Reading Time: 7:00
Everyone is talking about what the “new” normal will look like as we return to our lives and states begin trying to restart their economies. The more I look at life, history, and government the more I realize, none of us actually know what we are doing. However, many of us are working overtime to convince others that we have all the answers. After a month of Sundays without church you would wonder if the church would survive. The truth is, even the gates of hell will not prevail against the church (Matthew 16:8). The corporate constructs we have made might be a different story.
When the team of fishermen Jesus assembled got to Jerusalem, they thought they had arrived in the “big time.” Just being around Jesus made them feel important. However, as they walked among the amazing architecture of Jerusalem, they became impressed with what man could do. The disciples turned to Jesus and exclaimed, “What magnificent buildings!” To this Jesus replied: “Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Mark 13:2)
Jesus is not impressed with the monuments we construct to our own abilities. He is more concerned with how we draw near to him and lean upon his ability for daily life. Maybe absence from church this past month has revealed how little of our personal lives are involved in developing our faith. Maybe it has revealed that we spend very little time, other than church attendance, developing a personal walk with Jesus.
This is what I have found out about myself: Without my ministry, I spend very little time dwelling in the presence of my Savior. I spend little time drawing closer to him, except to minister what I receive to others.
The New Normal
Maybe the new normal ought to be equipping the saints for works of ministry, rather than drawing upon the abilities of believers to grow our churches. Dave Williams once stated that we must care very deeply about the salvation of souls in America because we spend on average 1.5 million dollars a year to save just one. Tremendous amounts of money and time and effort go into building and maintaining the physical structures that house the few saints who regularly attend and tithe to our churches. I won’t even go into how missionaries struggle to raise support or even be heard in our services.
Maybe the new normal ought to be about doing what Jesus said, rather than making a name for ourselves. We can look to the cathedrals of Europe as a warning to what investing in the superficial will lead to. They now have giant edifices to maintain which suck up almost all their resources while they only house a handful of faithful servants, serving the institution, not God.
We need to let a month of Sundays teach us the truth about what we do at church. Are we invested in teaching our people to live the life and reach the lost, or are we involved in keeping up the appearances of a successful ministry? Maybe it’s even a competition: “As long as we have more than they do, we are better than they are.” Maybe we can’t let go of the past and the amount we have invested in it. My dad used to call it throwing good money after bad.
“A month of Sundays” is a term used for what seems to be an endless amount of time. The truth is, it goes by very fast. I thought I would get so much done during my enforced sabbatical, but really I moved forward very little—in my personal life and in my spiritual walk.
Technically a month of Sundays is about 30 weeks. Would we change if that was the time we had? How about a year? How much have you changed in the past year? I find most people change only when they have to. This pandemic has shown us this. We only change when we have to, but the good thing is we can change when it is necessary.
Still there are churches who have taken to the internet only to try to recreate the same static services that were also unproductive when we attended the church house. Why are we trying to do the same old things? When one avenue is blocked we seek to express the same mindless activities through another.
Maybe the day will come when one stone will not be left upon another. Maybe then we will truly fall before God and say, “Show us the way!” Not, “Help us rebuild the self-glories of the past.” But, “Help us fulfill your purpose in the church and in the world.”
I am thankful for a church who has allowed me to try several things to see what will make a lasting difference. They still get excited when I say, “Let’s try this!” Our hope, our desire, our prayer is that we will land on what God wants us to do and it will move us forward like never before. I’m not good at hearing the voice of the Lord. In the past it has been because of the din of all the others voices telling me what they think I ought to do to be successful.
The isolation has silenced all those other voices. No, the isolation has shown that all those other voices don’t know what they are doing either. It’s a grasping at straws.
As Susan and I discussed these things, the Lord revealed a few examples of people who are leaving the herd and seeking the direction of the Lord. Among those are Mark Batterson, Dave Williams, Scott Wilson, Ron Carpenter, and Larry Stocksdale. The common denominator in their walk with the Lord is that they do what God says. They don’t copy what others are doing. Each one has a powerful, risky ministry that others want to emulate, all because they hear what God says and do what God says.
“Lord, as we return to our churches this Sunday, may we not seek a new normal, but a new supernatural experience with you. May your voice speak louder than ever. May our direction and our purpose be defined by your Spirit, not by the needs of our institutions.”
As the old saying goes, “Provision follows Purpose.”
I encourage you to read Psalm 81 as a devotion, but let me leave you with this from its verses:
“13 If my people would only listen to me,
if [they] would only follow my ways,
14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Psalm 81:13-16 NIV
Pastor Brian Jenkins
Calvary Assemblies of God