SimpleChurch Journal

Religious Pride

A well-meaning pastor-friend recently encouraged me to come to the local pastor’s association meeting which I used to attend regularly (many years ago).  He said, “We need a house church guy.”  (Whatever that is).  And then he commented, “You are still one of us.”

Hmmm… “one of us.”

One of who?  Oh, yeah, the special ones.  The ministry-called ones.  The ones just slightly better than others.

I am not sharing this to slam my pastor-friend, but rather to point out that this subtle religious pride is so deeply engrained in most of us that it’s difficult to wash out.

“I go to such-and-such church.”

“I’m into house church.”

“Organic church is my thing.”

“Christians who are sold out should be living the way I’m trying to live (more prayer-ful, more involved with supernatural encounters, holier, etc, etc).”

It’s so difficult to see that in our human frailty we often seek to exalt ourselves with a subtle self-righteousness and that this is the real issue.  Religious pride.  It does not go away just because I decide to avoid church buildings or become an organic disciplemaker.  The tendency is still there—at least from my own experience.

After all, pride is pride is pride.  And the problem with religious pride is that it’s more difficult to see in ourselves.

Let me just offer a prayer from A.W. Tozer for myself and anyone else willing to step into it:

“Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream.”

I think the calling to live as irreligious Jesus-followers is the willingness to be used by God from the place of utmost obscurity.  This, in fact, may be at the heart of the real Jesus-revolution we seek.

Are We Moving Toward Our Own Destiny?

This can be a challenging question.  Many people do not want to take responsibility for owning the destiny God has made them for.  I see people often avoid the hard questions and find it so much easier to live in the routine, sleepiness of religion.

These ‘hard’ questions are actually the ones that lead to life and freedom as we release who God has made us to be:

1. What are your core values, those things that truly are most important to you in life (tombstone-type values)?
2. What passions and purposes has God shaped in you through your experiences and His Word in you?
3. How are you best equipped to serve this world with Kingdom purposes?
4. Where is God sending you to serve Him?  (This could refer to geography, but also to what place of influence, or what group of people, or what vocational situation, etc.)

Does answering these questions bring immediate movement in the direction of our destiny?  Not, but it’s a start in hearing His voice speaking uniquely to us.  Then the adventure begins as we daily listen to His leadings (and His truths within us) and walk that out.  Daily allowing Him to direct us into His full destiny.  Can life be any fuller than that?

Comment here!

Organic Church in Romania

Last year a dear man wrote me from Romania asking if he could translate The Simple/House Church Revolution book into his language.  I told him to go for it.  Surprisingly, several months later he completed it!  Since then, Ben Taylor, with Newforms Resources in the UK, connected with him and provided training in how to begin making disciples that make disciples and to start simple/organic churches.

This is a fascinating and inspiring video of the impact this training is having there that will stir us all up!

 

Learn more about Newforms Resources here.