THE LIVING CHURCH

THE LIVING CHURCH

                “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

                Jesus is talking to Nicodemus here and explaining to Him what it means to be born again. But as we look at this definition, we find ourselves wondering what kind of people these are that come and go like the wind. We picture them drifting in and out of church, as impossible to pin down as a wave on the sand and unpredictable. We ask ourselves, will he show up as promised? Will she do her part? Can we count on them for anything or will they just sort of blow in and blow out?

                We could look at a Spirit filled, spirit led person as being sort of an administrative nightmare when it comes to running a church. But in truth it isn’t like that at all, for as parts of the Body whose head is Jesus and whose functioning unity is in the Holy Spirit, the hand faithfully does what hands do. The feet faithfully do what feet do. The eyes do what eyes do and ears do what ears do and all of the body parts being orchestrated together by the Holy Spirit as administered by Jesus Christ are working together in love and unity.

                The problem with most churches and organizations is that they actually usurp the Holy Spirit’s role in making the church into a living entity, a living Body and so they seek to do through administration what only the Holy Spirit can do in love and Holy Spirit administration of every heart.

                We quickly find ourselves serving men rather than God. We build a hierarchy of authoritarian leaders and a chain of command that often doesn’t have Christ at the top of it or the Holy Spirit giving it life. Such a church has become a dead corporation rather than a living Body. It is a corporation in which people are clawing for position and power and prestige and even if they practice foot washing as a tradition, nobody is in fact washing each other’s feet and they are more concerned about who will sit on the left and who will sit on the right hand of the throne.

                Church politics can be as ugly as any politics anywhere and driven by the same ambitions and having grown up in the back stage of evangelism, my young heart was crushed by what I sometimes saw as the underbelly of the beast.

                So when I come into a church body that is actually functioning by the Holy Spirit like a living entity, it is such a relief. I can let down my guard a little and allow the Holy Spirit to animate my life as well. We do not need to claw for position, for the anointing of the Holy Spirit enables us and places us according to His will and we do the thing assigned to us by Him as He gives us the anointing to do so.

                The thing I respect about the Pentecostal movement is that by and large, they understand and know when a person is being moved and motivated by the Holy Spirit, and when he or she is striving for positions for fleshly reasons. The truth always reveals itself. Squabbles arise where two people are fighting for the same position and one or both of them are in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. There is no such conflict when the Holy Spirit is truly orchestrating the Body.

                Disunity and strife in the Body grieves the Holy Spirit. Paul’s instruction is very important in the Body of Christ and we must submit to the words of the Holy Spirit if we want to maintain unity. Paul said:

                “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Eph.4:29-32.

                If even one person in the Body of Christ holds a grudge, or refuses to forgive and to be reconciled to another member of the body, it causes a blight, a dark spot in the body and the Holy Spirit is grieved by this because His ability to bless the congregation with His presence is thusly limited.

                Do not think for one moment that the hatred in your heart is hidden from the Holy Spirit. Your unwillingness to forgive and to reconcile is like a sore thumb in the body and you know that a sore thumb will draw the attention of the whole body to it. For instance, if you smash your thumb with a hammer, you don’t tend to say, “Oh well, it is only a thumb.” No, your entire body for that moment is fixated upon your thumb and its throbbing pain has captured the whole of your attention. Yes, it may be just a thumb, but for the moment it is hampering the greater purposes of the Body as it seeks relief from the pain in the thumb.

                Some churches are full of church politics and competition and back biting and ladder climbing and that is just the way it is because the Holy Spirit is not in charge at all. You have this faction and that faction… the blue paint people and the green paint people… the blue carpet people and the red carpet people and everyone is fighting for one position or another… or it can be just the opposite where nobody wants to do anything, so the Pastor is juggling five different jobs from preaching to teaching to cleaning the bathrooms.

                My point is this. We are rapidly approaching the final harvest and Jesus is looking for a Bride without spot or wrinkle. The Holy Spirit is brooding over the church even as He brooded over the waters at creation and He is waiting for word from the Lord to yet once more shake not only the earth but the heavens as well. And this expression “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things in order that those things which cannot shaken may remain.” Hebrews12:26, 27.

                Those little squabblers in the church that have grieved the Holy Spirit with their unforgiveness and strife He will shake out of His church. Those who have played politics at the expense of others, He will shake out. Those who have failed to seek the Lord for the true anointing of the Holy Spirit… who have remained in the flesh even in the midst of a Spirit filled congregation, He will shake out.

                Belonging to the “right church” or having the right doctrine, or even keeping the right day or feast is not going to help you if your heart is not right. Man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart. Should we not therefore lay our hearts bare before the Lord and ask Him to judge us now? Should we not invite Him to cleanse our temple and to remove the money changers and the noise and clamor from us and to restore peace?

                This is so important to God that He said: “ If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering.” Mt. 5:23, 24

                Here Jesus Himself is telling us that our prayers and our worship are of no value as long as we have unfinished business with someone else. If we can’t forgive that person then He can’t forgive us and with the measure that we judge others we will be judged. Have we forgotten how much God had to forgive us? Has He now made us the judge of others?

                Why did God set it up that way? Why do I have to make things right with my brother or sister before God can forgive and bless me?

                The answer is that when even one thumb is smashed, the whole body suffers and we think the secrets of our heart are hidden from the body, but the Body suffers anyway because the Holy Spirit cannot function in our midst as He wants to as long as there is strife and unforgiveness.

                It is time for the Body of Christ to become a living Body. We need to stop being tumors and start being organs. We need to stop pulling apart and begin pulling together. “For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Heb. 4:12.

                Do you really want to be one of those that the Holy Spirit has to shake out because you have refused to forgive and reconcile with others? Do you think you are spiritual as you gather up all of your facts and proof texts, but cannot be reconciled to your brother or sister?

                Did you ever stop to think that Jesus never established one doctrine?  His entire ministry was based upon our relationship with God and with each other. It was about kingdom living… about being born again by His Holy Spirit and thus becoming a living and functioning Body. It was about receiving power to be His witnesses… to make disciples out of all nations. It was about His kingdom coming to earth and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

                Jesus cleansed the temple twice… once at the beginning of His ministry and once again at the very end of His ministry. This is a pattern for the church. Likewise Israel was circumcised before the Exodus and again just before they crossed over Jordon into the Promised Land. This too is a pattern for the church.

                Likewise Jesus gave this parable of the wheat and tares saying: “Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers;  first gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into My barn. “ Mt. 13:30.

                Before the coming harvest Jesus is going to judge the house of the Lord first and He is going to remove the tares from it so that He can bring the wheat into His kingdom.  This is that great shaking that will shake out everything that can be shaken. Everything manmade that has not come forth from the Spirit of God will be shaken out.

                This is really not a time to argue doctrine or even the timing of the rapture. It is rather a time to make our hearts right with God… to learn how to love and forgive one another… to learn how to live by the Spirit rather than by the flesh… to be conformed to the image of Christ… to learn how to operate as sons and daughters of God. We have majored in all of the minors and now it is time to major in the majors. We need to love God with all of our heart and soul and mind and we need to love our neighbor… our fellow church member… our brothers and sisters in Christ with the supernatural love of Christ… even as much as we love ourselves.

                This is something we cannot manufacture. Only the Holy Spirit can produce this kind of fruit in us. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:14, 16. And we have been predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus so that He might be the first-born among many brethren. Romans 8:29.

                We must set new goals for ourselves as we seek to become living members of the living church… the Body of Christ.