Did you ever notice how organizations tend to begin with optimistic enthusiasm about the future, but then decay over the years into bureaucracy and finally death? (Sound familiar in the days of bail-outs and problems at the Big Three auto makers?)
Sadly, churches aren't immune from the disease. Even in the New Testament, Jesus told one church, "I wish that you were hot or cold! But you are only warm - not hot, not cold. So I am ready to spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15-16 ERV).
This First Century church had already decayed to the point that Jesus Himself found it sickening. Tragic! And if it happened as far back as the time of the apostles, it's obvious that it happens today... and has happened often throughout history.
So, what's the answer to this recurring problem?
Renewal. The kind of spiritual renewal that has periodically exposed hypocritical church leaders and brought disturbing infusions of spiritual power to the Body of Christ ever since apostolic times.
How does such renewal happen?
Well, after 27 years in the same church, I've seen it happen... several times. And I've seen our church walk a long journey from the days of stiff religiosity to becoming a loving, praying, spiritually oriented family.
I don't pretend to be an expert on group renewal, or even spiritual renewal, but I can list some milestones we've seen along the path.
1. An emphasis on prayer. We've had a regular Tuesday night prayer meeting since 1994. We now emphasize prayer in various ways, but that didn't start until after several years of classes and sermons on prayer and its place in our life as a church. We didn't know it at the time, but God was renovating our focus, our emphasis as a church. As the apostles said in Acts 6:4 after turning much of the physical ministry over to deacons, "we will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
When leaders teach, model and emphasize prayer, the church heads toward renewal.
2. A minimizing of controversies. As the apostle Paul wrote to the young preacher Timothy, he emphasized "Warn (the church) before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value and only ruins those who listen... Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly... Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel..." (1Timothy 2:14-26 NIV).
Churches that swim in the atmosphere of brotherhood issues, controversies and doctrinal wrangling can't grow spiritually. In fact, the Bible says you can measure spiritual growth (or the lack of it) by a church's attitude toward controversies and arguments (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-3).
3. A commitment to serious, in-context Bible study. Believers need to hear the word of life regularly. They need to hear it in context, without it being forced into some mold to fit the teacher's private interpretation. When a church emphasizes Bible study and regular Bible reading, members will grow in their faith and spiritual walk.
Churches that try to attract more people by shallow, semi-biblical junk food can't produce solid disciples. Such churches become a mile wide and an inch deep.
"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17 NIV).
4. A submission to the Holy Spirit. I know. That's controversial in many circles. But it's Biblical. In fact, if you examine the churches that find the Spirit controversial, you'll often find a distinct lack of spirituality. You'll see a church in desperate need of renewal.
Next time you read the Book of Acts underline every reference to the Holy Spirit. When I did so in the New International Version, I found Him mentioned 57 times in 28 chapters! And those references paint a picture. The Spirit was running the show. He was empowering the disciples to preach Christ in dangerous places. He was connecting preachers with prospects, sending missionaries to very specific places, forbidding them to go to other places and generally organizing and leading the church in her mission of preaching the gospel in a hostile world.
But, is what happened in Acts a guide for how the Holy Spirit wants to work in today's church? If not, why do we have the Book of Acts preserved? To give us a dry history book of what used to happen? And if Acts isn't a guidebook describing the Spirit's permanent place in the church's mission, why do the letters written to the churches also emphasize cooperation with the Holy Spirit?
In a world that's growing darker by the day, we can forget church as usual. Like the comment attributed to financial guru Warren Buffett about tough economic times, "You find out who's been swimming naked."
In the present spiritual warfare on this planet, we're finding out which churches are "swimming naked". It's time to find the the spiritual courage to submit to the kind of renewal we haven't seen since the Holy Spirit put Christ's church on the map... "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." (Acts 4:31 NIV).
It's becoming more obvious that nothing in the Christian life works without the backing of the Holy Spirit.In Olympia, Washington at the state capitol where the governor allowed a nativity scene (and other religious symbols) to be displayed, she also allowed atheists to place a sign near the nativity expressing their view.According to Fox News, the sign read: "There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens our hearts and enslaves our minds."
So it's clear that we live in an unbelieving age, which is becoming progressively more secular. Which reminds me (or anyone else with even a casual interest in history) of the French Revolution.
During that revolution, Christianity became illegal in France. You can often find articles today written about the "dechristianization of France" that took place in 1789-93. So, how did the revolutionaries attempt such a goal?
They destroyed churches, murdered priests, made worship and Christian education illegal, destroyed crosses, bells and other outward symbols of Christianity, changed the days of the week to exclude Sunday, developed the "Cult of Reason" based on atheism and secularism, and wrote laws giving the death penalty to priests who wouldn't resign, and to people who harbored them. Then, they celebrated the Goddess "Reason" in Notre Dame cathedral.
But the cultural atmosphere of the French Revolution wasn't that different from the situation into which the early church was born. The First Century church found herself in a culture that couldn't tolerate her stand on revealed truth. Civilizations that pride themselves on being tolerant often can't tolerate anyone who claims to know truth. (Sound familiar?)
So today's church faces a rerun of the same cultural bias and bigotry that reigned in the past. We live in an increasingly secular (and hostile) world that has no use for us. (For more information on worldwide persecution of Christians, see Voice of the Martyrs website.)
There are two possible reasons they have no use for us: one could be that we're standing on revealed (inconvenient) truth. But another, more frightening, reason could be that we've become like the church that triggered such hatred during the Revolution - a hypocritical, self-serving, arrogant, tradition-bound, unloving group of religious people.
Without a personal walk with God, through prayer, we all can become what we detest most.
So, we'll never succeed at being light and salt without the power of the Holy Spirit. Dead churches will continue to wither away (with lots of help from a mocking culture) while churches that are full of the Holy Spirit's life and leading will flourish.
Read the Book of Acts, where the Holy Spirit gets mentioned 57 times in 28 chapters (NIV). What does that tell us?
And those references to the Spirit show Him leading, empowering, setting policy, rooting out church hypocrites, choosing mission fields, revealing future dangers and testifying to the risen Christ - the only hope for a culture saturated with evil and blinded by unbelief.
Since the Holy Spirit has been sent to the church on earth to lead, teach and empower her, hasn't He also been sent to teach her to pray?
"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13 NIV).
What does it mean to pray in the Holy Spirit?
"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God..." (Jude 1:20-21 NKJV - emphasis mine).
From this verse, it seems ordained that Christians somehow "pray in the Holy Spirit". So what does that mean? And how can the believer do it? Is it a form of ecstasy, a feeling, a transcending this life into a trance, an experience of speaking in tongues, a mountaintop that only a few can experience?
Well, if it's something all believers should experience (according to Jude), it should be available to all, not just the super-spiritual.
When you think about the phrase - pray in the Holy Spirit - then you'll find some keys to praying that way.
The word "in" (en in the Greek) is a preposition - it describes position... "in the house" or "in the car". Christians are "baptized in water" and "baptized in the Holy Spirit" (Acts 10:47-48 & 11:15-16).
This means that God changed our positional relationship to the Spirit. We once had no relationship to Him, but now we are "in" Him and He is "in" us!
So if I'm praying in the Holy Spirit, I'm praying in relationship to Him. I'm not praying "in the flesh" but I'm praying in the Spirit. I'm letting Him control my thinking. Since the Holy Spirit lives in me, I'm "controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit" (Romans 8:5-8 NIV).
As I'm praying in concert with what the Spirit is praying, He "intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26-27 NIV) and "by him we cry 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." (Romans 8:15-16 NIV).
This all happens because the Spirit dwells in us (1 Corinthians 6:19), because we have the right to be filled with Him (Ephesians 5:18) and because we dwell in Him and "are not in flesh but in Spirit" (Romans 8:9 Literal Bible).
So, just as the fish is in the water and the water is in the fish, believers dwell in the environment of the Holy Spirit. When that believer prays, he or she prays "in the Holy Spirit".
The easiest way to understand it is to ponder this: what would it mean to "pray in the flesh"? Well, the flesh is selfish, competitive, unholy, bent on doing its own will, uncaring, curious about evil, full of unhealthy desires, etc. Prayer in the flesh is prayer to get what I want so I can race ahead of everyone else. Prayer in the flesh can even be religious - "God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector." (Luke 18:11 NIV).
So, praying in the Holy Spirit happens when spiritual people pray... and pray in concert with the Holy Spirit Himself.
(See more in H.A. Ironside's article on praying in the Holy Spirit.)
Someone once asked a famous talk show host (Dick Cavett, I think) which guest would be his most prized "get" - who would he most like to interview to boost ratings.
He replied, "I'd really like to interview God."
That would be a "get"! I'm sure all eyes and ears would be locked in for that one.
But can a person really meet God? Can one know God, not just know about Him? Is it possible to know God with an intimacy that transcends just attending church and casually reading the Bible?
Well, think about how Jesus described eternal life... "that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3 NIV).
Jesus characterized his whole mission as helping us know the Father, not just know about Him. He wants us in a living, walking, talking relationship with the Holy God of the entire universe, the Mind who spoke and created it all!
So, how does that work? How does one get to know God?
Well, think of two young people on a college campus who meet and become fascinated with each other. They date. They spend time together. They want to explore each other and soon they're building a "relationship". Before long, they marry. They spend their lives growing in their knowledge of each other and the relationship deepens, becoming more and more sophisticated in its intimacy. Relationships like that take time and they're built on purpose.
Or think of a friend of yours who meets a famous person and spends the day with her. What's your first question? "What was she really like?" You assume that interacting with a person will begin to reveal his or her true personality.
So, getting to know God demands a way of life tuned to His frequency, a life given over to seeking Him through all obstacles and interruptions. It means pursuit. It means loving Him with a passion that won't let go. (You know, the way He loves you - with no exceptions and no wavering.)
It's like climbing Mount Everest, not just because it's there, but because the One you love is at the summit. Such passion for God will usher you into this "knowing Him" sooner or later.
If that sounds a little intimidating, a little too much, take Paul's advice. He says that such a life of knowing God is not only possible, but it's within your reach through prayer. Watch how he prays for the church to know God:
"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." (Ephesians 1:17 NIV).
Did you catch that? As an answer to prayer, God will give you the wisdom and insight to know Him better. Pray that way, and you'll begin to intimately know God in ways you can't yet imagine.
Paul also writes, "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith... that you, being rooted and established in love... may be filled to all the measure of the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV).
As fallible humans, it takes wisdom, insight and spiritual strength to be prepared to know God intimately. But, the good news is this - you can have these through a serious, dedicated prayer life.
"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord... growing in the knowledge of God." (Colossians 1:10 NIV).
