Photo credit: pipnstuff (Creative Commons)
Simple/organic churches can be inward looking. But when we seek Jesus, making him the center of everything that goes on and we ask him what is on his heart, we may find things change…
A few months ago, our simple/organic church spent time learning to listen to God. Each week we did different activities to hone those skills. One week, our activity was for everyone to spend 15 minutes alone asking the Lord the question, “What would you say to us as a group?”
When we came back together again, more than 50% of the group had heard the same message. The word came in various different ways:
“It’s time to be light in the darkness, to gain a vision for your city and your people.”
“I had the story from Luke 14 where Jesus said to give a banquet inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.”
“The Lord showed me the verse in Romans 10:17, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
“John 15, that if we remain in him, we will bear much fruit, and that fruit is more disciples.”
“Feed the hungry, but remain hungry for the Lord.”
“Mark 16:15: we’re to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every person. We’re to have an impact wherever we are in our world.”
Perhaps the clearest and the one that we have discussed on many occasions since then was a picture someone had of a small group of people next to a small fruit tree, which turned into a bigger group of people next to a bigger fruit tree, and finally many groups of people next to many fruit trees. The sense the person had was that if we listen to the Lord, a lot of fruit will come. As we follow his instructions, groups will multiply.
It’s been interesting to watch what has happened to us since then. There are probably four new groups that are in the process of forming as people listen to the Lord and obey what he tells them to do, reaching out into the world around them.
What is God saying to your group? Have you asked him?
4 replies on “What is on God’s heart for your simple/organic church?”
He has been impressing me to live in John 15:5 with Him more, and to initiate, strive, strategize less…even not at all. He makes fruit I’m just a connected branch. Lindsay
Lindsay, isn’t that the truth! That’s why I love the simplicity of listening to Jesus and responding to what he says.
My burden, in all the variations of my church experience, has always been that God Father’s his own children.
It seems to me that we automatically rush to operate as a group collective when most Christians I know have little perspective of God’s true fatherhood over them. Hence they are anxious to fit into this group-think mentality. Conforming to “group-think” is easier than conforming to Christ.
We are neither clones of the group nor clones of each other. God has a vision and calling for each child which is fitting for his personality and gifting. Until we are at peace with being different, we will always be searching for group approval instead of God’s approval. Sometimes they are plainly incompatible!
Whenever I have addressed this matter amongst Christians it has evoked grief and tears. Grief at all the years of trying to be someone they are not, just in order to please others. Tears of regret when they see how much God loves the person that they truly are inside, and not the person the church wants them to be.
An amazing transformation takes place when the revelation of God’s love towards their inner personality, and not just His wish list, hits them. Guilt at being “wrong” all the time flees. Their relationship with God takes off as they realise that the God of all creation is interested in THEM and interested what makes THEM tick!
How does this affect the group?
Suddenly we have people who start to confidently hear God for themselves. People who start to be led by the Spirit in daily life, rather than needing church to tell them. People who begin to exercise faith and take risks because they don’t see an angry God always wanting to rebuke them for “being wrong again”. People who experience amazing encounters with God again. PEOPLE WHO COME TO THE MEETING EXCITED BECAUSE OF WHAT GOD HAS SHOWN THEM, OR DONE THROUGH THEM.
The meeting then becomes an exciting and encouraging place to hear the latest installment of God at work in the body of Christ.
Frank, I totally agree with what you are saying here. I think/hope that for most people in simple/organic church, the notion of conforming to the religious status quo quickly dies away. Christianity isn’t a religion–a system of rules and regulations–but a life-giving lifestyle. I wrote a series of posts on non-religious Christianity starting here http://bit.ly/i0T4l8. When each of us can hear God for ourselves, our times together become a synergy–a time when God reveals what he is doing for us corporately as well as individually.