003 Becoming A Born-Again Church

Becoming a Born Again Church

🎧 Podcast Audio

There are signs of the beginnings of a spiritual awakening stirring in Europe and amazingly in Switzerland. When my husband and I arrived in Switzerland about 13 years ago, we would jump at the occasion to attend events where there would be well-known English speaking, I would say revivalists. This is how we discovered that there is an apostolic team in a French speaking local church who organizes events and hosts international speakers.

Fast forward about 13 years, we thankfully speak French by now, and we signed up for a once-monthly revival school organized by that apostolic movement. Once a month, a group of Christians, hungry for an encounter with Jesus, hungry to see heaven manifested on this earth, stand in line to enter the room where worship music already fills the atmosphere. Saturday after Saturday, the Holy Spirit meets our hunger for Him. Saturday after Saturday, we are encouraged by international revivalists who bring stories of meetings just like this happening all over the world. I have been praying to see the signs of the Holy Spirit moving in Europe for many years, and it is happening.

But what will happen after after revival school ?

These gatherings are supposed to awaken us, to activate us, to share the love of Jesus in our sphere of influence. If every person that has been touched during these meetings puts into practice what we have heard and share what we have received, there will be thousands who will surrender their lives to Jesus. That is one part of the challenge. But the message of today is about another part of the challenge.

Where will all these new believers go? Are the local churches ready to receive them?

Is our local church a faithful representation of the power, passion, justice, and love of Jesus and all that he offers?

What will a new believer find when they join us?

 A church united by purpose, pursuing the realities of heaven?

Or a church divided by human opinion, politics and egos? I am writing this post after a recent experience with a disillusioned church member who have decided to leave the church. But not before broadcasting a host of criticisms about the church and church leadership to anyone who would listen.

There is no question that the moment that human beings are involved in anything, it is by default imperfect. So criticisms are not always unwarranted.

But it is how we deal with our concerns and criticisms that really matters and that should distinguish us from the world.

Constructive criticisms should lead and could lead to closer relationships, to exposing and dealing with sin, and to clarifying misunderstandings. It could lead to a holier, more powerful church if it is done with humility, wisdom, and a pure heart.

The Christian faith is built on the revelation that humankind, in our nature, even the best of us, is sinful and lost. But Christ paid with his blood for us to be washed clean, and then clothed with his righteousness. Then, graciously, astoundingly, we are not only forgiven, but we are empowered by his Holy Spirit. We are made new, given a new operating system, a new purpose.

It is a gift so wonderful and amazing, so entirely unmerited, that frankly, out of gratitude, it can only bring us to our knees. How could we ever condemn another or refuse to forgive, knowing that we ourselves have been so generously, miraculously forgiven and redeemed? Just as amazing and incomprehensible is the fact that we, the church, are chosen to represent Christ here on earth.

What do you think about when you hear the word church? Stained glass windows and small uncomfortable wooden benches? A place to find solitude or answers?

Or simply a place where weddings and funerals are held? One would think that the answer to that question depends on the experience that you've had in church. But I have learned that people's opinion of church is often adopted through the second hand recollection of what someone else have experienced.

When asking someone who claims to be a non-Christian, they may associate the word with traditions of the religious, or negatively with judgment. But even among Christians, their responses are directly related to experiences with people. The word church is loaded with emotion, and is associated with historical events, relationships, memories and sentiment.

Most people do not hold back their opinion and freely unload their experience to anyone who would listen. The idea of church has been contaminated with opinions and experiences reflected in empty church seats, and for many years, the absence of younger generations, certainly in Europe.

But something else occurred to me.

Yes, the empty seats are the result of negative experiences, but it is also due to the fact that the church has lost its relevance. Do we even know, truly know, what is the purpose of church and why we should be active participants? In Western culture, regular church attendance generally is the exception.

Gone are the days with all the village residents gathered on Sundays in the nearest local church as a family, united by this weekly event. Whether people truly had faith or not, it was a shared experience that connected people, a tradition.

So I will ask again, what do you think about when you hear the word church? What do you feel? Welcomed, at peace? Or has someone transferred their painful story to you that make you feel restricted, judged, hostile, suspicious or angry toward church? A thing that you don't want to be a part of? Or do you simply not see the point of it?

Today, dear listener, I would like to invite you to revisit your opinion of church as if we have the right to define it by our limited and tainted experience or opinion.

Church in fact can and should only be defined by its creator. Therefore, if the reality of the church we find ourselves in does not align with his definition, changes need to be made. Intentionally, but honorably.

Because if we view the church simply as a meeting we attend, and if it is not built upon the person and the will of Jesus, if church does not impact its surrounding community, we are at best wasting our precious time and frankly acting as hypocrites, going through the motions and hosting a social club. So friends, my fellow believers, here is my appeal to you. If we are truly followers of Jesus, we have a responsibility to know Jesus' plan for the church and to get on board with it.

If we are truly Jesus' followers, we do not have the option to redefine church or even separate ourselves from it. We have a responsibility to become the church that Jesus intended. Yes, we are supposed to gather on Sunday in one place.

It seems obvious that the Sunday gathering is not the full picture of church. It is what we do during the week as people who are intentional to make the love of Jesus known in our communities. This is a church that has a true impact on the world.

Even as I speak these words, I hear the arguments from those who have been hurt by church. I hear you. Most importantly, God hears you and it grieves him.

But let's return to the foundations of our faith. Unmerited grace, forgiveness and redemption. And with this, I invite you to a new perspective.

The church is imperfect because you and I are in it. We step into church with our own set of baggage and defects, and yet we expect grace. Have we never hurt or disappointed someone? Of course we have. And we would want to have a chance for redemption. If we let our accusations and hurts separate us from the church, we are claiming that we are superior to the rest, that we deserve redemption, but others are less worthy.

We fool ourselves that we could have done a better job than the leaders that God appointed. But sadly, in separating ourselves from church, we separate ourselves from an essential element of God's plan for our lives. We miss a crucial part of what it means to be Christian. What is the alternative to avoiding the life of the church or attending it as an occasional spectator? It is not to deny what is wrong with the church, nor is it to claim that we could have done better ourselves. The alternative is to go back to the foundations of our faith of love, forgiveness, the call to obedience, to go back to the New Testament Church.

We are a part of something bigger than us, and we can only be truly blessed if we build in submission according to the plan that God gave us. This is where Christian faith theory should become Christian faith practice. If you have felt demotivated or questioned the purpose of church, or even if you've been deeply hurt, I implore you to keep listening.

My hope is that with this message, we would revisit the blueprint of what Jesus envisioned, and that we would start to build or repair according to his plan. The church is made up of people who choose to believe, who acknowledge Jesus Christ as their God, as both their Lord and their Savior. We are a people who say yes to follow him. We are supposed to have said yes to trust that his will is superior to ours. This is a yes that should lead us to transformation as we allow ourselves to be shaped to become more like him. I'm not claiming that this is easy. But think about it. We are the body of believers, the ones that he gave his very life for. We are deeply loved.

We are the ones chosen to represent the King and manifest his will on earth. The believers, as diverse as we are, are united by God's commands and his commission.

This is the gospel manifested. Am I naïve to believe that it is possible to build a community of friends that are passionately united by love, as Jesus defines it? We simply cannot exist without the command that commissions us to go out there in the world and introduce and reconcile everyone with the Father and the redemptive love of Jesus.

Love not as a feeling, but as a command that requires deliberate action. Christians should be people in sub-mission. Our very lives should be arranged around the will of the one who gave us the very breath we breathe.

And Jesus is the head of this church. He is also the solution to every problem and for all the brokenness in the world. He protects us, secures us and sets us free.

And it is Jesus who chose us, the church, to make this known to the rest of the world. Not just through our words, but our lifestyle. Impossible to do this during a single meeting on a Sunday morning.

This must happen out on the street, at home, in schools, in business and life. That is why the church should function as a body and not just as individuals. Because the solution is not found in a single person. Each of us carry a part that is made complete by everyone's contribution. In a culture that celebrates independence, the Bible reminds us that we are dependent on him and on one another to be fully whole. The God of heaven and earth, the king of kings, calls his church his beloved, his bride.

And that brings me to the next point. How often have we contaminated the bride with our criticisms, gossip and opinions? How could we let our criticisms separate us from the rest of the body and the very mission that defines our very existence on this earth? Yes, we are called to be the church every day, but biblically, we are to be a part of a local gathering of believers who are meant to impact not only the community of believers, but the surrounding region. We are to create a new kingdom governed by kingdom principles with our mandate and our authority from the king.

In other words, the called out gathered believers or ecclesia are meant to be an expression of his government and influence on the earth. With this in mind, how are we doing, church?

To fully comprehend our assignment, take a moment to reflect about what God's kingdom is like in heaven. According to the Bible, in heaven, every being acknowledges and adores God as king who is perfect in love, power and justice. In heaven, there are no tears, sadness or sickness. Everyone there has chosen to be there.

All nationalities and tribes has a place and a purpose, and everyone is valued and established in their identity as sons and daughters of the king of kings. There is no insecurity, no racism, no superiority, no war. In heaven, joy is abundant and love reigns.

Does our local church look like this picture of heaven, or at least aspire to it? Is our main objective to adore and revere our king and establish his kingdom of heaven in our local community? Do we put his will above our own?

Are we committed to this vision? Is our local church a place where we love each other intentionally, even the unlovable? Where we pursue his presence, miraculous healing and joy?

If we truly grasp what God is saying to his church at this moment in time, it will radically change how each of us live. If we take this seriously, all of us will have to humbly fall to our knees and admit we have some changes to make in our hearts and in our lives to start looking like this church that reflects Jesus. I hope that this will lead to honoring honest, humble discussions with leaders and church members about how we can collaborate and unite towards this common goal.

It is time that we stop being stuck on church failures of the past and stop standing on the sidelines pointing fingers.It is time to decide to take our church hearts and actively pursue healing in the arms of the Father, of the healer, to ask for and to give forgiveness and second chances. Every believer's life starts when they are given a chance to be reborn, and so it is just appropriate that the church is given a chance for a new birth.

Let the church be born again. I implore you, my friends, it is time to take responsibility for the assignment that we've been given, to start to get our hands dirty, to rebuild and reform our churches, so that it will start to look like a reflection of heaven.

Yes, some existing churches will be revived, and new churches will be birthed, not out of arrogance and rebellion, but out of the conviction that the work is so great that we can only accomplish it with multiple local churches that make up the global church.

And there is a place for all biblically based creative expressions of church. We are united by the same Jesus, the same values and the same mission, even if it is expressed in a different way. Yes, there is a place for all of us.

So what now? It is easy to talk about building or reforming the church, but how do we practically do this? It has to start with us.

We need to be prepared to align our lives, our activities and our priorities with the will of God. If the church is so important to God that it is his chosen instrument to manifest his glory on this earth and in the heavenly realm, then we have to start to own our mission and make space for it in our lives. We need to repent of our neglect, our shortcomings and failures and start to rebuild hand in hand under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

We will have to be committed to the restoration of relationships and honoring God-appointed leadership. Then my friends, turn to the Bible. How can we deny the importance of church when so much of the New Testament was written to local churches? The letter to the Romans, the church in Corinth, Galatia, Ephesians, Philippi, to the Colossians and to the Thessalonians, and read the Book of Acts. Read about how it all started and what is possible to us if we would only believe and step out in faith to recreate those pages in our day.

And when you read those books, do you see one pastor serving a congregation of passive observance.

Does the church look like a one hour meeting on a Sunday? No, my friends, church is a movement of people devoted to the will of Jesus, who lay down their lives for each other and for him. Church members met in the temples and in their homes.

They were tentmakers and fishermen and business women. They represented him in the workplace during the week, and they dedicated time and finance to advance the kingdom. They were the church during the week and the church who gathered on the Sabbath.

Each local church may look different because of different needs in the local society. Through the years, there has been a different emphasis on church models, from pastoral to prophetic. But the church in the New Testament is built on the foundations of the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus as the head of this church.

In the New Testament church, it is not believing that one office or ministry is more important than another. In the New Testament church, there should be a representation of the fivefold gifts of Apostle, Pastor, Prophet, Evangelist and Teacher. And let us remember the why.

The church is a community and a family. Think about what this means. In a family, there is training and correction, discipline and accountability and love.

For a family to work, it cannot be self-centered. In the world around us, there is a multitude of people who need Jesus. And it is our mission to find them.

And there is a multitude of people who will need a home where they can be safe and they can grow when they decide to follow Jesus. If each believer embraces this assignment, we will fulfill a big part of our own destiny. The purpose of this message is to wake us up to this destiny.

That we would change our expectation to go to church for a small group of pastors to look after our needs. That we would change from attending church as a spectator or a consumer, or to go from church to church, or to conference to conference, for what we can receive. My desire is that we would move from passivity to faith-filled action, from criticism to repentance, from hurt to healed.

It is my desire that every believer commits to the reform and the rebirth of a church that functions with authority and has true impact in society and on the lives of individuals, as the church is destined to do. If you know me, you will know that there is much more to follow on this topic in the future.

But for now, let us evaluate the condition of our churches and start making the changes firstly in our hearts. Then, in close collaboration with the Holy Spirit, let us make the changes necessary in our churches to become a church that has a true impact on society and is a true reflection of the Kingdom of God.

Until next time, friends.

Ephesians 2: 4 – 10, 19 - 22

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.