Jagged Mind

Almost 3 years ago, I was praying in my office when God moved me to act out a "prophetic gesture." I walked about in the confines of my study as if I had a shovel in my hand. Prompted by the Spirit, I began to gesture a digging kind of action with the invisible shovel. As I was doing this I asked the Lord, "What is this Lord? Why am I doing this?" He spoke clearly to my heart as if it was an actual voice I could hear except that there was no sound. I don't remember the exact words but this pretty well sums up what He said, "I want you to expose the foundations of the church. The church has not been founded upon apostolic and prophetic foundations with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone."

For some time, I thought this word from God was a directive to share this to the Body of Christ in the Philippines. So I began speaking about it. During those days I was doing a lot of conferences and revival meetings. There was a ring of truth to this revelation. I could see how churches and even church networks were missing that apostolic and prophetic flavor. I could see that many churches were founded upon evangelistic foundations. More common were churches that were founded on pastoral foundations. Or even on teacher foundations. Churches with an evangelistic foundation prioritized reaching the lost and proclaiming the gospel. One movement I know influenced thousands to be born again. Yet these churches were characterized by shallowness in their discipleship. Churches built on pastoral foundations tended to exhibit nurture and care but also lacked depth. They also tended to be smaller in size and not so concerned for reaching lost people. Although they never would admit it. Churches founded on the teaching ministry drew a lot of people who learned to love the Word of God. Members would take copious notes. But they tended to be dry emotionally and relationally.

It's been almost 3 years now and I still see few if any churches built on apostolic and prophetic foundations. I'm sure they're there somewhere. Most likely, these churches aren't megachurches or prominent churches. They're probably just quietly doing what God has revealed to them building the kingdom. Recent events have led me down a path of applying this to our own church, NuComm.

As I think about apostolic and prophetic foundations, I can't help but wonder if we missed it. I'm especially considering the chief cornerstone. Do we really have that in place? I think we're mistaken if we think that Christ is the cornerstone of our local church simply because we believe in the gospel or that we subscribe to a sound doctrinal statement or theology. Is that what Paul really meant in Ephesians 2 about Jesus Christ HIMSELF being the chief cornerstone? Is that what the apostle meant when he references the life of the church as "in Him?" I think not.

The chief cornerstone isn't a doctrine or theological position. The chief cornerstone is a Person. The real question then is, "How do we make a Person the chief cornerstone to the foundation of the church?"

This is my preoccupation now. And the Lord has been revealing some awesome things. Picture a cube shaped with 6 sides. This is the cornerstone. On each face is imprinted a revelation truth of Christ: Christ in you, Christ with you, Christ through you. I think the other 3 sides will answer the question of who is Christ? I haven't got anything solidified but I am thinking along the lines of Christ foretold and Christ fulfilled. The final panel is yet to be revealed.

If anyone is reading this out there, I would love any kind of feedback you may have. Ciao!

Brian McLaren has some great thoughts on the emerging church. I just started reading his book "The Church on the Other Side" yesterday and I'm about 2/3rds through it already. His chapter about missions has really stimulated some great thinking about the role of the church in the community.

We have the vision of developing a community hub known as The Dream Center where we would offer a medical clinic, a food distribution system for the homeless, an infant development center, a computer school, community activity center, cafe, and school of the arts. The church could gather in small groups (cells) and large groups (congregations) in the cafe and/or activity center.

The Dream Center could also become the tactical center for local and cross-cultural community development (missions). It's here that I'm getting some fresh ideas! How can we get business people involved in mission while leveraging their marketplace acumen? Why not start small businesses with them as a missionary project? This can be part of a larger strategy of taking Christ's transforming power into needy communities.

A city is composed of 3 distinct and necessary sectors: Government. Business. Education. According to Ed Silvoso, for a city to be reached for Christ, the message must touch these 3 sectors. This can be applied on a smaller scale (microeconomics?). What if the apostolic/missionary agenda for a community would be to develop these three areas in that community. Under government, a church could focus on leadership development, training local people in basic leadership skills. Under business, a church could focus on starting and developing a small business (start up capital would come from kingdom financiers- businessmen from other local or international churches) which would be managed by Christians but staffed by non-Christians from that community. Primary target for discipleship would be the employees. Another goal would be to develop a co-op banking system. Then under education, a church could offer skills training classes in computers, budget management etc. Or even offer classes for children etc. This would all have the underlying activity of building the relationships necessary for disciplemaking.

I wonder if this has ever been attempted before? Sounds like a very ambitious undertaking. Feasability studies need to be done first. Would love to make Muntinlupa a prototype of this kind of missions.

Recently, I was impressed with how Christ centered the epistles are. Sometimes it's hard for us who have enjoyed the convenience and luxury of e-zines, weblogs and even the printed page to imagine that the early church didn't possess personal copies of Scripture and that they basically functioned with a few copies of half the Bible that we enjoy today. They didn't have much to build a grand system of theology. They didn't have an overflow of popular Christian books to wade through. All they had was the memory of Christ and their own experiences of His Spirit in their midst.

I'm blown away when I read passages like Ephesians 1:23, 2:22, 3:17,19, 4:13 and Colossians 1:15-18, 27, 2:9-10. Everything Paul taught was based on, centered in, and founded on Christ! I sense that modern theology has been built on systematic thought rather than on Christ. What we think is Christ centered is really Bible centered. And I think there's a big difference between the two!

I know that I am in danger of being labeled a heretic for this kind of thought. We love our Bibles so much. I wonder if we love Christ half as much as we do the Scriptures? The evangelical tradition I was trained in would tell us that they're pretty much one and the same. But I don't have a personal relationship with a book. I wasn’t saved by 1,941 pages of truth. I was saved by a Person who is Truth.

The Christian life isn’t about a better way to live. It isn’t about making life work. It isn’t about doing what I need to do so that I could get what I want in life. The Christian life is about a living, pulsating, varying, changing, unpredictable relationship with One who is totally reliable, whose character never changes and whose love never fails. It’s all about Christ.

I received a revelation last Sunday at the Leadership Summit that Christ manifests himself in 3 ways. In Galatians 2:20, Christ is in us. Every single individual who loves Jesus is a living stone indwelt by a living God. Christ manifests himself in a personal way. Matthew 18:20 reveals that not only is Christ in us but Christ is amongst us. When we gather as church in his name, he is with us in a special way. Christ manifests himself amongst us in a mystical way. Then in 1 Corinthians 14:3, 24-25, we have the church building itself up through manifestations of the Spirit known as spiritual gifts. Christ manifests himself through us. We become God’s love with skin on it. In these ways, we experience the fullness of Christ in the midst of us.

When the fullness of Christ is manifest in us, amongst us, and through us, principles are not as attractive as the real Person. In this way the church can become more organic.

Last Tuesday, it hit me. The modern church has been offering the world the wrong thing! When you listen to most pulpits and to most evangelistic presentations, what we've been offering the world have been a few principles and then a prayer. Can that really change the world? Is the salvation of the world really about a few principles or "spiritual laws" and a prayer?

Don't get me wrong. I know that millions of people have been blessed with this offering from the modern church. Principles and a prayer have helped a lot of people. Some have even experienced God from time to time. I've been preaching principles and a prayer for 20 years now. But is that really what we have to offer the world? Is that the best that we can do?

I think we've missed it. I think we've been telling people a lot about God but we haven't really introduced them to God. What was it that enabled the early church to turn the world upside down? What made them dangerous and appealing at the same time? What did they offer to the world that they would be recognized as having been with Jesus? When was the last time the modern church turned a city upside down more so the world? When was the last time a local church was considered both dangerous and appealing? I don't remember the last time someone actually accused me of being with Jesus!

Seems to me that what the early church offered and what the modern church offers is totally different. If we were in business, we'd say that someone changed the product! The early church offered a Person. The modern church offers principles and a prayer. The early church spoke out of a living and dynamic experience of Christ. The modern church speaks out of an empty tomb but has no memory of touching his hands and his side. The early church knew where Christ was. The modern church can't give us directions to where He is now.

I know that this sounds like I'm ranting. I'm not that down on the modern church. I'm a child of the modern church. In fact, I've been a spokesman for the modern church. I've really preached my fill of principles and prayers. But I want something real. I want something alive.

We need to speak out of a living relationship and experience of Christ. We need to speak about Christ like he was our close friend (He can be!) and that we just had coffee with him this morning. We need to share Christ (not principles about Him) out of the richness of our encounters with him. And when we've spoken in such a way that people would want to meet him...bring them before Him. Don't just pray for them. Bring them before Him. Allow Christ to reveal himself to them.

We need to believe that He wants to reveal himself so much more than we think. When we bring someone to Him just as the early church did, he will not disappoint you. He will reveal himself. He will make himself known.

I think that's why he formed the ecclesia. Christ in us becomes Christ through us as we relate in community with one another. When 2 or 3 gather in his name, he is there in their midst. There is the mystical and manifest presence of Christ. I think we take the veil off of our eyes through worship and prayer. But then there is the incarnational presence of Christ as we manifest Christ through us. We become his hands and feet and eyes and ears and mouth and heart to each other.

If we're gonna be organic it needs to begin with a Person not just principles.