(At the end of this article are 4 videos 7-10 minutes each which are based on this article, and expand slightly on the written version)

I would like to use an analogy to speak to something which I have felt God stirring in my heart. One of the things about this recent presidential election that came through to me clearly was the difference in the vision which each candidate presented to the nation. Regardless of how you voted I think that President-elect Obama and his campaign team were very successful in presenting a vision of change that many, many voters found very compelling. As I reflected upon the enthusiasm, and intense passion which many people seemed to genuinely experience regarding President-elect Obama’s campaign I begin to think about the church, and whether we have a compelling vision capable of motivating the kind of sacrifice and faithfulness necessary to fulfill all that God has for us.

What happens without vision – nothing…

Proverbs 29:18 – Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint… Where there is an absence of compelling vision people go in every direction. Eugene Peterson has an interesting interpretation of this verse: If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves… Compelling vision is necessary to motivate our hearts to rise above self-interest, and from being overly invested in too highly individualized a game plan for life. We are not individuals who happen to be in a particular religious organization. We are a family of brothers and sisters called together to serve the Lord, and to advance his purposes. God has a purpose for every church, and He calls people together to serve his purposes in a particular region (Read the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation if you doubt this). Jesus knew these churches, he had particular evaluations of each one, he referred to the degree they had been faithful or not faithful to His purposes. That is particularity. Jesus knows Lamb of God Fellowship, and he knows everyone who is a part of this body. He has something for each one to do, and something for each one to contribute. If this were not true what sense could you every make out of a passage like this: (4) For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, (5) so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (6) Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; (7) if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12)

A sense of something larger than myself….

Yet still, we as human beings, need to be able to believe that this local church commitment is tied to something larger than just the ups and downs of a local church. We need to see how the glorious, majestic, resurrected, ascended mighty Son of God who came to earth and triumphed over sin, death and the devil and now sits enthroned above the heavens relates his awesome victory to me, my family, my work and my local church family. I need to see how the work of Christ enables me to do things that apart from that gospel work I could never hope to even want to do. I need to see how God, by saving me, has invited me into a lifelong apprenticeship to His Son, to actually learn to love and act as Jesus did while living his life here on earth. I need a compelling vision of all that God is to me in Christ, all that God has done for me in the work of Christ on the cross and all that God has called me to in my lifelong apprenticeship to Jesus. I need a vision of these things that drives my affections, that motivates my will, that captures my imagination, that fascinates my mind and keeps me burning for the all that God has called me to accomplish in this generation. It was this kind of compelling vision which motivated Jonathan Edwards(1st Great Awakening), George Whitfield (1st. Great Awakening), John Wesley, Charles Finney (2nd Great Awakening), Evan Roberts, Jeremy Lamphier (Fulton Street Revival), Daddy Seymour (Azusa), Susanna Wesley, Amy Carmichael, Jackie Pullinger, Elizabeth Elliot, and Joni Eareckson. In many of these examples we are talking about people who did not appear to be extraordinary: Amy Carmichael was a sickly child, who ended up being a missionary is some of the most difficult places of India (She was a huge influence on Jim & Elizabeth Elliot). Evan Roberts was an uneducated Welsh coal miner who ended up leading one of the greatest revivals of the 20th century. William J. Seymour (called ‘Daddy Seymour), was the son of former slaves and yet God used him to lead the Pentecostal revival of 1906 often referred to as the Azusa Street Revival. Jackie Pullinger, as a 20 something launched out into ministry in Hong Kong’s opium ghetto. She had no experience and yet God used her to reach 100’s of addicts and bring healing, salvation and deliverance to many drug addicts, prostitutes and marginalized people.

How vision turns ordinary people up-side down

All of these people share a common understanding of the greatness of Jesus, the glory of his gospel and the necessity of fully engaging our apprenticeship to Jesus. I believe that it is the lack of a compelling vision of these things that had co-opted so many of our churches into sub-biblical Christianity. Paul clearly understood and taught this: Ephesians 1: (17) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (18) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, (19) and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, (20) which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, (21) far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (22) And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, (23) which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. What Paul prays for here is revelatory understanding of the hope to which we have been called, the greatness of our inheritance, the greatness of the power to which God has given us access and the majesty of the one through whom all of this is made possible – Jesus Christ. Paul understood this so profoundly – very likely because he himself had undergone such a radical re-orientation of his life. It was quite literally a vision of the Risen Jesus that turned his world upside down. While we may not see Jesus in precisely the same way that Paul did, we can experience Jesus in the manner Paul prays here in Ephesians. In fact I would say we must!

Our holy obsession….

I am persuaded like never before that three things must become our holy obsession: The greatness of Jesus Christ (what David Bryant calls ‘A Crisis in Supremacy – a shortfall in how we see, seek, savor, serve, share and speak about God’s Son for ALL that He is. Next, the glory of the gospel (understanding the work of Christ and how the grace of God works in our lives) and the necessity of intentional daily involvement in following Jesus (What Dallas Willard calls ‘The Renovation of the Heart). I believe that these three streams must become our food, our daily bread, our constant rallying point, our inexhaustible fountain of inspiration and motivation. The church needs a new day of sacrifice and perseverance (one that mirrors the Early Church, and the church renewed in every generation). However – without a passionate purpose how can that sacrifice and perseverance be sustained?

Jesus stated a very simply principal about how outward conduct is related to the inner person with these words: The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45) In other words – you have to have something good in your heart to get it out when you need to act. If my heart is captured by a ‘big’ Jesus, a great gospel and my need to really respond to God then I will bring that out of my heart in my day to day life. If I don’t have that in my heart, then no matter what the opportunities I will likely do little, say little and have little impact. Christians seem to be filled with everything but these three things (consider these numbers, sent to me last week by David Bryant: 96% of Christians discovered to be “biblically illiterate” cf. Barna Research; 80% of US congregations are stagnant or dying in terms of membership; Millions sitting in our pews on Sunday remain unconverted – 50% by one major survey). If these numbers are true, even if they were off by 10 or 20% would still be staggering. What do we do?

What do we do?

The first step is to face the reality of what really drives my life. I can’t hope to change what I do not actually acknowledge needs fixing. We humans have an extraordinary ability to sustain slow and steady spiritual decline for years without being bothered by it. We have no problem sitting in church (assuming we have even made that much of a commitment), going through ‘religious’ motions and remaining virtually unchanged for years. Dry, religious performance can easily become a substitute for passionate apprenticeship to Jesus. The numbers quoted from David Bryant should suggest at the very least that this is the reality of much of the church. Step One then is this: Do I have a compelling vision of the Christian life? Is my life organized a ‘Big’ view of Jesus Christ, dependency on the gospel’s resources and intentional apprenticeship to Jesus? How can I know what is really going on in my heart? : Enthusiasm for worship, hunger for the Word of God, intentionality regarding growing in my faith, (study, devotions, regular prayer, accountability, generosity with my resources, time and gifts.), increased love for God and my brothers and sisters. Where are you at when you hear this list of things in your head?

Second: After diagnosis comes treatment. What must be done to re-order my life so that it reflects a life that is driven by a vision of who Christ is, what He has done and what it means to actively live that reality out in my day to day life. Some of us need prayer partners, some of us need to become more intentional about study and the knowledge of the Word of God. Some of us need help in our marriages, and in our relationships with others. Some of us need deliverance from habits that are working havoc in our lives. Some of us are in financial bondage and we need help to learn to budget and order our financial house well. I could go on and name many areas – but the point is this: If I know I am in need of change – recognize that only specificity married to intention will ever take us anywhere. I have spent the last 12 months trying to get myself back into physical shape (after years of neglect). I can’t tell you the joy and delight that has come from simply facing my lazinesses, my excuses, my self-pity and deciding that I was going to take a step of faith, embrace my partnership with God and follow through with with effort. God has blessed me, I feel better, more focused, more energetic and more able to serve the Lord with my whole life (including my body). I can tell you two things happened – I faced my sinfulness and poor stewardship of my body; and I implemented a plan that actually made sense for me. The result is change, glorious God honoring change.

Third: You can not do this without partnership with others. Stop fooling yourself. You will not change without help and constant accountability along the way. Once you face the truth, once you consider a remedy you will still need encouragement, reminders, and occasional rebukes to keep moving. I believe in revival. I am expecting God to bring one. But the church needs not only revival but reformation. We need that precept on precept, day by day constancy that brings beautiful transformation to individuals, families, churches and communities. Let me make clear what I mean: It takes thoughtful biblical understanding to bring real change to our culture. We need unified, committed believers that will work and walk together in sustained effort to bring about lasting gospel influence. Of course we can’t do this without the Holy Spirit working mightily. But remember mighty works of the Spirit happen all the time in step by step blessing, and pushing back the darkness. Yes, I love and want ’signs and wonders’ – but God does so much work, in fact most of His work through our faith expressing itself in love.

This ‘vision’ thing is really getting all up in my business, if you know what I mean. I am thinking about it day and night. I hope I am becoming more like Paul who said – I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— (10) that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (11) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead

Video Blog – The following are ‘videos’ based on the above writing. They are in 7 to 10 minute parts and expand slightly on the thought above.

That exhortation calls us to stretch ourselves, to push to turn the other cheek, to go the second mile to actively seek peace. Yet, it is common for Christians to retreat when conflict emerges in relationships. Why is it imperative for us as a community of believers to make peace a priority? And why is it so common for relationships to fall apart?

First, the peace which is possible in our relationships with one another is rooted in the peace which Christ has obtained for us through his death on the cross. Romans 5: (1)Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. This is a costly peace, in fact you can say it cost him everything. Jesus gave his very blood to obtain a peace with the Father that could be obtained in no other way. Out of this peace flows both the inward motivation and the possibility of living at peace with one another.

Again and again scripture brings emphasis to the importance of peace: 2 Corinthians 13:11 – Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. Ephesians 4:3 – Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Colossians 3:15 – Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. These scriptures are representative of the call to live at peace with one another, because of what Christ has done in obtaining peace with God for those who have trusted Christ.

Is this clear to you? Does there seem to be any wiggle room which permits us justification for breaking relationships with our brothers and sisters? Well there are some instances where it might become necessary to separate ourselves from other Christians, and I want to look at what are the circumstances which scripture suggests this as a last resort. But first let me talk about what is usually the case.

First, human beings often have a fear of confrontation. This may come from the way we have been formed by our childhood, or difficult experiences with conflict in our adult years. It is easy to imagine that confrontation may result in explosiveness and that things could actually be made worse. The problem is that retreating from the situation doesn’t make it go away and will often lay the ground work for giving up completely.

Second, fear of having our own junk exposed can be a powerful incentive to run away from working things out with someone with whom we are at odds. There is an inevitable friction which results anytime you bring people together. That friction is produced from ordinary foibles, weaknesses, and opinions as well as sin which comes out when people are with one another. Spend any amount of time with people and out comes ugly stuff. Close proximity with brothers and sisters is a little like lifting up a rock to see what lies below the surface. One can either acknowledge and accept what gets exposed, run away, or blame others for what gets exposed. Christian community, if it contains any level of honesty, will expose the weaknesses of our marriages, the shortcomings of our parenting, the follies of our children, and our own insecurities, bad habits and sins. If this were not true why would Paul have to admonish us more than once to make every effort to remain at peace with one another? That is why the Cross of Christ, and the costly peace which he obtained must always remain at the center. No other motivation is sufficient. No other motivation is powerful enough to help us overcome our tendency to avoid, run or blame others for those things which need to be addressed within ourselves.

There are times when we are genuinely offended by the rudeness, inconsiderateness or insensitivity of our brothers and sisters in the church community. I believe that most often we are to bear with one another, to be tolerant and slow to anger. But there are clearly times when we have to talk about a matter, lay things out and seek to understand and to be understood. Once again it is the Cross of Jesus which propels us to pursue peace, to seek reconciliation, to go as far as we can to preserve the unity of the Spirit.

But are there circumstances where we are compelled to break fellowship? Paul tells us in Titus 3:10 – Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. What is a divisive person? Someone who is unwilling to make peace, but instead through innuendo, unfounded allegations, or slander sows discord in the body of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3 warns Christians to avoid associating with those who are lazy and mooch off of others. Paul had to exhort the Christians in Corinth to disassociate themselves with a man in their congregation who was engaging in unrepentant sexual immorality. There are as well many examples of Paul having to rebuke false teaching, correct practices in the church which were extreme or wrong-headed. Those who deny they faith in ways that are substantial, or distort the truth of God are to be rebuked with the intention of restoration. But if you look very carefully in the scriptures, the occasions where breaking fellowship is commended are rare. There is a very simple reason for that – Jesus Christ gave his life blood to reconcile men to God and to one another. Jesus prayed for unity among his people. Overwhelmingly scripture enjoins us to make peace, seek peace, and preserve peace.

Brothers and sisters there is always the possibility of walking in the peace of Jesus. It is a way which requires humility, the ability to receive correction, submission to one another and the willingness to treat others as better than ourselves. It is the way of the Cross. I believe the alternative brings reproach on the name of Jesus. May Jesus, the treasure of the Father, who was poured out to open the way of peace to God stir in us a resoluteness to seek the peace of Christ with all of our hearts.

There is something very compelling about this myth. It is a vivid picture of futility. Again and again Sisyphus tried to get the stone all the way up the hill and have it stay, only to see it roll back down again. Sometimes waiting on God feels like this – futile and hopeless labor. Will He ever come through? How many prayers will we have to pray? How long will He make us wait? When will the things we have ask Him for come to be?

There is a quote that strikes me as helpful: “Satan strikes either at the root of faith or at the root of diligence” (Puritan John Livingstone). I have found this to be a true insight concerning the nature of prayer and persistance in prayer. Satan prosecutes a relentless war against faith and faithfulness. He works to draw the intercessor away, to cause him or her to doubt, to lure one into the place where we utter – “What’s the point, this won’t work to change a thing.”

Here is where we must challenge our carnality. Faith is born of the Spirit in the heart of a person. Faith is neither intellectual nor is it anti-intellectual. It is beyond reason. It is non-rational. This makes our grasp of things spiritual very dependent upon our confidence in the Word of God and our persistence in holding to what it says about who God is and what He is willing to do for and through His people. Our senses grow weary. We are creatures who are inclined to lose hope when gratification is delayed. This is our natural, fleshly tendency. Knowing this to be the truth (an no doubt some are better than others when it comes to waiting), we must keep stoking the fire of faith with the truth of God’s Word, and with accounts of his working through history to answer the prayers of his people for revival.

This is precisely how the Scriptures see it: Romans 10:17 – So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Faith is a fire which is stoked by the Word. Go to the Scriptures and read the stories of God’s faithfulness to Abraham, to Joseph, to Moses, to Joshua, to Daniel, to the Apostles, and to Mary (to name only a few). Look at history and see how God has always acted on behalf of his people – St. Patrick, St. Francis, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, William Wilberforce, Charles Finney, Evan Roberts, William Seymore, and on and on an on. Here is a link where you can down load and read a wonderful brief book on 10 great revivals – 10 Great Revivals. Take the time to do it. Print out a chapter a day and read it. It will nourish your heart and turn your eyes toward Jesus.

We are not engaged in futility. Take the time to read Isaiah 58. It is a powerful word on revival. It challenges us with the necessity of response to God. We are not passive in our prayer. We engage the Lord, and we must be ready to respond to what He puts before us. But when it is all said and done – it is God’s faithfulness to honor his own words that gives us the hope and persistence to press in and on. Isaiah 58:8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ These verses describe God responding to His people and their crys for help – “then shall your light break forth” and how desperately we desire that light to break forth.

Those who hunger for revival – we are not letting go, until the Lord answers. Those who are desperate for a new day to dawn in the church – we will not relent until His light breaks forth. But where, oh where are those of whom Isaiah speaks: On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, (7) and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. May He find us watching and waiting!

Recently, I head a teaching that has been very helpful in coming to a more through understanding of an answer for this question. Scripture does not go into elaborate detail regarding this matter. What it does tell us should be all that we need to engage in effective spiritual warfare. Pastor Bill Johnson, of Bethel Church in California suggests the following paradigm to help us understand this.

Before Jesus returned to the Father he made this statement: Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” How much authority then is given to satan? If Jesus has all authority then the answer would seem to be none. Satan has no legitmate authority to exercise control or power over the Christian. How then does Satan gain influence over Christians, and even over churches?

If we use the example of the Garden of Eden as a prototype to help us understand this question we would ask another question about that situation. How did the Serpent gain influence over Adam and Eve? Scriptures says this of satan – Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. What is “crafty?” The dictionary defines crafty this way: Skilled in or marked by underhandedness, deviousness, or deception. Isn’t this confirmed by a word which Jesus gives in John regarding the character of satan? Jesus said: When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Satan’s power over Adam and Eve in the garden was the power of getting them to agree with a lie. The serpent said to the woman – “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden‘?” Which is not what God said, since the commend was regarding only one particular tree. Somehow this lie worked on Eve, and Adam as well. What then is the power of satan over the Christian? It is the power of getting us to agree with his lies. Think about it for a moment… what gives a lie its power? Since it isn’t true it has no actual power. It isn’t real. Yet, if it is believed, if it is agreed with, it will act upon us as though it was the truth. The enemy can conceal his presence by simply having his lies sound like our own doubts. We think and act in self-reliance, ignoring prayer and the Word of God, somehow thinking that we have to do it ourselves. What lie is behind such behavior? We are struggling financially and wonder how will we meet our obligations. That struggle turns into fear and that fear tells us that we will be overwhelmed, we will be swept away by the thing we fear. What is the lie which stands behind those thoughts and feelings? We worry our children will turn out badly, or that they won’t follow the Lord so instead of entrusting them to the Lord, we nag and fret and hound them to do this that or the other thing and end up alienated and seperated from them by our anger. What is the lie which stands behind all that drama? I could go on. But I really think there is something to this. The evil one cannot simply come in to our circumstances and begin to take over and turn them against us, or turn us against ourselves or one another. He has no authority or right to do this! What he can do is whisper lies. He can tempt us to trust only what we see in our bank account, or in our children, or whatever the situation. He can tempt us to believe that what is seen is all we can hope in. He can tantalize us to grab for what is seen while we have the chance, rather than trusting in a God who is able to answer prayer, and who loves and cares for us as his very own children.

I don’t know if that explanation provides all the answers regarding how satan wields his power. But it certainly helps me understand a large slice. Since Jesus emphatically said of him – when he lies, he is doing it from his character because he is the father of lies I know that I must cooperate with Jesus to break the power of lies in my life. I must form my agreements with what God says is true, not with my experience, not with my senses but with what the Lord tells me is the truth about reality. Part of the way that we should understand II Corinthians 10:3-5 (3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ) is that we utilize the truth of the Word of God to tear down the lies which have leaked into our lives. One of the things that is meant by destroying arguments and lofty opinions raised up against the knowledge of God is that we are dismantling lies which we have allowed satan to sell us.

What do you think?