By Josh
In class we have been talking about and reading so many things about becoming a “missional church”. But I have noticed a lack of recognition and dependence on the power and guidence of the Holy Spirit in both the discussion and the books. Everyone has so many good ideas of ways to reform the church and make it into what God intended it to be…..which is not a bad thing in itself; the problem lies in the fact that Christians often take an American entrepreneurial approach in this reforming, and I can’t help but wonder where the guidance and submission to the will of the Spirit is in all of this.
It is important to remember that even Jesus, the incarnated Son of God, was led around by the Spirit much like a child is led around by his mother (Matthew 4:1, Mark 1:12). We must also remember that Paul was led and directed by the Spirit in all of his missionary ventures (Acts 13:4, Acts 20:22). In Romans it declares that the Sons of God are led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14). Should we not as Americans, who often have very little in depth vision into the will of God, not rely on the guidance of the Spirit much more than these men did?
Yet we see Christian after Christian pursuing missions or pursuing the ministry without ever have consulted the Spirit for guidance. Christians need to be constantly submitting themselves in prayer to seek to know what the will of God is as revealed to them through His Spirit. And until we figure this out, the majority of our church plants will continue to fail within the first few years.
Honestly, I struggle with this. I struggle with God because I cannot control Him. I cannot control what the Holy Spirit does in my life. How do we surrender to Him? I know that I have to start with prayer and listening. Only God can take this cup from me and only the Holy Spirit can speak into my life and make me realize my sin. My prayer is that I will daily surrender my will to His will which comes with a lot of risk and a lot of failure. This is a difficult thing though, and I understand why we so often fail. It is so difficult to let go of the control. I can’t do it on my own. We have to give it to God.
Interesting. I know our community (which is full of intuitive types) doesn’t really embark on anything without a sense of the movement of the Spirit. Sometimes it’s only in retrospect however that we realize the movement of the Spirit, and I think that’s what’s challenging. It’s much more difficult to listen to the Spirit than it is to strategize. But to be moving authentically on mission requires both a commitment to listening to the Spirit and a commitment to doing our best to steward what God has given us (which includes strategy). When this fails is when we don’t leave our planning in open hands to listen to God’s leading. I think of Acts’ description of Paul’s missionary voyage. It’s quite clear that Paul had a plan laid out for what he was doing. But it’s also clear that there were moments where he had to step away from that and listen to the Spirit as the Spirit confounded his plans. Absolutely, we must have an openness to discernment and listening if we’re really following God on this, as the Spirit is foundational to the mission of God.
Josh,
I completely agree that we as Christians need to constantly (daily or more) seek guidance from the Holy Spirit! I also completely agree that Americans do not seem to consult the Holy Spirit (or at least make it public knowledge that they have). Do you think that American’s truly are not consulting the Holy Spirit in beginning their ministries or is it that we as a culture do not make it known to each other? If it is the case that we do not make it known to each other we should probably start making it known to each other as a form of encouragement.