Whose Kingdom are We Building?

I have come to realize that everything God has taught me over the past two years is tied together by a single theme and composes a single message. It is this message that has overthrown my spiritual worldview and shaken me to the core. All things had to be re-evaluated in light of this message. A torrent of emotion has raged in me and is passing through me, and would have destroyed me but for the grace of God.

This message was God's answer to a series of questions I had asked in prayer. I initially asked why our church wasn't growing and hadn't grown in years. I prayed for His kingdom and His will, and prayed that my own will and His would be one. I expected that having offered my will so completely and having prayerfully beseeched him on behalf of His own kingdom, that God would tell me some great thing that I could go do in order to build his kingdom and grow the church. Instead he took me into the biggest spritual storm of my life.

I have considered writing about this many times, but have refrained from doing so. Considering the waves of emotion flowing through me I didn't think I could present the message with the proper balance of boldness and love it required. I also didn't feel God compelling me to do so. I needed to fully internalize the message myself before preaching it to others, lest I transfer my burden to them instead of being changed myself.

If I were to write that book however, it would be titled "Whose Kingdom are We Building?" Below are the chapters it would contain.

Church Growth or Church Growth - our metric of success

Teaching vs. Discipling

Being vs. Knowing, Believing or Doing


Leadership and the Church

Money and the Church

Church as a Business vs. Church as the Body of Christ


Religious Obligation vs. Spiritual Desire

Looking a Pharasee in the Mirror

Do We Really Believe the Bible is God's Word?


The Tale of Two Kingdoms

Simply Be

When We Gather Together

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matthew 18: 19-20

That is church. Fellow believers gathering together with Jesus to encourage and build up one another in their faith and walk with God.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23-25

Christian’s need one another. We are not to go it alone. We are to encourage and build up one another to continue in the faith and grow in our faith. The scripture is full on “one another” passages. We are to love one another, bare with one another, care for one another, pray for one another.

How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 1 Corinthian 14: 26-33

We assemble together to encourage and build each other up in our common faith. We do this by coming to the meeting ready to share a song, teaching, revelation, interpretation of tongues or prophecy that God has given us that will benefit the others.

The scripture is simple, clear, loving and peaceful on this topic. The difficulty is that our church culture makes it difficult to obey the scripture. We assemble together, but do not speak to one another other than a greeting as we find our seats facing a stage. We listen to one person speak the whole time, without questions or comments. If the Holy Spirit were to reveal something to us during the message we cannot say it. Instead we are instructed to make an appointment with the minister to share it with him privately. Instead of taking turns as Paul taught, our silence is supposed to keep everything decent and in order. If we appear bored, it is not because we have lost a love for God or his word. Please understand that we have heard the same man give a monologue about the same things literally for years – even decades. If we required a high school student to repeat their freshmen year for 10 years and we don’t allow them to ask questions or help teach other students they too would appear bored. We assemble, not because we are being built up or because we are able to build up others – but primarily out of duty – we want to do the right thing. After the message we pray or sing as a group and then go home.

Sometimes the Lord does speak to our hearts during the message and meets a need. Other times a brother or sister will come up to us after church and give a personal message to us that the Lord had put on their hearts. Sometimes we will feel compelled to pray with someone individually at the close of service and God will meet a need.

Also, please don’t misunderstand – the man who is speaking is not wrong or evil or inherently boring. I’ve been that man at times, and while I attempt to foster more interaction in my messages the format and expectations lead to the same result. Each of us has something to give. After we’ve given it, we can only give it again and again. God has not given any of us everything that everyone else will need. Instead, he has distributed his gifts among all of us.

Please don’t blame us if we feel spiritually frustrated and unfulfilled. Please don’t blame us if we vacillate between an intense desire to DO something for God and use our gifts, and an apparent apathy as we meet resistance and are directed to do our duty by serving as an audience in a religious service that feels like repeating our freshman year one more time.

But we want to please God, we want to grow, we want to be all God has called us to be. We don’t want to be rebellious, cause division or tear apart the church. But we don’t want to die spiritually either. We don’t want to waste our lives and all God has invested in us as we rot in a rut of religious ritual.

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12: 3-8

One by one people are searching the scripture for answers and crying out to God in prayer. The Holy Spirit is drawing people to obey the scriptures and become the church he created them to be. Christians are finding themselves drawn into small gatherings of believers where each can minister to the others and all can use their gifts. They openly admit they don’t have all the answers about where they are going, but are simply trying to do what the Holy Spirit tells them. Some call this Organic church, Simple church or House church. But it doesn’t seem like church. They meet in homes not a church building. There is usually singing and music, but even children can bring an instrument and join in. There is no pastor running the service and doing the speaking, yet it is quite common for several members to have extensive pastoral or teaching experience. There are no tithes, but they give generously to the poor and pool their resources to help members in need. But is it church? Is it rebellion?

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20

A Dangerous Question

Me: "Father, why is our church not growing? "

God: "Whose Kingdom are you building?"

Easter

We went to an Easter play at my sister-in-law's church. While watching the play I was struck by the profound trajedy of Judas' personal weakness and failure. At intermission I grabbed a pen and paper and wrote out the following question:

Who would sell out a man to death for the price of a new car? Who would sell out a close friend? Who would sell out their Lord and King - for, for mere money?

Judas - so close to the light, yet so full of darkness. I wonder if Jesus had him in mind when he taught that if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. Judas - who was one of the twelve chosen apostles. Judas who was paired up with another disciple when sent out two by two - working miracles by the power of Jesus name. Judas - who was trusted with the finances of Jesus' ministry.

The story of Judas is enough to make anyone fear. When told that one of their number would betray him the other disciples asked "is it me?" If Judas could have been so close to the light and yet failed so miserably, where does that leave you and me? Only Peter and John were confident enough that they asked instead - "who is it?" Of course only a few hours later Peter also failed his Lord in a graphic demonstration of human weakness.

Pilate also struck me by his personal weakness and failure. He believed Jesus to be innocent and declared him as such, yet had him beaten anyway. He even tried to release him at one point. Then in fear and frustration he acquiessed and ordered him to be crucified - all to appease a group of people that he personally dispised. Such weakness and failure.

When they led Jesus to be crucified, I had to close my eyes and I heard myself calling "No, no." I was not man enough to watch even the renactment of what my Lord had to actually endure. I should have died for him, not him for me. For me there is no greater shame than to know that my Lord was cruicified for me - and there is no greater reason to love him.

The resurection - what hope. Because he lives, I live. The power of the risen Christ - in me, and with me and for me - and I for him.