“For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.” Matthew 18:20
Shedding the trappings of a broken past is highly variable. God alone decides what survives into the new life He gives each of us. Sometimes the assumptions and expectations of the past die slowly. It’s not pretty to watch.
It was an old mental habit; I was literally hoping to build a mission here. At one time I had hopes of seeing a significant number of believers join us in our home for worship and study. I’m starting to sense this simply isn’t possible in the near future, and maybe not even during my lifetime. Maybe it won’t happen for any of you, dear readers, either. It’s not that God can’t do it, but I seriously doubt now that He has any such plans for me. My heart tells me it’s rooted in the nature of our times.
Instead, we will continue to be widely and thinly scattered for now. We are the first fruits of God’s new work. I’ll still do a lot of long distance pastoring. Obviously I’m at peace with that, excited even. Meanwhile, I still sense that there are a lot of folks out there seeking who simply won’t find us as you, dear readers, have done. Rather, we all have to be ready to share this faith wherever we go in other ways.
You should not imagine it like current mainstream religion does, where you seek to win a formal convert. It’s nothing like that. We offer as much moral and spiritual food as anyone will take at any given time and place. What they do with it is their problem. By the same token, we’ll gladly receive what they give us. But in the context of our society’s expectations, this will be a rather solitary religion. Not that we are called to be hermits, but that our world is deeply hardened against this.
We are a force that cannot be located on any map, but a powerful assembly connected through that alternative universe of moral truth. You can be sure the earth itself keeps track of us. It knows where we all are because it loves us. We are the peaceful relief it gains from the true revelation of the children of God (Romans 8:19 again). It will protect and encourage us in every way possible. We don’t have to know each other’s names because Creation itself calls to each of us.
We can remain connected virtually here and in other ways that take advantage of the modern technology of virtual communications. I’m not here to gather you all on a roll of membership, but to simply be one of the many who have been set free. Let’s celebrate our freedom together. Get together with others of like faith when you can, but know beyond all doubt each of us will meet in eternity.
As long as God sees fit to protect and prosper this blog and my means to connect, I’ll keep posting. I’ll keep answering your comments and queries, and if you need to hear my voice or exchange personal text messages, just ask how we can do that. But as noted in yesterday’s post, this thing does not depend on me.
We are building a new reality, a world few will know for quite some time to come. We need to remember the verse quoted above, because it may well be a literal description of how we operate for a while yet. I know that in my own world, I’ve had way too much mass worship with people who wouldn’t understand much of the faith God has given me. I suppose some of you, dear readers, have a similar experience. There’s nothing wrong with it, but God offers something far better. It won’t come on our schedule. At some point we are going to find ourselves involved in something none of us has yet seen, a worship with those who truly belong in this alternative universe. But before that can happen, we have to find those people. I’ve tried to warn folks of the magnitude of the task of moving believers off their Western heritage. The Lord has refreshed in my soul just how big that is.
It’s quite possible you’ll find yourself in a more receptive atmosphere, and I celebrate with you. But your pastor here in Central Oklahoma has been warned that he will see precious little of that in the near future. So the track I’m on right now predicts a lot of that long-distance, virtual fellowship I’ve had with a few here for some time now. I’m looking forward to seeing that grow. I’m not begging you to get more involved and more interactive with me; you have to sense your own imperative for that work. Don’t do it just because I suggest it. Do it because the Lord drives you to it.
We’ve got a long way to go and a massive task ahead of us. God’s got plans He doesn’t tell us for reasons we could never comprehend. The most important thing is for each of us to know what He requires of us today. Don’t artificially separate evangelism from simply feeding the flock. For most of us, the actual work of both is exactly the same thing.
This gives a whole new meaning to “quality over quantity.”
Every instance of an encounter with another is an opportunity for a connection. BUT only if God wishes it so. And only IF we are connected with Him, can we know His wishes. And then, only if He wants us to know His wish at that moment and wants us involved. Listening then, becomes crucial so it is His Will not ours that is done.
That being said, He does bless us with that intimate knowledge of when it is His wish for us to make a connection and when we do as He would have us do, all creation shouts!
One word, smile, or eye contact shining with His Love sometimes is all that He requires of us. He does the rest.
We must be always vigilant and ready to do His bidding. For we are His workers.