In quite a few different places I have come across the notion recently, that the Church is a remnant – that we are a small but pure remnant group that God has kept for Himself whilst the rest of the world carries on in its own sweet way, oblivious to the message of the gospel. The Church is, and always will be a small minority.
I am not sure how widespread this idea is in the body of Christ, but it brought me up sharply when I heard it expressed as if it was a self evident truth, even as if it was a theological truth, not just an observation. And, as I said, I have heard this statement in several different settings, and each time I heard it I was taken aback. How could people believe that?
But then I realised that in years gone by, I used to have that same assumption in my unconscious thinking.
Yes, I knew in my head that the Church was God’s chosen method to preach the gospel, reach the lost and extend the Kingdom of God. I knew that the Church was the body of Christ on earth and that Jesus was it’s Head. I knew that in Jesus’ day the fields were white, ready for harvest, and that they still are (John 4v 35). At the same time, I carried the notion that the Church was (in my experience) small, relatively ineffective and had little influence on the nation as a whole, and I couldn’t see things changing. I was the perfect description of a double-minded man. And as we know from James, a double minded man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. I expected little and I saw little. Fortunately I now know better than to have such little expectation – such little faith in what God has already said.
In my case, I knew what the Bible said, but I was measuring what the Bible said by my own experience. I was the man who heard what the Bible said and then said to himself, “yes, but……” I knew what the Church was like in other countries – expanding, growing, transforming lives and communities; but despite that, under my breath I was saying “yes, but…..”.
“Yes but, we don’t see that stuff happen here…Yes but, what happens if I pray and they don’t get healed…..Yes but, it’s different here…Yes but, no one wants to know…..Yes but, that won’t work here…..” And so on. And so on. I never voiced any of this, I just thought it at times; and that was enough to guarantee a powerless life.
So, one the one hand there are those who have a spoken Theology that the Church is/always will be, a remnant. Small, hidden away, holding on until Jesus returns. It’s not a New Testament thought, and my guess is that it is taken from the Old Testament, where throughout thick and thin, throughout the apostasy of God’s chosen people Israel, God always ensured that there were some who stayed faithful to Him to carry His purpose into the next generation (and beyond). However, it’s not a principle that is applied to the Church in the New Testament. Far from it.
On the other hand, though, how many more people are there in the Church who in their hearts think exactly the same thing – that the Church is small, unnoticed, powerless in the face of the onslaught of the world and just holding on until Jesus returns. And that’s precisely how I have thought at times in days gone by.
I used to think that we (The Church) were an embattled minority, that hardly anyone was interested in what we had to say or what we believed. I think I saw us as a relatively powerless group of people who were effectively surrounded and outnumbered by the forces of the enemy, the secular worldview, the disinterested majority and also the direct opposition of Satan and his demons. And of course, that is exactly what Satan wants us to believe.
This is (to a large extent) a peculiarly western attitude. We base our view and expectations of the Church on our experience rather than on what God says. And to be fair, our experience has often not matched up with God’s expectation. One fundamental reason for that is that in the West we tend to see things through the lens of a Greek worldview.
The ancient Greek way of looking at the world was to place a high value on logic, reason, thinking, learning, education, culture and the achievements of man. The individual is paramount. Ultimately it meant to look at things from man’s perspective. The Hebrew way of thinking is quite different. It’s starting point is to look at things from God’s perspective and whilst education, culture and all those other things are important, they are to be submitted to God’s plan and purpose. Additionally, the community rather than the individual is paramount in Hebrew thought.
Adopting a Greek worldview in the Church in the West, has left little room for the supernatural and not much room for the Kingdom. The Gospel becomes a rational intellectual presentation. Discipleship becomes a classroom exercise. The answer to health issues has to be medical intervention primarily. The way to change society is by Christians going into politics. Any talk of Evil as a personal force is relegated to the sidelines, and Satan and the demonic are seen as largely irrelevant to “modern-day life”. A ‘miracle’ is just extreme good luck.
Furthermore, the gospel becomes about me– an individual thing. ‘Jesus died primarily for me’ and the Christian life becomes about me being fulfilled. At a wider level Christianity becomes about our church, our denomination or our stream. The presence and power of Holy Spirit is for my blessing, or for our meetings. The true extent of the Kingdom which goes beyond me, mine and ours is not realised.
Having gone down this road for centuries, the Church has often become powerless and ineffective. And instead of retracing our steps to a Biblical worldview and a Biblical approach to Church, the temptation has been to effectively say “he that is in the world must be greater than He who is in us”. The conclusion often has been that we are small, ineffective and ‘not everyone’s cup of tea’ and unable to resist the sustained onslaught of the world and the Devil. As pressure from these sources increase, we withdraw, close ranks and keep our heads down.
The great deception of the enemy is working.
The truth is that as soon as we retrace our steps to a Biblical world view, we will see everything from God’s perspective rather than ours and we will make space for the power and presence of God in how we live and act (the miraculous, signs and wonders – the stuff that Jesus did). Then things will shift radically. We will discover that 1) Now, Satan is the one who is surrounded and on the run, and 2) We are suddenly of great interest and relevance to millions of lost and hurting people.
The definition of miracle is: an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws, and is therefore attributed to a divine agency [God]. Jesus’ ministry was based on and defined by the miraculous. The ministry of the early church was the same.
Jesus’ ministry and the ministry of the early church was also public, and out there, among the people. I believe that the Western Church as a whole needs to recover the miraculous as a normal part of who we are, and then learn to function with the miraculous (healings, deliverance, miraculous interventions) in public, out there among the people. We have spent quite a bit of our time teaching about the gifts of the Spirit, but mostly we have wanted them to operate behind the safety of closed doors. That was never intended to be their primary place of use.
Somebody lamented to me the other day, “Don’t people want to come to Church anymore?” I think the answer to that is “probably not”. They are not impressed with our clubs. It’s time to move away from Sunday meetings being the focus of who we are. It’s time to end our love affair with buildings and denominations, hierarchy and professional ministry. Sorry if that sounds harsh or too radical, but these are the things that too often stand in the way of the Church becoming who God intends her to be and doing what He intends her to do.
The person and ministry of Holy Spirit needs to be released from being allowed occasional outings within our cosy walls. Hear me right; there is nothing wrong with our meeting together, in any venue. But if that is all that we have, we don’t have much. At the moment, most places outside our buildings are Safe Spaces for Satan and his entourage. This is the opposite of what God intended. We are supposed to be in his (Satan’s) space, interfering with his operations and limiting his influence.
I am aware that some of you reading this, particularly leaders, could start to feel defensive. There is no need. I know that you can point to salvations, healings and lives transformed; and you can also point to all the works our churches do in the community. All these things are positive but they represent the tip of the iceberg of what we can do if we truly take the Church outside of the building.
One final point. In Iran, in Afghanistan, in India, in China, in large parts of Africa and South America the notion that the Church is a small remnant, clinging on until Jesus returns is not credible. Why? Because in these places the Church is growing at a phenomenal rate. And it is growing despite opposition and persecution. It is growing without big budgets, professional ministry, comfortable buildings, expensive sound systems or complicated structures. They meet in all kinds of places, often in homes, sometimes in secret. The Church is growing and taking ground from the enemy. The know how to operate outside of the building and their meetings. The power of Holy Spirit is what energises them and leads them on. Healing and deliverance are normal. The miraculous is normal. This is not a ‘remnant church’. This is the Church of the Living God. Maybe it’s time for us to catch up.
Church is out there 