Have you considered how the church is built? How is it structured; locally, globally? What is its purpose? Does it look anything like what it was intended to? How are we, or better yet, how are you fitting in and fulfilling your part?
For me at least, reading the New Testament often leaves me confused at times. God calls us out of the world into His Kingdom. We become His Children, heirs and brethren to one another. He puts His Spirit in us and gives us the power to live accordingly. He breaks through eternity and takes on our form to give the example in how we are to be. His early imitators follow his lead.
Comparatively, little is given on our structure other than we are likened to an organism as opposed to an institution. A little more is given on what we are to do but the focus seems to be on who Jesus is and who we are in Him.
The gist i get is that we see Him; we see the Father. He is in the Father and the Father is in the Son. The Son does or says nothing on His own unless it is what the Father is doing or saying. He calls us to follow His lead. He puts His Spirit in us for apart from Him we can do nothing in of ourselves. He calls us to love one another as He loves us. If we love Him we will do what He asks and when we do we show that we are His and He lives in us.
This leaves me with the idea that we are to be identified by how God is reflected in each of us, not by our form (buildings, structures, programs, etc.). Often that is the way the world see us because that is what we are about.
Reading and meditating on the New Testament examples often creates dissonance between what the church resembles and what it should look like. I find it difficult to find support for a lot of what we focus our thoughts and resources on. We have buildings, we have programs, liturgies by-laws, creeds. We focus much of what God has given us on those things to the exclusion of the mission. It is almost like the space program; billions are spent on supporting a vehicle that will propel only a few to a higher destiny.
I believe We must learn how to live according to who we are. We need make room for one another, those on either edges of the Kingdom; the lost, the leaving, the lonely and the fallen. By that i mean welcoming, connecting, accepting, encouraging each other to the point that we can all get to where God wants us all to be. We put at risk our personal and corporate growth and the benefits of having the Father's Heart.
Sometimes a vision or three can help illustrate
This i know to be true; God desires to speak with When the Lord speaks to me, He sometimes draws my attention to things as well as people to show me something of significance. The illustration of this matter came to me over a few visions; the accounts of which will be in the next few posts.
The first in the following account which came during a night watch. I was walking about the building praying and proclaiming the word. He called me into the coat room in the south foyer. A large mailbox is set in the middle of the room. He asked me to describe and measure the mail box.
“Look at it. What do you see?”
Well, it is a sturdy, well constructed piece. It is well defined and finished. It is pleasing to look at. It is prominently placed in a location, is easily accessable. You can see at a glance if there is something for you and it is easy to send something out to as many people as possible.
“Measure it. What is its size?”
It looks to be about five and a half feet long, about two feet wide and six feet high.
"What can you tell me about it?”
It has a good base that can be used for storage. There are uniform slots arrayed above the base. There are seven high, by twenty-two rows; two sides each for a total of 308 slots. There appears to be a slot for each person, family and groups. They are all the same size and there is only room for what is there.
“What can you tell me about that?”
Before i could come up with an answer, the Lord answered for me.
“There is no room. Unless someone leaves, no one can enter in. Unless you make room, you will not grow.”
From that point on i was fixated on the whole dialog. Here is the remaining journaled account of what followed. Now the mail box speaks.
Behold the mailbox. It is calling; It beckons you near.
“Come learn of me! What do you see?”
It sits in the outer court, just inside the gate, in the tent of meeting.
“Look at me. Ponder my makings, consider my purpose. I am connecting people to each other; a people part of a broad and noble vision to see the lost reached, restored to Christ and released to His purpose.”
“I am in the place of meeting, at the place of greeting, prominently placed for all to see, part of the nexus that connects you and me. I bear the notes of encouragement and information that connects us to one another.”
It stands noble; its construction considered in exacting proportions. Its frame is strong and well defined. It carries a grid in exacting scale; 2 sides each, 22 by 7; 308 in all. You have a slot that you must fit and there is room for no more.
I sensed that there was more to this. There was just enough revealed to draw me in further and to trouble my thoughts and evoke considerate prayer for the next two weeks. I had a strong sense that the definition of the box and its rigid and precise form revealed an element of control.
I shared the account with someone in a pastoral/prophetic leadership. Without hesitation or question, he commented ...
“Everyone is pigeon-holed; kept to fit a particular {controlled} form. That control is rooted in jealousy.”
The roots of jealousy are pervasive and is manifest in us all in some measure and form. It affects us all; no one is immune from it. It is all something we need to acknowledge individually and repent of. It will keep us back, hold us down and inhibit the development and manifestation of our diverse and rich giftings. It stifles anointing and enabling.
We can be jealous of what we have and not want to release and share it. We can be jealous of those with different or seemingly more prominent giftings than ourselves. We can be jealous for our little corners of ministry within the body, guarding it from other partakers. Perhaps we still define ourselves by what we do opposed to whose we are. Our mission and vision is right and good. The message of healing, humility and unity can be quenched by spirits of control and competition if we hold on to things too tightly and do not make room for others to enter in, realise their call and endowments and to grow the body in love.
Jealousy is like the very preservatives and finishes used in wood. It inhibits growth of organisms in the material. It preserves the form and finish wrought in the original construction. Like a preservative, its purpose is to inhibit growth protect the original shape. That is fine for wood that has been cut down sawn, dried, planed and finished for it is dead. On the other hand it is destructive to trees and other living things with cells that need to reproduce themselves and grow into their full potential their Creator intended.
There was more to come. A few weeks later God would show me a picture of the mailbox in transformation. It was good news! However, that stream of revelation was interrupted by a relevant dream involving an interactive survey.
The vision disturbed me but in time i would see that it was just a picture on how we are now and what was yet to come was exciting as the mailbox begins a transformation process that takes it from a rigid, synthetic structure to a vital organism in the ensuing visions.
As one of our pastors said, the prophetic does not necessarily provide guarantees but rather opportunities for the church to lay hold of. I suspect we are called to heed and diligently pursue what God is laying out for us.
Next, the start of a transformation.
