I just read some thoughts by Dan Wilt on the happenings in Lakeland, Florida. It has of course generated a lot of conversation and discussion around our church and across the Internet. I haven’t really formulated a formal response to it myself, but Dan’s thoughts seem to come close to mine. Perhaps I’ll write more later, but for now I’ll just quote some of the blog post:
High
spiritual drama does not equal, has never necessarily equaled, God’s
activity, though He may be quite involved. I’m thrilled for what God is
doing in the midst of Lakeland, but I expect Him to do the same here in
my town of 5000. I also expect Christians to be more educated and
thoughtful about these things – I’m getting tired of any reflective
analysis of an amazing event being labeled as “unbelief” or
“skepticism.” I’m glad Jesus was “skeptical” about the religious
patterns of his own day.Love [rather than power] is the center of the story I know and love – and am giving my life for.
So,
I say, “God, heal the sick through us, raise the dead through us, and
deliver the oppressed through us… but also feed the poor through us, do
justice through us, show your care and humility through us, and
integrate us into the heart of culture as your new humanity – as you
help us not to spiral off again into a new brand of Christian
subculture.”
I like that – let’s affirm what God’s doing, but let’s not blindly assume that every time someone has a dramatic experience that God caused it. Discernment isn’t unbelief, and faith isn’t gullibility.
Solid blog here, Ben. Thanks for lifting your voice.
OK here’s my deal. When Jesus heals people in the Gospels, how many does he take to a public meeting and then send emails around the world about or post on YouTube so that everyone can get excited about what God is doing?
Forgive me. But doesn’t he rather put people out of the room, or take the sick to one side, and make sure there is no chance of theatre being made of the needy? Or of God’s power? He doesn’t EVER use a miracle to prove himself but to help others, though that of course rather does prove himself.
“Don’t tell anyone”, he says. And everyone wants to know. “Tell everyone”, we say, and people are sceptical. Ho hum.
I rarely comment on blogs, but I have strong feelings on this one. I love this passage: 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (The Message) “Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”?”
Have you ever felt jealous or even offended when you’ve seen God use a young child to heal a sick person or share a vision or dream?
In my understanding, the one way for us to grasp this child-like faith is for us to receive the Kingdom on God’s terms and not our own; meaning that sometimes we need to shed our pre-conceived ideas of what we believe the Kingdom should look like, and we all have them.
I am honestly tired of hearing church leaders (I have spoken with a handful of them) become offended by what is happening in Florida. If we hear that the sick are being healed and the dead are being raised, should we not make every attempt to experience it? Afterall, these are the very things that Jesus commanded us to do.
In spite of all the reasons why we don’t like what “Lakeland” looks like (including myself), I believe it is playing a significant role in releasing the Kingdom around the world.
Lets celebrate the fact that the glory of God is covering the earth.
I do agree, Chad, that oftentimes God’s kingdom doesn’t look like what we expect (the disciples famously didn’t understand anything about what Jesus was doing, and the cross was the supreme ‘offense’ that was a ‘stumbling block’ for Jews and ‘foolishness’ to Gentiles).
But we are called to discern based on the cross-shaped nature of the kingdom. So I think a good way to look at movements and happenings is to think about how “cross-shaped” they are. I do think that God is moving in Lakeland – the stories seem genuine, and we ought to rejoice in what God is doing.
But rejoicing in what God is doing doesn’t necessarily mean that we don’t raise concerns about the way ministry is carried out, or what kinds of things are emphasized. Too often discussion about Lakeland is polarized between those who are “for” it and those “against” – but I think that’s a false dichotomy. We ought to both rejoice with those who have been healed and raise concerns about the way ministry is carried out. Both are the responsibility of Christians. Raising questions doesn’t mean someone is against what God is doing, and rejoicing in what God is doing doesn’t mean we excuse concerns we may have.
Also (forgot to say) there’s a lot more to the kingdom that just healing the sick and raising the dead. I don’t mean to sound callous – I think those things are wonderful, obviously. But we’re called to do more than just experience healing. There doesn’t seem to be an appropriate emphasis on living out discipleship to Jesus is everyday life.
I am not disagreeing with you (nor would I ever, you’re just too smart).
Amy and I attended a small church for about three years in Florida where we experienced the Presence of God like I’ve never experienced in my life. It was an ongoing experience that was absolutely incredible. However, I had great issue with many of the doctrines in that little church. The lesson I finally learned there is that you don’t have to have all the small details figured out in order for God to love on you. God will continue to use foolish things to confound the wise.
I think being concerned about how ministry is carried out is a good thing, and being concerned about what is being emphasized is also a good thing, and we should have these concerns while at the same time praying for those who are leading these metings.
Yes, there is more to the kingdom than healing the sick and raising the dead, but these must be vital parts.
“Discernment isn’t unbelief, and faith isn’t gullibility.” Really well put – good words to remember.
I appreciated reading what everyone had to say here. Thanks for the food for thought.
Please see: http://www.adventuresinchristianity.com/?L=blogs.blog&article=3494
and then watch: http://www.justinpeters.org/overview.htm