). That’s why we are here – to be conformed to the image of Christ and thereby express the invisible personality of God the Son in visible form. To see the Father, you must look at Jesus Who was the express image of His Person. To find out what Jesus is like, ideally, one would look at His second “body”, the church, and you would see His life expressed in His people.

For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus might be made manifest through our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:11).

When, with God’s help, we die to ourselves and live to the Lord, His life is made manifest through our mortal flesh. Our lives provide a visible expression outwardly of the indwelling Christ within us.

Jesus was wholly dependent on the Father for everything He said and did. He told us that His works and words were not His but instead revealed the Father’s activity in Him (John 12:49). If the Father was in Christ directing the words and works of His Son, then to see the Son was to see the Father in action. Our Lord even went so far as to say,

He that believes in Me, believes not in Me, but in Him that sent Me. And He that sees Me, sees Him that sent Me. (John 12:44)

This would be confusing to anyone who didn’t understand Who Jesus was in relation to the Father. Jesus was Man in God’s image, as well as God in human flesh. Jesus was the truth about God and the truth about man, because the truth about man is that he was created to be the truth about God.

John 1:15 says, We beheld His glory. The glory of God was revealed through the Son. The glory of the Son is to be revealed through His body, the church (Colossians 1:27). How are we doing? As a general rule, could we say that to see the Church is to see Christ? Has Satan had any success in damaging or nullifying that image in us?

Just as Jesus could not have expressed the glory of the Father without being wholly dependent on and surrendered to Him, so we cannot express the glory of the Son without being wholly dependent on and surrendered to Him. Only the Father could be the source of His image expressed through Christ and only Christ can be the source of His image expressed through us. None of us can live the Christian life, because the Christian life is Christ Himself – only He can live His life. When we try to live the Christian life the result is Christianity. When Christ lives His own life in us, the result is the image of God expressed in a visible form. Then the original purpose of our creation, as stated in Genesis 1, is realized. Christianity is not doing Christian things (not WWJD). Christianity is the life of Christ Himself expressed in His people. It goes back to original intent – man made in God’s image.

When the cycle of human history has ended and the eternal state begins, all that will be left is that which is of Christ. Everything else will be finally banished. Nothing that is not of Christ will be allowed into eternity. Christ is both the definition and circumference of the eternal creation (Colossians 1:16).

We have the opportunity in time to give this world a glimpse of eternity by having Christ and Christ alone expressed in our lives. This is why whatever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23b). Sin is not simply the expression of “wrong”; it is the result of independence from God. Faith is dependency on Another to do what we cannot do – visibly express the invisible glory of God. God must be the cause of His own effect – He is the source of His image in Man, not us. If true righteousness is the expression of Christ Himself in us, then sin is the expression of anything else, no matter how good it may seem from human viewpoint,

Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in they Name have cast out demons? And in thy Name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who work iniquity. (Matthew 7:22-23)

All of our works of righteousness are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Doing “wonderful works” in Jesus’ Name is not the same as God’s indwelling righteousness expressed through us. The righteousness of God which comes from His life alone (Romans 3:21-22) is not the same as the best efforts of religious man doing “many wonderful works” for Jesus. Though both may look the same outwardly, one is from God; the other is “iniquity”.

The passage quoted above in Matthew refers to those who believe they are Christians, but aren’t, (. . . I never knew you.) The warning for Christians in this regard is in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15,

According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let every man take heed how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can be laid than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble- every man’s work will be made manifest; for the day will declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall test every man’s work of what sort it is. If any mans’ work abide which he has built, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s works shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet as through fire.

Whatever God does through us (building on the foundation of Jesus Christ) is “gold, silver and precious stones” which can pass through the testing of fire without loss. “Gold, silver and precious stones” are illustrate the expression of His nature, His presence, and His activity in us. Anything we do for God that is not His work in and through us is “wood, hay, and stubble”. Many will be surprised in that “day” to discover that their entire ministry was their ministry – not God’s. If we can’t tell the difference between what we are doing for God and what He is doing through us, it is likely that what we are doing has no eternal value, though it may look very impressive to others.

We must remember that God has not compromised or forsaken His original plan; He has simply started over in Christ – the “second Man” or the “last Adam”. In His resurrection, Jesus became the first born of a new race or species of humanity. As Paul puts it, If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation . . . (2 Corinthians 5:17a)

In Adam, all die (the old creation) but in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). The Adamic race is excluded from the plan of God; from the eternal state (Revelation 20:15). All who remain in Adam, as part of that race of humanity, end in death. Whether they are immoral or religious (good or bad by human standards) is not the issue. Whether they are in Adam or in Christ is the ultimate determinant of their true nature. All who are joined to Christ share His life and destiny.

Humanity is divided into two categories by their intrinsic nature. We are either “in Christ” or “in Adam”. Eternal destiny depends on which division of humanity we belong to. Only those in Christ have eternal life. All who are in Adam shall not see life (Revelation 20:15).

As mentioned earlier, if the church of Jesus Christ is meant to express her Savior’s image to a lost world and to angels (Ephesians 3:10), which, as we’ve seen, was God’s original intent for humanity, then how are we doing in fulfilling this purpose? When the world looks at us, do they see Christ or do they see Christianity? How can we know, personally, whether our lives are an expression of the indwelling Savior or simply a sincere, committed, energetic, creative imitation of that life expressed in a religion called Christianity?

The difference is the difference between fulfilling and failing the purpose of God. God’s intent was that the universe be filled with a race of people created in His image. He’s not impressed with a race of committed religionists. What’s missing in this generation is an understanding and outliving of the indwelling Christ. We know how to do Christianity – but we don’t know how to live in Christ.

The church is the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Since the ascension of Christ to heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell the church (John 16:7; 2 Corinthians 5:16) the glory of God, the invisible made visible, is to happen through the lives of believers. The church is the place God meets with His people and the instrument through which He reveals Himself to those in the world who are seeking Him; not simply in buildings made with hands (not just on Sunday morning) but in the lives of God’s children indwelt by the Spirit of Christ.

Jesus was the light of the world (John 1:7-9). Now, He has called us the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). This is not because we know the truth but because we are indwelt by the truth. It’s not enough that the world learn from us, they must see Christ in us. The invisible must be made visible; the glory of God must be expressed, not in words only, but in life.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — At a recent conference-like ‘gathering’ of emergent church leaders, various factions sparred over competing visions for the future of the movement. Leaders on one side called for ‘deepening and continuously beautiful efforts toward emotionally true self-divulgence and confession.’ Other leaders countered with a call for ‘a theological re-purposing of our objective and subjective missionality within a framework of God-love.’

Because few in attendance actually understood what either side meant, both ideas were tabled. The sides did agree that emergent leaders should continue to take every opportunity to make casual, cool cultural references to popular television shows, movies and Internet phenomena to introduce quasi-intellectual spiritual points.

After toasting themselves with various hyper-cool micro-brews, the audience adjourned to begin 7 and 8 hour theological bull sessions in their hotel rooms and local bars. Conference organizers say they will meet again to do the same thing next year.
Lark News.com

Note: The Lark News is a satire site – the “news” is not based on real events, but meant for humor (and sometimes, subtle instruction).

We know pieces of God’s plan but we don’t know what ties it all together. We lack unity and clarity. As a result we have countless denominational and personal agendas all competing for top billing. We have ideas and favorite verses, but we’ve obscured the big picture and settled for scattered, experimental detail work. We can’t see the forest for the trees.

When we look at American Christianity what we generally see is man’s sincere and best attempts to accomplish what only God can do. We develop ministries and programs seeking desperately to help the church be the church, and since God responds to faith wherever He finds it, we do see some great things happen. But as A.W. Tozer put it,

Let me state the cause of my burden. It is this; Jesus Christ has today almost no authority at all among the groups that call themselves by His Name. I refer to Protestant churches generally, and I include those that protest the loudest that they are in spiritual descent from our Lord and His apostles, namely the Evangelicals. Board meetings are habitually opened with a formal prayer; after that the Head of the church is respectfully silent while the real rulers take over. Let anyone who denies this bring forth evidence to refute it. I for one will be glad to hear it.

We can gratefully acknowledge that within stagnant churches there are many individuals who have gone on to spiritual fullness. History is filled with Hudson Taylors, George Mullers, D.L. Moodys, and Amy Carmichaels. These men and women are fulfilling God’s thought for their lives. But for the most part the church corporate in our nation is still in an Ephesus, Sardis, or even Laodecia mode.

Having individual believers reach spiritual maturity is a wonderful thing, but God has greater plans for the church than individual advance or programmatic achievement, yet in most churches spiritual advance seems to be a much lower priority than church leadership agendas. We’re focused more on the outside than the inside of the cup.

In the very beginning Satan began to devise ways to push the church back from spiritual fullness through deception and disunity. He has worked since day one to keep us either defeated spiritually, or to focus us on a few positive “heroes”, “trends”, or “programs” in Christianity to make us believe we are accomplishing God’s full thought.

This is why, although we can be grateful for the positives in our churches and give honor to those who have gone on faithfully with the Lord, we cannot settle for less than a corporate expression of Christ. We must go with God’s plan and not lower His standard simply because it sometimes feels so unreachable in our generation. If it were not possible to go where God intends, the early church could not have gone there either. Like us, they were very human.

Modern Christianity has been redefined to emphasize busyness, outreach programs, and self-help seminars, and to move our focus away from the things which are most needed, such as the ascendancy of Christ in His people.

God, working through the Holy Spirit, reveals the Son (Matthew 11:27 w/ 16:17; John 16:12-15 w/ Ephesians 1:17ff). We don’t discover God; He reveals Himself. God must be the cause of His own effect. Everything else is imitation. Those with spiritual discernment can see through the activities of the modern church to the heart of what is really there. Churches under human leadership can accomplish some incredible things, but that doesn’t mean those things are representative of the presence and power of Christ.

When we were unbelievers our understanding of Jesus of Nazareth was not only limited but wrong. We didn’t see Him as the Son of God. He was a young, Jewish, itinerant teacher who threatened the establishment and got martyred for His efforts - but God in the flesh? Then the Lord opened our eyes (Ephesians 1:17; Matthew 16:16-18) and we saw Jesus Christ as Who He is. Now we have no doubt about His true identity; no matter what anyone says. We know. We know because of revelation.

This is also the only way to know the church. We think we can figure out what the church is by looking for principles and definitions in the Bible, but we can’t know the true nature of the church merely by studying historical information (Acts) and principles about the church (the epistles). It will be the study of these writings that God uses to reveal His church to us, just as God used the gospel to reveal Christ, because the Word is spiritual (John 6:63), but it must not simply come to us as a series of detached academic lessons on the Christian religion.

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 confirms the need of direct, supernatural revelation from the Lord if we are to understand spiritual reality. It seems we have decided we can know the church without revelation, but the condition of the Western church shows us that we are definitely not seeing the whole picture.

God grants revelation to humility. Prayer, teachability and a genuine openness of heart must form the foundation of all our study. We would not have seen Christ by the revelation of the Spirit had we not humbled ourselves, willing to have our own preconceptions of Him crushed by the truth. The same is true regarding the church. God will only reveal the true nature and calling of the church to those willing to have all false images and concepts destroyed by seeing the truth. Very few in the church are willing to do so.

It is my impression that most in the leadership of American churches have relied on principles, concepts, and traditions to help them define the church and have not sought revelation from the Lord. As an illustration of this problem, Walter Scott once wrote,

We must distinguish between the Reformation and Protestantism; the former was a divine work, the latter a human system. When the energy of the Reformers succeeded in breaking the chains and shackles of the worst tyranny which history records, the crucial question arose: Will the energy and zeal be maintained? Alas, the Reformation, like every movement begun in the Spirit, soon lapsed into a cold, formal, lifeless, orthodox thing. The Reformers, and notably those who succeeded them, commenced the system of making churches instead of searching Scripture, from which they could alone learn what the Church of God is. In Protestantism we have not the horrors nor gross corruption of the Middle Ages, but rather the sleep of death. There is a name to live, but only a name. The change from the Romanism to Protestantism, from Thyatira to Sardis, may be described as a step out of the 'chamber of horrors' into the 'cell of death.' There is the appearance of life, but He Whose eyes search all things and pierce through the outward covering says 'thou art dead'.

So, a living, beating heart of flesh becomes a cold, lifeless, white-washed tombstone. Stopping short of God's end was the primary characteristic of the Reformation. The Lord does not say that the work was not good, only that it was not complete (Revelation 3:2). Spiritual revelation gave way to academics. The church began to be defined by tradition and personal agendas rather than by revelation.

The recovery of "justification by faith alone", hidden during the dark ages, was a vital recovery, but it was only meant to be the beginning of a full recovery. The Reformation was a new beginning but did not provide for "going on to maturity".

Consider these insights from Watchman Nee;

The Protestant churches are like a cup. At the beginning of the revival, wherever there is living water, people will go. Wherever the Spirit of God is moving, people will go in that direction. As a result men used a cup with the hope of preserving the living water without loss. The advantage of doing this is that it keeps the grace, and the disadvantage is that there is just one cup of blessing. In the first generation the cup was full. In the second generation the cup was only half filled, and the nebulousness began. In the third or fifth generation the water was gone and only an empty cup was left. Then they began to argue with other denominations as to whose cup was better, though all the cups were worthless for drinking. When the grace of God comes, men immediately set up an organization to keep it. As a result, eventually the organization remains, but the content is gone. However, the cup cannot be broken; there are always those who are zealous to maintain the cup continuously. Here is one thing which is a matter of principle; the students of Wesley could never be equal to Wesley. The schools of the prophets seldom produced prophets - all the great prophets were chosen by God from the wilderness. The Spirit of God descends upon whomsoever He wills. He is the Head of the church, not us. Men always think the living water is valuable and must be kept by organization, but it always gradually declines through the generations until it completely dries up. After it dries up, the Lord must give us living water again in the wilderness.

All churches exist at some point along a spectrum of being totally flesh-based to fully Spirit-formed. Some churches develop outreaches to the community (take the church to the world) and others try to find ways to entice the world to visit the church (bring the world to us). But much of the time this is simply the church leaders trying to imitate what they assume must have been happening in the early church. What are the “outreaches” and “enticements” in Acts? Why didn’t the church at Ephesus set up a booth at the annual pagan Diana festival and pass out water bottles or “Church at Ephesus” tee shirts?

What are the blueprints suggested in the epistles? There aren’t any, because the world isn’t impacted by these things nearly as much as it’s impacted by the expression of Christ Himself in His body. Since we won’t do that (the cross gets in our way) we have to come up with substitutes; ministries that fit our comfort zone.

Some churches, determined to break with the stagnation they have experienced in the past, have attempted to change their spiritual paradigm by essentially “re-arranging the chairs”. The following illustrates how this might look.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — At The Circle, a young, innovative church meets in a renovated bus depot, there is no pulpit, platform or pastor, as such. The congregation rejects the labels "Christian" and "congregation," preferring "followers of Jesus" and "friendship community." There are no ushers, but rather "helpers." There is no worship team, but rather "God artists." And woe to anyone who affixes traditional church labels to any of it.

"God's doing a new thing here," says Mitch Townsend, the leader of the church. He shuns the "pastor" label and insists people call him, "Hey, man," or simply "Dude." If someone slips and calls him "pastor," he bristles and gently rebukes them. "We got rid of all those old labels," he says. "There's no going back."

At the church office, which they never call a church office but rather "the Hub," secretaries, or "community action facilitators" as they are called here, tap-tap on computers (which they still call computers) and take calls. When a visitor slips up and refers to The Circle's "sanctuary," Dude Townsend cuts him short. "Listen, it's not a sanctuary, it's a meeting place, a gathering place," he says, flushing red. "Sorry, pastor," the visitor says. "Not pastor," says Townsend. "Dude, or friend. Or just hey, Mitch." "Sorry, Dude Mitch," the visitor says uncomfortably, and slinks away. Mitch quickly goes to him and hugs him. "We're all about love and freedom here," he says. "I know it's hard to get used to."

At a Sunday morning "gathering," as services must be called, people sit in chairs arranged in circle around a "focal point" (not a platform) and listen to the team of God-artists play instruments and sing "songs of adoration and devotion to the Creator," as opposed to praise and worship music. The gathered "posse of Jesus followers" is free to sing along and to express themselves in any way that seems "real and authentic." "We strive to be genuine here," says non-pastor "Hey, Jim" Richards, who in another setting might be called an associate pastor. "It's about being who you are, not fitting into a pre-determined box."

Before Dude Mitch's personal sharing time (which markedly resembles a sermon), one visitor raises her hand and says, "Is there going to be an altar call? Because I really want to give my life to Jesus today." Dude Mitch answers quickly, "We don't have altar calls here; we have 'God moments' or 'Creator re-connects.' And we don't say 'give your life to Jesus,' but you may begin a lifelong love relationship with the Creator-Friend, if you like. But please wait until we are done with sharing time." After the service, "new friends" join in the "kick-back hall" for refreshments and conversation with the Dudes and other Hub personnel.

They may also join a mid-week "hang-out crew" of 10-12 people which meets in a home, and which is steadfastly not referred to as a "small group." "Anyone who wants a break from normal, rigid church life is welcome at The Circle," says Townsend.
Lark News.com

We are genuinely motivated to reach the lost so we engineer ways to move the church outside the box, but God’s way is to show the world what the body of Christ really is – By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35). He could have said, “They will know you are my disciples if you develop creative ways to reach them.” But He didn’t. He knows that the world is looking for something from another world, not something that simply does outreach or demonstrates compassion to the community better than other 501c3 non-profit organizations.

It’s like a pastor in South America once said,

We go to church and sing together. We say we love God and one another. Then we go home. One goes home to bread and goats milk another goes home to steak and wine. Our love is hidden behind the façade of religious experience. Let us not love in words, but in deed and in truth.

Can you see the difference between outreach first-century style and outreach 21st century style? In the beginning when Christ led and developed His plan for the church, they did not, at first, pass out tracks or develop organized outreach events, they became who they were in Christ, and through their lives, through the outwardly expressed image of the indwelling glory of God, Christ captured the attention of their world (Acts 2:47a). Community outreach, even if done in Jesus’ name, does not have the same effect evangelistically as when the world watches Christians love each other like they did in Acts. If partnering with the community or facilitating social relief efforts were the best ways to get the world’s attention then that’s what the early church would have done.

What gets the world’s attention is seeing the kingdom of God. As our Lord prayed in John 17:21, That they all may be one, as thou, Father, are in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou has sent Me. Notice the last part of that verse. How will the world know and believe in the incarnation of God in Christ? Is it by impressing our community with how socially conscious we are? As Jesus prayed in John 17, and as we see that prayer fulfilled in Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-35, that which has the greatest impact on the world, that which is most likely to bring people to faith in Christ, is a corporate, visible expression of Christ Himself in His people.

In Galatians 6:10 Paul wrote, As we have, therefore, opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. What’s Paul doing? Why “especially” the household of faith? Is Paul encouraging the church to take care of numero uno first? Isn’t that selfish? Not if we keep in mind the real purpose in all this.

God’s intent is to have a testimony on earth presenting a visible incarnation of His nature and character in the church, which is His body. When the church loves one another as Christ loves, then (and only then) will the world be amazed and say, God is among you!

Religious groups and other non-profit organizations are famous for charity works, but where’s Acts 2? Where’s Acts 4? Yet our churches seem more focused on imitating what other charitable organizations are doing than they are on the realization of what God intended for us in the first place.

The poor we will always have with us and we can help them whenever we choose. Christ indwelling and expressing Himself through the church which is His Body, we will not always have. The church will be removed at some point in time and the world will no longer be able to see the glory of Christ expressed in this way.

The world needs to see Him, not just groups of compassionate religionists. In Acts the world saw the wonder of Christ incarnate in His people and that testimony was demonstrated in a kind of love and sacrifice for one another that the world had never seen before. In that context; in that endeavor, God added daily to the church those who were being saved (Acts 2:47). That’s what evangelism is, what outreach is, in God’s mind.

So, is there a place for community outreaches? Of course. But not until the church is the church! When the spiritual reality of the church is realized, the Lord may develop all manner of outreach projects. But if He does, He will do it on the foundation of the church being what the church was meant to be. The outreaches will be designed and empowered by Him, not by us. They will be the fruit, not the foundation, of the Spirit’s movement into the world.

As Elton Trueblood once wrote,

Jesus was deeply concerned for the continuation of His reconciliatory work after the close of His earthly existence and His chosen method was the formation of a redemptive society. He did not form an army, establish a headquarters, or even write a book. All He did was to collect a few unpromising men and women, inspire them with the sense of His vocation and theirs, and build their lives into an intensive fellowship of affection, worship and work. One of the truly shocking passages of the gospel is that in which Jesus indicates that there is absolutely no substitute for this tiny society. If this fails, he suggests, all is failure; there is no other way. He told the little bedraggled fellowship that they were actually the salt of the earth and if this salt should fail there would be no adequate preservative at all. He was staking all on one throw.

What we need is not intellectual theorizing, but a demonstration. We cannot revive faith by argument, but we might catch the imagination of puzzled men and women by an exhibition of a fellowship so intensely alive that every thoughtful person would be forced to respond to it. If there should emerge in our day such a fellowship, wholly without artificiality and free from the dead hand of the past, it would be an exciting event of momentous importance. A society of loving souls, set free from the self-seeking struggle for personal prestige and unreality, would be something unutterably precious. A wise person would travel any distance to join it.

The reason the church in Acts looked and acted the way it did was not because of a blueprint. It was because Christ was the Head of His body in a very practical way. He had people fully available to Him; He indwelt them through His Spirit and moved according to His plan and purpose.

We could no more duplicate Acts than we could perform miracles in our own power. God doesn’t want us to duplicate or imitate what we see in Acts. Acts wasn’t meant to be a blueprint for us; it was meant to be an historical demonstration of what can happen when the Holy Spirit is in charge. If that were true today the church in America might look similar or it might look different than Acts; that would be up to the Lord.

It’s not what we do for the Lord that matters; it’s what He does in and through us. The difference is vast. We are spending a great deal of time trying to do great things for God, but the one thing He wants above all others is our surrender to Him. He wants us to trust Him to be Who He is in us. It’s His church, not ours. He’s not impressed with our creativity, our activity or our busyness. Acts happened because of His creativity, activity and power. Churches can believe they are operating in the power of God and be operating in the power of the soul – the intelligence, Biblical “blueprinting” skills, and emotional appeal of human leadership.

What if His ways do not turn out to be the same as our ways (Isaiah 55:8)? When God stated this truth in Isaiah 55, He was speaking to His people. What if we really are moving in our own spirit rather than in His? Is it time to move to another level? If we do move forward, will anyone go with us? Maybe not. At least at the level we’re operating in, people are occasionally being saved and the church is staying busy and, we assume, productive. Why rock the boat with a challenge for “more” when we’re not even sure “more” exists?

So, as we saw in the beginning of this writing, the answer to the primary questions we have about God’s ultimate purpose for His people take us back to Genesis 1:26, Let us make man in our image. . .

As I mentioned earlier, God never abandoned that purpose; instead, He began anew in the resurrection of the last Adam – the Firstborn of a new race (Romans 8:29).

I personally believe we are in the final years of the church age. The church must be taught who they are in Christ – what God’s ultimate intention is for His people. Pastors must first learn and then take the time needed to bring the “full counsel” (Acts 20:27) of God regarding His purpose for His people to the congregations in our country. Leaders and those they lead must be united in a full understanding of God’s vision, not man’s vision. We have so many conflicting denominations simply because we have so many conflicting visions. In the Scriptures there is only one vision.

Whether we begin in Genesis 1:26 or end in Revelation 22:13, God’s vision is His Son in corporate expression; nothing more, nothing less. The only way to win this race is to look unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1).

It’s time to stop playing church and rediscover the full reality of why we are here and what God intends for us. There’s too much at stake for us to keep church-splitting, battling over non-essentials and spending our time being culturally relevant. The world hasn’t waited this long to see Christianity; they need to see the Savior in His people while there is still time for them to do so.