does anyone recall my top two motivations for holiness?
(heh, i talk like i'm Rick Warren or Bill Wilson or some other famous author whose brilliant ideas one etches on their mind permanently)
well-- i can't stop thinking about them!
for a while now i've been wrestling with the Lord through my thoughts on evangelism.
first there was:
"why doesn't God reveal Himself to the whole world so that they fall in love with Him and turn from their sins? if He really wants 'no one perish, but everyone to come to repentance,' then why doesn't He show them some miracle so that they will choose Him? maybe He doesn't want everyone to be saved..."
that was a harsh season.
then my thoughts turned more like:
"He just needs faithful servants. we're a bunch of lazy soldiers-- He wants to save everyone, but He needs us to cooperate with Him in His work. people aren't getting saved, not because of His willingness, but because of our unwillingness. He wants the whole world saved, but if we wanted it to happen, then we'd do something about it, and it would happen."
this was, perhaps, a more accurate train of thought.
so i prayed that God would make me a faithful worker in His harvest field. and i repented of my slothful, selfish ways.
(i'm summarizing this all very tidily, but mind you, this whole thought process took about 2 years)
a few nights ago i had a good chat with Rob, in which i was totally venting all my frustrations with evangelism. i was sharing about how Open Air didn't seem to be working, how i spend hours "building relationships," and see very little transformation. i was questioning why we don't see mass repentance at the Open Air meeting like we used to. is it because we don't actually have the Holy Spirit? we're out there, being faithful workers, and He's a faithful God who desires salvation for all, so why isn't it happening?
and this is what he taught me:
what would happen if mass revival happened in my corps?
if one day, while preaching on a street corner, one hundred people (or even 10 for that matter) repented of their sin, put their faith in the blood of Jesus, and began to follow Him, would it be a good thing?
(well of course it would be...but work with me here)
would we be ready for it?
is our family, our community, ready to take anyone else in?
i wonder.
sometimes i think that we couldn't handle massive amounts of converts. we wouldn't know how to disciple them, we'd probably hurt them, we wouldn't know how to use them in their giftings...we wouldn't know what to do with them all.
so perhaps before we see these lonely people put into our family, we need to become a family worth bringing people into. we need to be purged of all uncleanness, gossip, laziness, lust, lack of compassion, etc, before the Lord will be able to trust us with His beloved people.
holiness. solution to every problem.
Lord-- sift us. get rid of the chaff inside of us, so only wheat remains. boil us until all the junk rises up-- then, please get rid of it. discipline us so that we'll be ready for an outpouring.
from praying the Bible this morning:
"Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
(Psalm 139:23-24)
5 comments:
Olivia
I've been following this thread and share your frustrations and believe that we are treading the same path at the moment in many ways.
Rob is right to question our readiness for revival. I've recently been reading the biography of John Allen an early Christian Mission evangelist (died in 1877) a real stalwart and greatly loved by Booth. Allen was a saved drunken, wife beating navvy who went on to pioneer the Army's work in many places.
He lived and worked in the midst of revival. What did revival mean to him and his comnrades? It meant all nights of prayer - Sundays that ran from 7am to 10:30pm with 15 services (indoor and out) - it meant going without food to chase down sinners and visit new converts - it meant 24/7 committment to the cause.
Holiness must come before revival I am certain of that - without holiness none of us will have the power, motivation or energy to meet the cost.
I blogged the following last year (May 19th) and it sums up what I'm trying to say:
"In relation to revival - I wonder whether we fully understand the demands that it will make upon us. The following quote is from 'Heathen England'
"YES; every day! That is it! The wild whirl of city life is daily carrying the multitude on its thousand eddies to the awful rush and boom of death's terrible waves and to the dark depths of eternity. No day must be lost if anything effective is to be done for the poor dying souls. There are a thousand objects all around to catch every eye and to fill up every mind. The Son of Man cannot be lifted up too often if we are really anxious to have all men drawn unto Him. And once a man is laid hold of he must not be let go for an evening. A hundred public-house doors must be passed ere he gets home from his work. His home may have little attraction at any time. Since his conversion it may have become a very nest of hornets to him. If you want to make it possible for such a man to get established in the ways of God, you must not leave him one leisure evening un-provided for. "
Something productive for the new convert every night of the week in a world where many Corps only meet once a week - Are we ready for this? Are we prepared to put in the hours that revival will demand?
one more quote from the same book...
"The Army having found out the need of the people has: therefore, from the first laid down the law. “An open-air service and an indoor service - at least one of each at every station, every night, if possible.” Of course, it is not always possible to hold an open-air service; and it is not always possible to hold one open to the public indoors, seeing that meetings of a more private kind must occupy the only building we have to use. Of course, every officer employed by the Army has not had the strength needed for so many services- some, alas! have not had the diligence either. These last have soon found that, as there was a way into the Army, there was also a way out!"
Evangelism and discipling in the midst of a revival is tough work and not for the lazy, worldy or faint-hearted - are we up for this?
I believe so - Hallelujah!"
Much love and prayers
A
oh man. stellar quotes.
they've helped me to go from thinking about how the Church needs to get Her act together, to thinking about how i need to get my act together.
the cost is high.
i agree. we need to be ready for the change that we want to see... if we want a revival, we need to BE one.
It's interesting. For most Corps / churches, I would suggest one of the difficulties they would face with new people coming in would be cultural - could they adapt culturally enough to actually welcome the people in and make a place for them. I'm not saying that would be the biggest problem, just the most immediate one.
For us, I'm not sure culture would be the problem. We're very flexible and adaptable. The immediate problem really IS holiness, in terms of how loving our community is towards one another, how much integrity we have, how much grace we show, how passionate we are about discipleship, etc...
I think that structurally we are probably in a good place. We are limited to the extent that we are not holy.
Grace,
Aaron
"Holiness Unto the Lord" is able to cross many boundaries if those who espouse it are willing to pay the price.
There's a big push on for the corps in our division to add six new soldiers every year. A wonderful ambition, but I asked myself the moment I heard it: "do I want these new recruits to duplicate the soldiers as they are now or what I see them becoming?" The answer is obvious.
I'm printing out this post to distribute during prayer meeting tonight. We may have few in number, but God could do amazingly more with us if we were a "holy" few.
So my prayer for my soldiers is that they are/become pure and dangerous for God. I pray that they will call themselves "soldier", not because of uniform, but because they fight. And when they are discipled themselves, they will be ready to duplicate themselves.
Good stuff.
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