'These signs will follow those who believe. . . (Mark 16:17)'
'He confirmed His word with the signs that accompanied it. . . (Mark 16:20)'
'You will do even greater things than I have done. . . (John 14:12)'
'Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons; freely you have received freely give. . (Matthew 10:8)
The very idea of God revolves around the understanding that there is something, or someone, supernatural (above nature). Jesus, the incarnate God, is supernatural intervention itself. His life was marked by the miraculous because He was a walking miracle; God in human form. In the verses above, Jesus commissions His disciples to walk in the miraculous power of God. In fact, when He ascended back into heaven He instructs them to 'wait until you have been imbued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).'
Here is the principle; miracles will always be where God is simply because He is 'super'natural' himself. Although He created the natural world He is above it as well. This principle of God working supernaturally in the 'natural' world is seen to be true throughout biblical history; the creation of the world, the supernatural conception of Sarah, the plagues in Egypt, supernatural provision in the wilderness, the manifest presence of God on Mt. Sinai, in the tent, and later in the temple; we have the prophets who heard from God, and dreams and visions are regularly given to God's people. Then Jesus comes onto the scene as Mr. Supernatural himself, God in human form, healing, casting out demons, knowing people's thoughts and intentions, multiplying food, walking on water, walking through walls, and being resurrected! The same principle runs true with the early church; where believers are the miraculous follows. People are healed, new tongues are spoken, demons are cast out, and the church is recognized to have God with them.
Now it doesn't take much critical thinking to compare and contrast your own experience to the 'norm' that is displayed here. It may not be the case, but chances are your life is not marked by the miraculous power of God, mine isn't very often. Oh sure we are very good at justifying behaviors, thoughts, and coincidences as being ordained by our sovereign God, and sometimes they are; but it seems we are often just trying to convince ourselves that He is doing something! If we are honest, we can agree that much of the evangelical world has dismissed supernatural intervention and replaced it with the deistic notion that God just sets things in motion, takes a step back, and lets the whole thing play out. If you continue in this vein of honesty, you might be able to admit that you are downright frightened about the supernatural; and for good reason! If God is alive and active, able to turn the world upside down in an instant, it messes with all the controlled comfort we have managed to create with our Christianity.
Since we started there, in the name of honesty we must continue, there is no backing out now. We have opened a can of worms that cannot be closed until we realize they are not the dirty, slimy, kind you put on a hook, but the sugary gummy kind that everybody clamors for. For a myriad of reasons we have created a Christianity that is sentimental about the miraculous power of God, but is otherwise completely disassociated with it. This is not only portrayed as a paradoxical incongruity in scripture, but there are many reasons and consequences for this being the case.
Let us analyze this problem from a simple level first, revelation (I lied about the simple part, this may be very challenging for you). Revelation is wisdom or knowledge that is given to us by God. It is not just a new idea or experience we have when we come to learn something we didn't know before. It is specifically God given knowledge. You might protest and say that 'all knowledge comes from God', without explaining that in depth it will suffice to say that you are just making excuses to avoid the uncomfortable reality of our inadequacy. Now in the church we rightly associate scripture as being given to us by God, but we wrongly assume how it is we come to understand it.
We subconsciously, sometimes consciously, believe that God doesn't speak to us anymore. That all the revelation He desires to give us is in the scriptures. Although this is a very common belief, there is a deep, yet subtle, deception hidden there. When we see scripture as the encyclopedia to the Christian life, we make the assumption that we have the the intellectual capacity to rationalize the truths that are in there. Our confidence is founded on our ability to reason rather than on God's ability to communicate.
Christianity all of a sudden becomes intellectual. It becomes a matter of the mind, of thought, of reason and logic. We have academically institutionalized Christianity until it doesn't have a lick of God left in it. Sure we say God is speaking through scripture, but deep down we just have confidence in our interpretation. Think about it, when someone says, 'I only believe the bible', what do they really mean? Well they mean of course that they believe their 'interpretation' of the bible. You can have a lot of high opinions of scriptural truth and yet never know God. You can theological, rationalize, and argue yourself blue in the face, but that doesn't mean you are in relationship with the King of Kings. If you step back and realize the many different opinions that wise, intellectual, and honest people come to about different biblical truths, you may become rather depressed and conclude that there is not truth to be found. We will touch on that later, for now, check out these passages.
"You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life (John 5:39-40)."
"They are always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7)."
This is the kind of knowledge that puffs up (1 Cor. 8:1) and when we make an assessment of the church, we realize it is the puffer fish of all fish that have ever puffed. So many Christians are threatened by the smallest idea that goes against their theology. Fear, caution, and pride motivate thought and practice rather than love, hope, and righteous conviction. Just look at the reaction the church has had to things in the world that threaten their 'precious understanding.' I separate myself in language only to make a point, but I too have struggled with our self dependent theology. The only reason we are afraid of other's opinions or practices is because it is 'our' rationalization that is being threatened. We are confident in God in as much as we are able to logically explain our ideas. It isn't faith and trust in Him, but rather pride in ourselves.
Now the bible is irreplaceable, it is the word of God! I believe that there is absolute truth and that God never contradicts His written word, but He does love to contradict our understanding of His word. After all, how can you have peace that passes understanding if your confidence is founded completely in capacity to understand? Many Christians believe that direct 'revelation' has ceased since the canonization of scripture; now that we have the bible, God no longer interacts with us like we see Him doing in every other era of history. We are so quick to justify our mediocrity, rather than rising putting ourselves before God to seek that which we do not seem to have.
In Luke 24:25, Jesus opens the disciples minds so that they could understand the scriptures; you see, it is still all about revelation, it is all about encountering God Himself. You may say that all Christians have the Spirit and so have the capability to understand; but I think this is another effort to intellectually allow for our lack. I am not saying it isn't a true statement, but what we 'mean' by justifies control and manipulation.
So what is theology? It is simply the way you think about God. Everyone is a 'theologian' in their own right. Now you can have good and bad theology and you can have right and wrong theology. Your theology can put you in a position to encounter and know God, or it can hinder that relationship. You can have great theology and not know God, and you can have poor theology and know God intimately. This 'know' is not merely intellectual, but experiential (check out the Greek word epignosco). Theology is important, but it isn't everything. Just as in other areas, our theology of the miraculous has limited our experience of it. We have crippled ourselves in our thought life and thereby fail to lay hold of the inheritance that we have in Jesus. Most of the time, Christians are not known for displaying the power of God, but rather for being stuck up narrow minded religious types that have high ideals that are rarely lived up to.
We have created a Christianity that has a 'form of Godliness' but denies His power (2 Tim. 3:5). Sure we might give lip service to the power of God, and we will strain to find something in our lives that we can attribute to Him, but we probably won't expect someone we pray for to be healed, or for demons to actually manifest around us. Intellect, reason, and systems of thought, this is what we have diminished Christianity to. Just think about our Sunday services and how they revolve around ideas. We are given good advice every week, we hear about God's goodness, His forgiveness, and there might be a sermon talks about the power of God to make you 'feel' excited about how big He is. Yet, we leave on Sunday talking about the 'good message' we heard and continue on living our lives like we did before. The good ideas, and pleasant feelings of being a Christian didn't change the way we lived day to day, didn't change our interaction with God Himself. If our pastor isn't interesting enough we will go somewhere else, if the music doesn't capture you emotionally or intellectually, you will probably leave; or at least you will complain in the parking lot. Rather than becoming like God, we have resorted to having opinions 'about' Him.
The world sees it better than we do. Youth don't want to go to church because it is a boring academic ritual that is a form without power. God doesn't seem to be there, it just seems to be an idea that all the old people find comfort in. The world has turned against the church, and for good reason. Most of the negative opinions we as believers receive from the world is not the righteous persecution and suffering that Jesus promised us; it is the genuine opinion of honest unbelievers who see Christians in a clearer light than we see ourselves.
You don't need to 'convince' someone God is real if you can lay your hands on them and see them be healed. You don't need to defend God when He is the one that searches the heart of man and can reveal things to you that will shock them. You won't feel threatened by opinion when you are secure in God Himself rather than in your own opinion of Him. We are not on the defensive but on the offensive, we don't need to be offended by people, we are secure in who we are in God, or at least I think that's what faith is supposed to be.
We must become Christians, those who demonstrate God to the world rather than pointing to Him. John the Baptist was the last 'sign post' that pointed to Jesus. We are those who have the Spirit living in us and working through us; first fruits of the new creation, of the same type as Jesus. We do what He did; after all, He is living in us, right?!
This post is not meant to be helpful, It is not meant to give you answers or make you feel comfortable. We care way to much about how we 'feel' already. I want to make you uncomfortable, to make you ask the hard questions. I don't want to give you all the answers. I love the church, all of it, but I am willing to shake things up when we get 'settled' in the wrong position.
There have been great movements of God throughout history where the power of God has been displayed. Where cancer is healed, the dead are raised, and demons cast out. There are many believers around the world who are walking in this reality, tuned into God and anointed by His power. Not everyone fits into the picture I painted above, I was speaking in a stark manner on purpose. What did it produce in your heart and mind? Anxiety, frustration, offense, excitement, wonder, purpose? I am alright with all of those responses, what are you going to do about them?
There are three responses one can have when facing a powerless church. 1) We can reset the standard by defining the 'normal' Christian life according to our experience rather than scripture. Thereby creating a culture of compromise, weakness, and powerlessness. 2) We can reject supernatural intervention completely and create a Christianity that is utterly humanistic, relative, and universal. 3) Or, we can become dissatisfied with our experience and keep the biblical standard, thereby relying solely upon a touch of the Holy Spirit to do the impossible.
In my opinion 1 isn't far away from becoming 2, and 3 is the only antidote to a form of religion that denies God's power. What is created will always reflect the nature of the one who created it. If we build a ministry based on our own talents and abilities than people will only end up seeing us. True ministry is allowing God to supernaturally work through us, so that people encounter Him rather than only meeting us.
When we let go of our 'form', our 'control', we make room for the Holy Spirit. We need to put ourselves in situations, to have dreams, such that if God doesn't show up they will fail. The world needs God, not our best efforts at doing ministry. They see through the facade, they see that the church is little different than themselves. The church today mainly relies on psychology, sociology, and philosophy to guilt trip and motivate people to try and religiously regulate their lives to mimic a moral standard. Although all of those things are useful and beneficial they are not the primary avenues which God has given us for ministry; rather He has given us Himself.
Will we surrender and let go of control so that God can speak, direct, and reign? Will we live with an expectancy that defies human reason? Will we live out of His strength and power rather than our own?
God give us faith so that we can live from a heavenly perspective rather than an earthly one.
Ask the hard questions and don't settle for pat answers that keep you in stagnancy.
Who am I in Christ? What is spiritual authority? Who is the Holy Spirit? Can I hear God's voice? Why don't we experience God like people did in the bible? How do you pray for healing? What if people don't get healed? Start searching the deep things of God and He will reveal Himself to you in wonderful ways! Have fun!
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