Category: Church Life


How to Kill a Viral Jesus Movement

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, Church Life, Jesus is Lord, Meeting Together, New Covenant, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 3 Comments
April 13, 2012

It's great while it lasts. We need to learn to not take control from Jesus so they do last.

When viral Jesus movements (also called revivals) happen they are exciting, powerful and fruitful. They can also be surprisingly fragile. God begins many of these but they are killed because of inappropriate human activity. I want to discuss this activity so that none of us are ever a part of killing a movement of God.

The Wrong Wineskins

In my book Viral Jesus I note that what I call partial Jesus movements normally last twenty years or less. By partial Jesus movements I am referring to a movement of the Spirit (revival) that gets snuffed too early. I would include in this list the 1st Great Awakening, the 2nd Great Awakening, The Moravian movement, the Welsh revivals, the Azusa Street Revival…I could go on. Here’s the sad point, we have not seen a single viral Jesus movement go for more than about twenty years between the Edict of Milan in 313 AD and the current viral Jesus movement in China in 1949. That’s 1,636 years. Let me be clear, a number of these movements sparked significant lasting change. Both the 2nd Great Awakening and the Azusa Street Revival gave birth to current denominations. But the lasting power and presence of the Holy Spirit was gone, as was the rapid in gathering of souls. The Assemblies of God denomination was born out of Azusa Street. Is the average Assemblies church having a rapid in gathering of souls? Is there a pervasive holiness among members that is any different than say a Baptist church? The revival had long lasting effects but the revival itself has gone.

In contrast, the first viral Jesus movement, the early Church lasted about 280 years. Honestly it was losing its power before the Edict of Milan but that was the largest and last nail in the coffin. The viral Jesus movement which is currently happening in China has been going on since 1949 (63 years and counting). What’s the difference? Put simply the difference is wineskins. The way of doing church which we now think of as standard practice, (congregational meetings in dedicated buildings with a hierarchical leadership structure) is a hostile environment to the Spirit’s powerful work. For specific details of this read the chapters The Crumbling of a Viral Jesus Movement and The History of Partial Viral Jesus Movements in Viral Jesus. How could the early church sustain a viral movement for nearly 300 years? They didn’t have our current church practice. When it finally became formalized the viral movement stopped. How can our Chinese brethren sustain their movement of the Sprit for over 60 years? They don’t follow standard church practice. You can read about that in Thank You Chairman Mao. Following are some of the more specific reasons that our more traditional practices kill viral Jesus movements.

Human Control

The Church was specifically designed to function with Jesus as Lord and his servants to listen to His specific instructions because of the new covenant. In the new covenant Jesus the Lord gives us specific directions to our hearts and minds (Heb. 8:10). Have you ever seen footage of a SWAT team entering a house to make an arrest? It is confusing and chaotic. One guy is yelling POLICE! Another is commanding, “PUT UP YOUR HANDS!” The next is screaming, “GET ON THE GROUND!” Another is saying, “DON’T MOVE YOUR HANDS!” All the while there are flash bang grenades going off. Chaos! That’s what we have now in the Church, thousands of human leaders “leading.” There is so much human noise it becomes difficult to hear the still small voice of the Lord speaking into our hearts and minds. This human domination can also manifest itself in a leader, group or denomination trying to control what happens.

Focus on Manifestations or Avoid Them

In my last post Characteristics of a Jesus Movement I mentioned two current tendencies, to bask in the glow of supernatural manifestations or shun them. Both can kill viral Jesus movements. To encounter God’s supernatural power is wonderful. But God gives this for specific reasons, to change our lives towards holiness, to show his power to the world and spread his Gospel. It is not a spiritual drug for us to merely enjoy. When we focus on the manifestation and not the Master we risk losing both. In the opposite direction we have brethren who are so steeped in secular rationalism that they are offended by supernatural manifestations. They seem weird, inappropriate and distasteful. In fact, to many they seem satanic. I give a sound test to see what is from God and what is from the devil in my post Is This God or the Devil? However, both of these fleshly tendencies create a hostile environment for a viral Jesus movement.

Fail to Become Missional

There have been a number of truncated viral movement in the US in the last thirty years. They started out fine, despite the bad wineskins, but they fizzled. What happened? Two things happened in my opinion. First, people were curious about the supernatural manifestations but weren’t serious about God’s plans. In other words, it quickly became human focused instead of God focused (see above). But the second problem was that there was little focus on allowing God’s work to become missional. In my post Characteristics of a Jesus Movement I noted, “true Jesus movements start out attractional and very quickly become missional.” That happened in the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings, the Moravian movement, and the Azusa Street revival. Currently the tendency is to come and observe, come and experience, come and enjoy; but there isn’t a lot of going unto all the world to preach the Gospel. These truncated movements have died or will shortly if they don’t take God’s purposes in mind and follow Him out into the harvest.

  • Do you see any common factors in these fatal behaviors?
  • Why do you think the form of the wineskins makes so much difference?
  • Why do you think Jesus movement die if they don’t become missional?
  • Why does human control (not the same as human participation) truncate viral Jesus movements?
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Characteristics of a Jesus Movement

Filed Under: Church History, Evangelism, Meeting Together, Spiritual Life, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 3 Comments
April 11, 2012

Jesus movements don't just happen.

I’m not particularly fond of the word revival. Partly it is because it means different things to different people. To those of evangelical persuasion it is a reference to a rapid ingathering of souls. For others it speaks of a renewal of holiness and commitment to God among His people. And to many of Charismatic and Pentecostal backgrounds the emphasis is on supernatural manifestations of the Spirit. So which is it? My answer is yes. A real outpouring of God’s Spirit among His people normally has all three of these aspects; it renews and deepens the relationship between God and his people which leads to holy living. It is accompanied by supernatural manifestations; manifestations which can take those who are not accustomed to them by surprise, perhaps even offending them. And, it results in a great harvest of souls. But because the word revival is so abused, I’m going to talk about Jesus movements.

Picking and Choosing

So, is an apple the peal, the fruit or the seeds? The answer is yes. Our problem with Jesus movements is we only want the part that appeals to us and leave out the rest. This dividing the various aspects of Jesus movements, so we can focus on the parts we like, is destructive. That is to say it kills the Jesus movement, or it impedes it in the first place. Is it any wonder that Jesus movements are rare? I want to make a point here. Jesus movements aren’t about us. They involve us. They enrich us. They renew us. But God wants to redeem His world and involve us in the process.

A true Jesus movement has all three of the aspects I’ve mentioned above; God’s people are renewed, God draws people to himself through His people and there are powerful manifestations of spiritual power. These three are deeply interrelated. God can’t bring people to himself if his bride isn’t beautiful. That’s where renewal comes in. Further, like it or not, it is those strange and unusual manifestations of supernatural power that is part of the attraction. Go back and read Acts 2 again. Then read my last post about the 2nd Great Awakening. Yes, the weirdness turns some off (as it did in Act 2), but it attracts others, and it demonstrates God’s power. Frankly, some people come for the show and leave with the King. But true Jesus movements start out attractional and very quickly become missional. If they don’t, they die, which I’ll speak about in the next post.

Sparking a Jesus Movement

But how do Jesus movements start in the first place? They start when God’s people desperately and consistently ask for them. They ask for three things: 1.) to be revived within, 2.) to have an outpouring of the Spirit (which results in supernatural manifestations), and 3.) for an ingathering of souls. Does this sound familiar? As an example think about Acts 2 and its aftermath.

In my last post The 2nd Great Awakening I quoted part of a covenant that James McGready and his friends made with God thorough prayer. I’ll quote the whole thing here and note these three aspects working together.

When we consider the word and promises of a compassionate God to the poor lost family of Adam, we find the strongest encouragement for Christians to pray in faith–to ask in the name of Jesus for the conversion of their fellow-men (3). None ever went to Christ when on earth, with the case of their friends, that were denied, and, although the days of his humiliation are ended, yet, for the encouragement of his people, he has left it on record, that where two or three agree upon earth to ask in prayer, believing, it shall be done. Again, whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. With these promises before us, we feel encouraged to unite our supplications to a prayer-hearing God for the outpouring of his Spirit (2), that his people may be quickened and comforted (1), and that our children, and sinners generally, may be converted (3). Therefore, we bind ourselves to observe the third Saturday of each month, for one year, as a day of fasting and prayer for the conversion of sinners in Logan county, and throughout the world. We also engage to spend one half hour every Saturday evening, beginning at the setting of the sun, and one half hour every Sabbath morning, from the rising of the sun, pleading with God to revive his work (1).

Jesus movements happen when God’s people fervently and consistently pray together for renewal, the salvation of their fellow men and an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When God answers their prayer, what once was difficult becomes easy. And, God’s purposes for us and through us are fulfilled. I want that. Do you? If we really want it, we need to gather like minded people and begin to pray.

  • Many Christians long for revival. Many even pray for them. If you have, did you ask for all of the aspects of revival? Were you persistent?
  • Which of these three aspects, renewal of God’s people, an outpouring of God’s Spirit and a harvest of souls for God do you think is superfluous?
  • One person asking for revival doesn’t seem to bring a Jesus movement; it takes a gathering of his people; why do you think that is so?
  • Christianity was designed to be in constant revival mode. That’s what we are seeing in China and India today. Why do you think it is so easy to become contented with the status quo?
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Is This God or the Devil?

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Church History, Evangelism, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 4 Comments
April 9, 2012

Viral Jesus movments are where the battle is the most intense.

This post is the third in a series which seeks to ask the question, what kind of spirituality do we need if we are going to see a viral Jesus movement in organic churches in the West? In the first blog Running on One Leg I described three different forms of spirituality we see in those seeking to see a viral Jesus movement. In the second The Second Great Awakening  I show what one of many viral Jesus movements looked like. I also note that these movements are often accompanied by strange manifestations. In this post I want to outline how we can determine if what is happening is coming from God or from his enemy.

Viral Jesus movements are attacked by the devil. This happens in two ways. First, the devil, who knows what manifestations of a Jesus Movement look like, can counterfeit them. After all, he does like to present himself as an angel of light. It should come as no surprise then that non-Christian religions like Mormonism, Buddhism and Islam sometimes manifest similar manifestations to those that accompany viral Jesus movements. But, keep in mind the devil isn’t going to counterfeit something that is already false or evil, there is no point from his perspective. He is only going to counterfeit what is wholesome and true.

However, what is even more confusing, the devil likes to lurk around the edges of viral Jesus movements then join in so he can discredit what Jesus is doing. The devil lurking around the edges usually expresses itself when he tempts spiritually weak or gullible people to fall into serious sin while participating in a movement of the Spirit. This give him a chance to have others say, “See, this is sinful, it is obviously from the devil.” It should come as no great surprise that at Cane Ridge, the powerful revival meeting that was a key flash point for The Second Great Awakening, people were getting drunk and committing adultery and fornication in the woods nearby. That’s the devil lurking around the edges and joining in to discredit.

The Test

Jesus told us:

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matt. 7:15-20).

What can be said about testing false prophets can also be said for testing movements of the Spirit from the devil’s behavior. The test is do they produce good fruit or bad. The 2nd Great Awakening saw millions come to Christ, it changed the society from violent and dangerous to peaceful and holy. It also sparked such important social reforms as abolition, women’s rights, education reform, penal reform and temperance. That’s good fruit. Would the devil do that? The mini Pentecost experienced by the Moravians on August 13, 1727 sparked a missions movement (good fruit). The Azuza Street revivals sparked the Pentecostal movement which has seen hundreds of millions come to Christ and has sparked a missions movement which has covered the globe (good fruit). When a movement sparks such good fruit it is clearly from God, even when seems to us to have strange manifestations that we may find uncomfortable.

Three Mistakes

It is easy to throw the baby out with the bathwater. This can express itself in at least three ways. The first is to see what we consider to be strange and distasteful manifestations and proclaim them works of the devil. Before we do so, check the fruit. The second is to point out that the same or similar behavior is being manifest in ungodly movements. This is guilt by association. The test is the same, check the fruit. The fruit of Mormonism or Islam is not the same fruit as a viral Jesus movement, but it can look similar. Finally, even in a viral Jesus movement the devil can enter in along the edges to discredit. Just because there are inappropriate things happening to a few who are participating doesn’t mean the whole thing is of the devil. It means that some people have been duped by the devil. For example, some overzealous people in the Pentecostal movement split churches and wounded people in their zeal. However, the answer is not to be duped as well, it is to check the fruit. Let me ask you, despite some bad things that have happened in the Pentecostal movement, do you think the devil was behind hundreds of millions coming to Christ and a worldwide missions movement? We need to check the fruit of the whole movement as well as check the fruit of individual behavior, and discern the difference between the two. The movement may be of God, while individual acts may be a satanic distraction.

In the next post I’m going to talk about common characteristics of revival. Finally, in the last post in the series I’m going to talk about how to kill a viral Jesus movement; it’s easier than you may think.

  • Why do you think so many Christians are quick to dismiss movements of the Spirit?
  • Is weird or unexpected behavior an automatic sign that something is from the devil?
  • Does ungodly things happening among an otherwise healthy movement a sign that the whole thing is rotten fruit? Does everyone in your church or denomination act appropriately?
  • Can you think of another way to test if something is of the Spirit of God or from the devil?
  • Why do you think some Christians are willing to attribute supernatural power to the devil but not to God?
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The 2nd Great Awakening

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, Evangelism, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 5 Comments
April 6, 2012

A Small Part of the Meeting at Cane Ridge

In my last post Running on One Leg  I described the spirituality required for a viral Jesus Movement. In this post I’m going to describe what just one of these movements looked like; although there have been many in Christian history. In my book Viral Jesus I devote four chapters to this issue: The Early Church: The First Viral Jesus Movement, The Crumbling of a Viral Jesus Movement, The History of Partial Viral Jesus Movements, and China: A Current Viral Jesus Movement.

It started with a covenant with God

In the wilds of Kentucky in 1799 the members of three churches in Muddy River, Red River and Gaspar River signed a covenant with their circuit riding Presbyterian preacher named James McGready. They promised to pray every Saturday evening, Sunday morning and fast the second Saturday of every month. The covenant read in part:

When we consider the Word and promises of a compassionate God, to the poor lost family of Adam, we find the strongest encouragement for Christians to pray in faith—to ask in the name of Jesus for the conversion of their fellow men…With these promises before us, we feel encouraged to unite our supplications to a prayer-hearing God, for the outpouring of His Spirit, that His people may be quickened and comforted, and that our children, and sinners generally, may be converted.

The Movement Spread from Red River

In June of 1800 while McGready’s Methodist friend John McGee preached passionately at a communion service at Red River the Spirit came in power. Here’s a portion of McGee own account of what happened as he preached:

Several spoke to me: “You know these people. Presbyterians are much for order, they will not bear this confusion, go back and be quiet.” I turned to go back—and was near falling, the power of God was strong upon me. I turned again and losing sight of fear of man, I went through the house exhorting with all possible ecstasy and energy.”[1]

Here’s how Peter Marshall and David Manuel in their book From Sea to Shining Sea described what happened next.

With that, the dam broke, and the floods of salvation swept through the assembly. In a moment, the floor was “covered with the slain: their screams for mercy pierced the heavens,” and according to McGready, one could see “profane swearers and Sabbath-breakers pricked to the heart and crying out “What shall we do to be saved?”[2]

This powerful revival swept through the other congregations in the area to the point that in 1801  McGready, McGee and their other Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist preacher friends decided to make a clearing in the deep woods at Cane Ridge to hold a large revival meeting. The preachers were stunned when twenty-five thousand people showed up in the middle of the wilderness. This was about one eighth of the entire state’s population.

Demonstrations of the Power of God

Powerful but strange manifestations of a Viral Movement

Here’s the weird thing. This revival in the middle of the woods was accompanied by some very bizarre manifestations of the Spirit. Here’s how James B. Finley, who came to observe as a skeptic, described just one of those strange manifestations, people all shouting at once.

The noise was like the roar of Niagara. The vast sea of human beings seemed to be agitated as if by a storm. I counted seven ministers, all preaching at one time, some on stumps, others in wagons…. Some of the people were singing, others praying, some crying for mercy in the most piteous accents, while others were shouting most vociferously. While witnessing these scenes, a peculiarly-strange sensation, such as I had never felt before, came over me. My heart beat tumultuously, my knees trembled, my lips quivered, and I felt as though I must fall to the ground. A strange supernatural power seemed to pervade the entire mass of mind there collected…. Soon after, I left and went into the woods, and there I strove to rally and man up my courage.

After some time, I returned to the scene of the excitement, the waves of which, if possible, had risen still higher. The same awfulness of feeling came over me… I saw at least five hundred swept down in a moment, as if a battery of a thousand guns had been opened upon them, and then immediately followed shrieks and shouts that rent the very heavens. My hair rose up on my head…. I fled into the woods a second time, and wished I had stayed at home.[3]

What Finley, who became a frontier preacher himself, describes is actually quite mild compared to some of the other powerful manifestations that happened at Cane Ridge. But what was the result? Did this really result in the Kingdom moving forward? Let’s hear from a contemporary skeptic.

Personal holiness was not the only result from the 2nd Great Awakening

How this affected society

Dr. George Baxter, a minister was sent to Kentucky by Presbyterian officials in Princeton to put an end to such shameful nonsense. Keep in mind that Kentucky before the revival was an evil place, nicknamed Rogue’s Harbor for all the outlaws that congregated there to avoid more organized society (i.e. the law). Here’s part of Baxter’s report to his superiors.

The power with which this revival has spread, and its influence in moralizing the people are difficult for you to conceive, and more so for me to describe…. I found Kentucky, to appearance, the most moral place I had ever seen. A profane expression was hardly ever heard. A religious awe seemed to pervade the country…. Never in my life have I seen more genuine marks of that humility which…looks to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way of acceptance with God. I was indeed highly pleased to find that Christ was all and in all in their religion…and it was truly affecting to hear with what agonizing anxiety awakened sinners inquired for Christ, as the only physician who could give them any help.

Those who call these things “enthusiasm,” ought to tell us what they understand by the Spirit of Christianity…. Upon the whole, sir, I think the revival in Kentucky among the most extraordinary that have ever visited the Church of Christ, and all things considered, peculiarly adapted to the circumstances of that country…. Something of an extraordinary nature seemed necessary to arrest the attention of a giddy people, who were ready to conclude that Christianity was a fable, and futurity a dream. This revival has done it; it has confounded infidelity, awed vice to silence, and brought numbers beyond calculation under serious impressions.[4]

In the next three posts I’m going to ask the question, how can we determine if strange behavior is from God or the devil? In the subsequent post I’m going to talk about common characteristics of viral Jesus movements. Finally, in the last post in the series I’m going to talk about how to kill a viral Jesus movement.

  • Have you ever been a part of a viral Jesus movement like this?
  • Would you want to be a part of this or is it just too weird?
  • Do you think this kind of thing can be counterfeited by the devil? If so, how do we distinguish what comes from the devil and what comes from God?
  • What do you think the common characteristics of a viral Jesus movement are? How do these things get started?
  • Why isn’t Christianity like this all the time? How does this get suppressed?

[1] Charles A. Johnson, The Frontier Camp Meeting (Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1955), 35.

[2] Peter Marshall, Manuel, David, From Sea to Shining Sea (Old Tappan, New Jersey, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1986), 62.

[3] Marshall and Manuel, p. 68 quoting Johnson p. 64-65.

[4] Ibid., 69.

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Running on One Leg

Filed Under: Christendom, Evangelism, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — Leave a comment
April 4, 2012

It's hard to move forward.

I recently spoke at the Momentum West Coast 2012: Organic Church Conference. The title for my talk was “Practical Spirituality.” I wanted to answer the question, what kind of spirituality do we need if we are going to see a viral Jesus movement in organic churches in the West? I think that’s a pretty good question. Have you ever asked yourself that? Here’s what I said.

Hopping

Many of us have been trying to do organic ministry as if we were trying to run on one leg, and it’s our weak leg at that. Imagine standing on only your left leg and then trying to run. It’s clumsy isn’t it? Our left leg represents the human side of ministry: models, methods, techniques, paradigms, objectives…you get the picture. These aren’t bad things. After all God will need to give us some sort of model, technique, method, etc. if we are to accomplish ministry. However, focusing only on these things leaves us hopping when we need to be sprinting.

Limping

At least we are going someplace.

Ever notice that Jesus never said, “If you get the best techniques down just right you will bear much fruit?” What did he say? “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). Techniques and the rest, in and of themselves, are totally worthless. They are worthless because real fruit comes from Jesus, not us. He bears fruit through us; we don’t bear fruit for Him. That’s exactly what He means when He said, “apart from Me you can do nothing.” Now we have put the other leg, the leg of abiding spirituality on the ground. This is our strong leg. Now we can move forward, better said; now we can limp. Limp? Yes limp. Individuals working alone in an abiding relationship with God can move forward but it is not with the power that accompanies viral Jesus movements. It is good, but it is not all that God has for us. Don’t get mad yet, hear me out.

Now we are doing what God designed us for.

Running

Viral Jesus movements  look different than merely godly people ministering in the Spirit. There is much more power. And I think God wants us to work in that power. After His resurrection Jesus spent forty days with his disciples then he ascended. But, before He left He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). In response to this 120 of his disciples went to an upper room and prayed for ten days…then all heaven broke loose. I don’t need to tell you the rest of the story, you already know it.

What you may not know is that throughout Christian history there have been a number of mini Pentecosts. When they happen, there is tons of power, rather strange manifestations, and the Gospel moves out quickly and in tremendous power. The same people who before preached the Gospel with meager results now preach the gospel with incredible results.

In my next post I’m going to give just one example of what this looks like, the Second Great Awakening. I’m going to quote original sources and give a glimpse of what God’s power looks like, and the results that it gives. Then in the following three posts I’m going to ask the question, how can we determine if strange behavior is from God or the devil? In the subsequent post I’m going to talk about common characteristics of revival. Finally, in the last post in the series I’m going to talk about how to kill a viral Jesus movement.

  • Do you think we can move the Kingdom forward just focusing on techniques, methods, and the rest?
  • Have you found yourself thinking, if I can just learn how to “do it right” everything will begin to work?
  • Why do you think Jesus offers fruit, more fruit, much fruit and fruit that remains (Jn. 15:1-17) only to those who abide in Him?
  • Do you think I have it wrong, that we can actually develop powerful ministry just by studying and implementing the best techniques?
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Caught

Filed Under: Church Life, Discipleship, House Church, Meeting Together, Spiritual Life, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 2 Comments
March 24, 2012
Caught not Taught

Did you ever have a class in integrity? Did it help?

We’ve all heard the saying Christianity is caught not taught. It’s true, but we hear it so often that it is easy to ignore. What does “Christianity caught” look like? How is that different than a taught version?

Here’s how I think Christianity is caught. How did you become a member of your family? After all, don’t you not only reflect your national culture, be it Australian, British, Spanish or American, but participate in your family’s culture? Some families argue and “get it all out.” Others would be horrified by such behavior and would rather be silent and let the tension blow over. We all reflect our family’s culture. Yet, I’d be willing to wager that none of us have had a class in Jones Family Culture 101. We have probably never had our parents sit us down at the kitchen table, ask us to take out our notebook and begin to lecture on how this family works, point by point.

How then do we catch our family culture? We observe it, mostly tacitly. We participate in it without even thinking about it. We discuss issues and end up being persuaded that this is the right way to do things. And, we observe others outside of our family subculture and feel uncomfortable when they end up violating our family norms. In short, it is absorbed through participation.

Here’s an example. I led a guy to the Lord a few years ago. We’ll call him David. My friends and I began to meet at David’s house with some of David’s family and friends to disciple them. One of the things my friends and I did, without really thinking about it, was to pray for people while putting our hands on their shoulders. We also asked before we did this and when the person agreed, we all got up as a group, gathered around and prayed.

One day David’s family asked my friends and me out to lunch in a nice restaurant. They wanted us to meet one of their friends, who I will call Jake, so we could have spiritual influence in Jake’s life. In the course of the conversation David, now about a month or two old in the Lord, asked Jake if we could pray for him. Keep in mind this is in a crowded restaurant. Jake liked that idea. Before we knew it David had jumped to his feet, put his hand on Jake’s shoulder and began to pray out loud (which of course, we also had modeled to him).

I never intentionally taught David this was “the” way to pray. But I did model it for him. Had he been a bit older in the Lord, it is likely his understanding of the practice of prayer would have been much more nuanced. I was intentionally discipling David. But that really didn’t amount to much more than bring up a subject with his family and friends and discussing it and investigating the subject in the Bible or ministering to them in some way. Yet, David, his wife and friends learned quite a bit beyond the “subject matter.” In fact, they probably learned much more through participant observation than through intentional teaching.

Let me make another observation about catching our faith. When someone doesn’t “catch” something from us, it is doubtful that it was specifically because we failed to have a formal class it the subject. If they didn’t catch it, it was because they didn’t want to catch it, or had not observed it enough to fully yet grasp it. But I personally doubt that it had anything to do with lack of formal class time.

Here’s yet a further observation about catching our faith (and giving it away). I can’t think of a single issue in our faith, including formal doctrine that can’t be caught instead of taught. In fact, in my opinion, teaching in a classroom format often ends up causing the subject matter to only be caught in the head and ends up missing the heart.

  • How much of your faith has really been caught?
  • The things you were taught, how deeply are they integrated into your heart, not merely your head?
  • Could it be that we teach formally because that’s what we’ve caught from others? Isn’t that ironic?
  • What would a discipleship ambiance look like that forsook “formal” teaching? Could it still develop excellent disciples of Christ, teaching them to observe all that He commanded?
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Sin Management: Bad Idea!

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Church Life, Jesus is Lord, Meeting Together, Spiritual Life by rossrohde — 7 Comments
March 19, 2012

How do I get through this maze?

Judging by what many Christians say nowadays and particularly what they do, outside observers would think that Christianity is about sin management. By that I mean that the point of Christianity is about being good. It isn’t. That’s a byproduct; an important byproduct but a byproduct nonetheless.

Here’s why I believe sin management is a bad idea. When we start thinking in terms of behaving correctly we are, in essence, trying to live the Christian life in our own ability. So what are the inevitable results of such a paradigm and such behavior? By “taking control” of our sin life, we push the Holy Spirit (and His power) out of the way and start trying to be good in the weakness of our own human flesh. It is like trying to accomplish an atomic bomb’s job with a firecracker.

That ends up leading to a whole series of other inappropriate spiritual behavior patterns. We end up having secret sins and have no real way to combat them; so we hide our darker selves and show a false spiritual façade. Our image becomes more important to us than the honest reality of our spiritual lives. This, in turn, just drives the Spirit farther from us because we have lost contact with our own reality, let alone His. What I’m describing here is hypocrisy. Ask yourself, how did Jesus feel about religious hypocrites?

We also have a community were rules (and keeping them) are more important than true spirituality, connecting with the life of the Holy Spirit. Such communities often end up having more and more emphasis on rules; the more rules and the more specific and exacting the rules, the better. Why? Because the assumption is that keeping rules will keep us holy. When, in fact, trying to gain God’s approval through rule keeping drives His Spirit away. There will always be Christians and Christian communities who are more legalistic than we are. That’s not the point. The point is, are we trying to live our Christian life by rule, precepts, guidelines (call them what you will) or by the power of God’s Spirit working within us?

If you have a bunch of people acting like this (a spiritual community/church) what do we end up with? We end up with fear; fear we won’t “do it right,” fear we will be exposed, fear that others will know, fear of our real selves. We also end up with a community of spiritual performance and competition to see who can seem the most holy. It’s very ugly and very painful.

The end result is a community of judgment because phonies would rather try to control other’s sins than deal with themselves. Instead of a community of grace, where we are all broken sinners limping on a path closer and closer to Jesus; we end up with a dangerous community with a fake façade, pretending to be a community of grace. No one is going to be the first to let their guard down. I am describing the Pharisees and much of the Christian community today.

This is a community made up of self righteous individuals, which takes on the character of its individual parts. And it is a dangerous, hurtful, lonely place. Most people who experience it only stay (if they can really stand it) because they know nothing else or they assume that that is the only place they can find Jesus. However, Jesus’ Spirit may not be there in any great measure in the first place. He is replaced with talk about Jesus. It’s not the same thing.

So what do we want instead? We want a place where we can let our hair down. We want a place where we can be ourselves, in all our brokenness. We want a place where others actually care about us as people, not as a project. We long for a place where all we want to do is meet up with Jesus when we gather and be around people who lovingly help us notice where Jesus is in our lives and help us get closer to Him. And we get to do that with them as well.

Such a place could be described as an ambiance of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In other words, the Spirit is there, so we are safe and loved. And, because the Spirit is there and also often in control of our lives, we finally have real power to live life as Jesus wants and as we honestly desire. That’s why Paul suggested; do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. It is not that getting drunk is alright, it is that the only way to combat sin is to be controlled by the Spirit of God. We can’t do it ourselves no matter how hard we try.

  • Have you ever honestly, truly been in a community like that?
  • Do you feel confident you know how to listen to the Spirit’s voice enough and know how to follow His lead to the point that rules are no longer necessary to live a good life?
  • If it is possible to live the life God wants for us without rules; what are all those rules doing in the New Testament, never mind the Old Testament?
  • Have you ever wondered how the first generation of Christians was so powerful without yet having the written New Testament? Does asking such a radical question mean I don’t think the Scriptures are important?
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Filed Under: Church Life, Discipleship, Meeting Together, Recommended Books, Simple Church, Spiritual Life, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — Leave a comment
March 14, 2012

To order This Is My Body: Ekklesia As God Intended click here.

So often when one reads about the Church nowadays we end up with a work that doesn’t really question the status quo. The assumption is that this is what we do, and therefore it is pretty much how it ought to be. Then we get a slightly new twist on some cool iteration of the status quo, perhaps a change in the standard order of service or a new trendy way of doing worship and we are done.

For anyone who is aware of how Jesus actually designed His Church, as described in the New Testament, what the Church was like in the first few centuries, how the church has changed through 2,000 years of history compared to how it is today, the typical analysis leaves a whole herd of elephants standing in the room. Keith Giles in This Is My Body: Ekklesia as God Intended graciously and passionately takes us on an elephant hunt.

Jesus designed His Church for a purpose, and the purpose was not looking in the mirror at itself and admiring its own beauty. Nor was it to be insecure about itself finding every flaw. It was to be His people on mission with Him to extend His Kingdom. All the while it was to be His loving bride, the receptor of his loving affection and the bride who loved him back. There was a design and there was a purpose.

The Church has strayed away from her God given design and she has become distracted from her purpose. When God’s people Israel strayed away from their design and their purpose God sent prophets to call them back to what they were really supposed to be and how they were really supposed to live. Keith is doing the same for the Church today. Keith told me recently that he almost titled this book something like Jesus Called and He Wants His Church Back. He decided that title might drive away the very people who needed to read it so he refrained. But I do think it’s about time someone told us Jesus wants His Church back.

Keith is not angry. He is not trying to merely poke holes and express pet peeves. Nor is he the prophet of doom shouting on a street corner in a tin foil hat. Instead his is that wise yet passionate voice; the voice of Jimmy Stewart speaking to the Senate in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.  We may not necessarily want to hear it but know when we do we are listening to solid wisdom and truth. In the video below start at minute 1:51:40.

If you were an athlete in training for the Olympics what kind of coach would you want to have? Would you want a coach that constantly praises you and tells you whatever you do is just fine? Or, would you want a coach that while being encouraging, takes you back to the fundamentals, teaching you step by step how to excel? Honestly, some of us just want to be praised and don’t what their status quo questioned. If you are that person, this is not the book for you. Others of us, though, long to learn how to be the bride that Jesus deserves. They long to be with Him as he goes about His world setting things right. And they long to be the bride He lovingly describes, to be on mission with Him as He designed it. If that expresses your heart, you have found your book.

One last thing; Keith is an excellent writer. His book is a pleasure to read. I found myself wanting to post quote after quote on Twitter and Facebook. I quickly realized I was republishing Keith’s book a Twitter snippet at a time, so I tried to restrain myself, not completely successfully. You are going to find a lot of gems in this book; enjoy the search and recommend it to your friends.

This Is My Body: Ekklesia As God Intended is Keith’s work of love. He is so passionate about his message that he has made the book free to anyone who wants it. If you want a free e-book version you can download it here.

If you want a paper version you can hold in your hands you can order it here along with Keith’s other books.

  • Do you think it is right to question the status quo of the Church we’ve always known?
  • Do you want to hear what Jimmy Stewart has to say at the town hall meeting or are you content with the status quo?
  • Do you sense that Jesus wants His Church back?
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Sand In the Gears

Filed Under: Apostolic Ministry, Christendom, Church History, Jesus is Lord, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity, Worldview by rossrohde — 2 Comments
March 12, 2012

Does our ministry practice throw sand in the gears of the Kingdom?

I’m often asked by people in non-organic churches, particularly pastors, why I don’t care for such things as hierarchical leadership, buildings, denominations, ministry as business methodology and other such non-biblical encrustations. While I try to be gracious when I speak of such issues, particularly in Viral Jesus, there is nevertheless, I believe, a need to talk about such strategic issues.

The assumption is often that these issues are my personal pet peeves and that such issues are a matter of personal preference, somewhat like choosing what shirt one was wearing that particular day. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Another assumption is that I am such a stickler for biblical literalness that I can’t seem to distinguish between what is required biblically (such things as holiness and prayer) and what is optional, such as cultural expressions and technology. The main assumption is that issues like buildings, clergy and ministry as business are just cultural expressions based on our culture and time. The argument goes that having clergy or doing ministry as a business project is no less biblical that talking on a telephone or using a computer. For the record I use both telephones and computers. Again, this is a false assumption and in my opinion, a false analogy.

So why do I care so much about such issues? There are two interrelated issues that create concern on my part. The two issues are frictionlessness and the lordship of Jesus. I will address each separately, but they are deeply related and I am aware of the relationship.

I was watching a Ted Talk the other day and was struck by Jennifer Pahlka’s use of the word “frictionless.” I thought, that’s it, we need an ecclesiology that is frictionless; one that doesn’t get in the way of Jesus’ agenda, which is the spread of His Kingdom. The way the church functioned and the way they did ministry in the New Testament was frictionless; it did not interfere with Jesus’ agenda, it was built exactly for that purpose. The old saying form follows function holds true in ecclesiology as well as building automobiles.

When we do what seems to us as innocuous, like focusing ministry in a building, there are all sorts of unintended consequences. In effect we have taken a Kingdom expanding ministry and forced it to be stuck in place and time.  New Testament ministry was apostolically and prophetically centered (besides the main focus on Jesus the Lord). It was a ministry done “out there,” in society. It had no barriers of place or time. And it was always moving outward. If the best place to meet seekers is in a parking lot at 3 AM, then apostles do exactly that. They can plant a church right there among people who would never darken the door of a church. But the second we have “worship service” at 11:00 AM on Sunday, and do the majority of ministry in a designated building, biblically designed apostolic ministry grinds to a halt. It is like throwing sand in the gears of the Kingdom. Our ministry practice ceases to be frictionless. It starts to get in the way of Jesus’ well thought out and frictionless ministry practice. In other words, the rapid and effective flow of the Kingdom out into society is greatly compromised. Building are just one example of sand in the Kingdom’s gears, there are many others which I explore is Chapter 5: The Crumbling of a Viral Jesus Movement, in Viral Jesus.

The other issue I have with non-biblical ecclesiology is how such behavior compromises the lordship of Jesus Christ. Let’s take ministry as a business project as an example. Biblical ministry behavior was based on Jesus actually making the command decisions. One great place to see this in practice is Acts 16:6-10 another is Acts 13:1-3. Note in Acts 16, as Paul and friends move through Asia minor, how Jesus himself directs them in where to go and what to do. Note such powerful phrases as: kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia and but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to, and concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. This is ministry directed by Jesus himself and discerned through prophecy.

In place of such spiritually powerful and effective ministry, we decide that American business practice and its use of human planning, like time bound and quantifiable goals, will make us more effective. All it does is strip away control of the ministry from Jesus the Lord and place it firmly in our foolish human hands. Again I discuss this in Viral Jesus. We have replaced supernaturally powerful, Jesus directed ministry for humanly powerful, man directed ministry. Just remember whoever makes the decision is the lord. If we make decisions we are lords, if Jesus makes the decisions He is Lord.

So my concern for the foolish later historical encrustations in the Church (Christendom) are not merely issues of personal preference, they are strategic and they are spiritual. I believe it would do us well to discuss this openly and graciously so we all become more effective at following Jesus into the harvest. That was one of my goals for writing Viral Jesus.

  • What other ministry practices besides using buildings and ministry as a business do you think interferes with the frictionless spread of the Kingdom?
  • Why do you think the church began to adopt these non-biblical practices?
  • Do you believe, like I do, that God intentionally built such things as ecclesiology and ministry practice to be frictionless and led by Him, or are you not persuaded by my argument?
  • How can we have Jesus led ministry if we don’t practice prophecy? How can we determine which prophecies are from the Lord and which are fleshly if we don’t study and practice discernment of spirits?
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The Gospel and the Old Testament

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Evangelism, Jesus is Lord, New Covenant, Our Covenant With God, Recommended Books, The Viral Jesus Book by rossrohde — 3 Comments
March 5, 2012

Is this really the only way to preach the Gospel?

The following is an abbreviated version of a blog interaction I had concerning the role the Old Testament takes in the Christian Gospel. You can see the entire exchange in the comments of Scot McKnight Interview: “The King Jesus Gospel” & McKnight Responds to Critics .

Hey, Ross

I wanted you to know that I’ve been enjoying your book greatly. Also, some of the things you’ve said there have encouraged me to go back and actually begin reading McKnight’s “King Jesus Gospel.” (One of McKnight’s theses is that one can’t truly understand the Gospel without understanding its roots in the Old Testament.)

I’ve been pondering for a long time now just what the gospel IS, and not knowing exactly what I’d say if I were called on to actually give a sermon on it. I mean, we’re promised that we’ll be given the things to say, but all the same it might be good to have SOME idea what’s going to come out of our mouths. I gave up the Four Spiritual Laws gospel long ago as woefully inadequate. While I do know the OT, I can hardly share the whole thing with an interested friend in one go.

I think part of this is to get the knowledge internalized via the Spirit to the point where it is no longer necessary to intellectually construct an argument or thesis; it just grows out of you as a flower does out of a plant. That’s my goal, anyway. But I did want you to know that thus far, I love your book.

Blessings, Cindy

Hi Cindy,

As you read Viral Jesus you will note that I place a high value on two issues, the lordship of Jesus (which needs to be played out in all that we “do” not just “say,” and the new covenant. This new covenant is a living contract/arrangement/lifestyle that we enter into with Jesus. At that point he becomes our God and we become his people.

When I preach the gospel I find that I often (not always) mention the new covenant because at least one way to understand the gospel is that they are entering into this agreement/contract. That brings in the Old Testament. Israel also had a covenant with God call the law or old covenant. At least one thing McKnight is saying is that we can’t understand the new covenant unless we understand the old one.

How are the Gospel's roots sunk deep into the Old Testament?

Now here’s a mind blowing thought. The words for “testament” as in Old Testament and New Testament can be equally or even better be translated “covenant.” The Old Testament revolves around the old covenant, before Israel had it, what it was, and what happened when they obeyed and when they did not. The New Testament is exactly the same thing for the new covenant. Remember Jesus said “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Lk 22:20). Semitic/Hebrew covenants were sealed with blood. That’s what the animal sacrifice was about in the OT. Jesus sealed his part of the covenant with his own blood. He became the “lamb of God” the sacrificial lamb of the new covenant just like the lambs and goats were of the old covenant. Our sealing of the covenant comes with baptism which symbolizes death, burial and resurrection (i.e. we are sealing the covenant just like Jesus did); he did it literally, we do it symbolically. Now does the OT part of salvation make more sense?

Finally, the Holy Spirit really does give us words at the right time. Part of our new covenant agreement is that He will put the law in our hearts and minds (Jer. 31:31 and Heb. 8:10.) That means he can speak to our hearts and minds, it’s part of our covenant arrangement. And, because of this arrangement the Holy Spirit can put words in our heart and mind and just the right time. We have to be attuned to Him and listening but I’ve learned that when I am in a witnessing situation and paying attention just the right analogy or way of being comes up. I’ll mention this more than once in Viral Jesus. Note for example how my friend Vincent listened to Jesus in the Introduction. Note how Jesus told me to work with Amado later in the book.

Cindy, you are person with a sensitive spirit. That’s a huge advantage. It means that your heart is an excellent receptor to the voice of God. Trust it, or better said, trust Him. The only homework you really need is to learn to discern His voice from others. For the basics on that I’d like to point you to the post Four Voices.

Your Friend,

Ross

  • Do you think we need to understand the Gospel’s Old Testament roots to truly understand it?
  • Do you believe that there are many ways to preach the Gospel?
  • When we reduce the Gospel to a few propositional facts (such as the Bridge Illustration or the Four Spiritual Laws can it have a negative effect? What would that be?
  • Is it possible that every way of preaching the Gospel has its drawbacks? If so, how do we decide how to preach the Gospel in any given situation?
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