“Where in the world did the Church so often get the idea that from then on (from when we became Christians), it was all about being part of a nice Christian community, becoming nicer people and helping others”
I wrote that sentence in last weeks blog. it is not a critical statement but a factual observation. Too often what has happened is that when people become Christians they are quickly drawn into the life of the local church, they learn it’s customs and practices – “how we do things here”. Church policy is to quickly settle new converts into the church; get them into the habit of attending weekly services, get them into a small group, get them serving in the church and last but not least, get them tithing. Ok. It is good and right to meet together, it is good to be connected in close relationships with other believers, but something subtle often happens which deflects us from the purpose for which we were called and chosen.
Your church may be completely different, in which case bear with me. But here’s the subtle shift. We use the word ‘Christian’ to describe each other. (Bear with me!). In itself there’s nothing wrong with the word as a description except that it is a very much an inactive word – a noun or an adjective. A thing or a description of a thing. Things generally need to be used, observed, stored, categorised, organised, changed, moved around etc etc. A better word or phrase would be “A follower of Jesus”. If you are a follower of Jesus you are by definition on the move, going somewhere, going where Jesus is going.
Follower: a ‘doing’ word; “a person who moves or travels behind someone or something”.
Here’s the subtlety exposed. You can be a ‘Christian’ and stay in a church all your life and be a nice person but never achieve anything in the Kingdom. If you are a follower then by definition you go. I don’t mean that you leave your church – which is your base, your anchor point and your recharging place – but you go where Jesus is going, doing the stuff that He does.
I am not suggesting that we merely play around with words in order to tick boxes and make things seem better (an annoying modern habit that solves nothing). I am saying that we all need to be very conscious of the fact that we are Followers of Jesus, people who by definition are on the move. We are not stationary Christians who live in a church.
Jesus gathered 12 men who quite literally followed Him everywhere He went for the rest of His earthly life. They went where He went, they learned to do what He did, and they saw the power of Gods kingdom at work wherever they went. They obviously enjoyed the experience. They were there voluntarily and they left everything they had behind so that they could follow Him. They could have gone back at any time, but they didn’t.
When Jesus rose again, he spent 40 days teaching and preparing His disciples for the next phase. What He never said to them was, “it’s time to settle things down a bit chaps, just cool it a bit”.
He never planned that we would all learn to settle into safe little church communities making little or very small impact on those around us. Far from it! He supercharged the disciples with the power of Holy Spirit living in them so that they could do what needed to be done. Things weren’t about to settle down. They were about to take off. The normal experience for new believers (and ‘believers’ is a ‘doing’ word) was to be filled with that same power and to follow Jesus wherever He took them.
Your church may be different, but as a general rule, how much have we ‘settled down’ compared to the Church at the start?
Jesus showed His disciples what to do and sent them out to do it; first 12 of them, then 72 of them. When they came back they said ‘this stuff works!’ The book of Acts has examples of the supernatural power of God at work in every chapter. In John Chapter 14 Jesus said this…
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!
John 14v12-14 NLT
In other words, if we believe in Him (meaning trust Him in an active dynamic way) we would be able to do the miracles He did, and more. Just like the 12, the 72 and the early Church. And if that is how we want to live, we can ask Him for anything and He will do it. (And no He didn’t mean a new car!) He meant more power and ability to do the things that He did. The aim? To turn the world upside down. The first Church did it then. We can do it now.
Practicalities: Many of us need a simple introduction into how to function more effectively in the supernatural realm of Holy Spirit. We need practice in a safe environment with other believers – just as the disciples had before they went out. This is not complicated stuff, but it’s essential. I am planning to run a Course in Hexham in about 6 weeks time. It will be basic training to learn how to begin to function in this area. We will practice healing, prophesy, leading people to Jesus, hearing God’s voice and more. It will be one night a week, for several weeks. It doesn’t matter which church you are part of, or even if you are not connected to any church at the moment. All you need is a love for Jesus, a desire to follow Him and begin to turn the world upside down. I will share more details in the next few weeks, but you can register an interest now by dropping me an email – williamskev2020@gmail.com
Church is out there 
Fabulous, well done. 😃🙌