Writing from a U.K. perspective, it feels as if a door of opportunity has opened before us, the Church. Government restrictions are in the process of being lifted. There is a hope for things to begin to return to normal. The first question we need to ask is ‘What is normal?’
Normal is not what we used to do. By and large, what we used to do was often a pale imitation of normal. Normal for the Church is rapid growth, signs and wonders, Jesus exalted, the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the sick are healed, those in bondage are delivered from their demonic oppressors, the dead are raised back to life and thousands follow Jesus. That’s normal. We make a mistake if we assume that everything we have seen of church so far is normal. It’s not unless it matches the description above. And the place for much of that to happen is outside our buildings and Sunday morning meetings.
Now we have an opportunity to be different, to do things differently – to be normal. Now it’s time to be RADICAL. Now it’s time to take risks, to push out. To be bold. To trust Jesus. To take courage. To go to places we have never been before. To do things we have never done before.
The past two years for church have been restricted. God was never the author of those restrictions, but He never lets an opportunity slip by. And the opportunity, was for us to stop and consider what we were doing and why. It was a time to draw closer to Jesus, and then let Him (the One who said I will build my church) reorganise us and redirect us. He wants to reorganise His troops ready for battle, and ready for work.
Tempting as it is to slip back into the comfortable old clothes of doing what we always used to do and breathe a sigh of relief as we relax back into the familiar old patterns – those days are gone; unless we want religion instead of all that Jesus intends to do.
The nation is traumatised and fearful. Millions have had hopes and dreams destroyed. Countless people are hurting, frightened and lonely. Our children and young people have been particularly damaged by policies which singled them out. We carry the answer. We are called and chosen for this moment. We are mighty men and women of God.
“But I don’t feel like anyone special”. Well you are! Why? Because He says so, because you are united to Jesus, because Holy Spirit lives in you, because He goes before you and at the same time protects you from behind. He is in charge, and we are about His business.
There is a job to do. It is time for the full presentation of the gospel. It is time to represent Jesus well and properly. Time to take His presence and power with us wherever we go. Time for healings, miracles, deliverances , setting people free – and it will come more easily out of our church buildings than it ever did inside them. This stuff is meant to be commonplace in the world of those around us. Jesus wants to meet people where they are, so that is where we need to learn to carry Him and His annointing. That’s normal.
By the way, we don’t know how long the door might be open for, so we need to begin to structure ourselves so that never again can the Church be shut down or limited by a government’s response to a situation. The Church needs to become far more flexible, able to operate in any circumstance. Nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of the Kingdom. That means we all need to become more flexible; able to share the gospel, carry the presence and power of God wherever we are, and not limit ourselves to the public Sunday gatherings (nice as they are). Small home based churches will become more and more common and will be able to easily operate and grow in any circumstance. Look at the Church in China for example.
For Leaders I would say this: We are entering a new season which is going to be quite different from the old. When God opens a door into a new season, He doesn’t do it with a fanfare. Shifts like this are discerned rather than advertised. Faith and trust are required. Faith that in the absence of writing appearing in the sky, we are discerning what God is about to do, and we are prepared to push forward. Someone has to go first. Generally that is Leaders, and we operate by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5 v 7). Now is not a time for strategy. It is not a time for two or five year plans. It is time to immerse ourselves in God. It’s time to do what our hand finds to do (Ecclesiastes 9 v 10) and to lead supernaturally.
Next week we’ll make this practical!
Church is out there 