The Shaping of Things to Come

Two months ago, I finished a book that will become one of the formative texts for a number of Christian movements. As I mentioned in my previous post, the church (institutional) has often measured their worth and commitment by the values that are based on Ego as the worldview. at youth ministry conferences, we ask numbers, budget, and programs. We ask about baptism and study methods. And, the people who speak at the events are people who have found "success" by using this program. Thus, the program is validated by the tangible results.

If the cross should be our worldview, what should be our standard or markers of validation? In other words, what are markers that would show that we are faithfully following Jesus?

I believe that we must take on a new vision of what are churches should look like. Often when Jesus told people what it would mean to follow him (i.e. eat his flesh, drink his blood, not be drink, etc.), the people would leave because of it. Maybe our churches should not be getting bigger, but they should be getting smaller. Maybe the marker we are seeing of "growth" is the fact that we are really not teaching people how to be disciples of Jesus.

Maybe we need to form communities that take very seriously the call to hold each other accountable, to bear one another's burdens, to love in and out, to praise God in assembly and in life, to bear witness that the Good News of the ability to be a part of God's Kingdom in the World (NOW and later) is available as a gift, and to learn daily what it means to take up our crosses and follow Jesus.

And, yes, I do believe that our current system does not do these things well. It has hints of all of them.

So, may the Spirit of God, who also rested on Jesus, rest on us. And, my that Spirit do things through us that we would not have thought possible. When it happens, may we give glory to God who does so much more than we could even think. And, it will ONLY be through Him that anything happens.