We say things like, “put up or shut up.” A big part of the idea of earned respect has to do with the ability to actually deliver on a person’s solid word. In another words, if you say you can do it, then you do it.
Where’s the beef?
For 2000 years the followers of Jesus Christ have been more famous for preaching the Gospel than for demonstrating the gospel, and it just plain rubs some people wrong. I don’t blame ‘em.
We are the only people in the world who carry a message of love no matter what, power over everything and limitless possibilities, yet we are world wide known for judgment, weakness and going after people’s money.
A lot of it is just plain bogus bad press because the world hates us, but some of it is sadly undeniable. Sometimes I look over my coffee cup and think, “no wonder we get such bad press.”
Mixed signals
What would you think if you lived 1,200 years ago, stepped into a church and saw that most church leaders were unbelievers? If you looked around and saw the bible — that they claimed was so important — was written in a language people couldn’t understand and was chained to the pulpit where it couldn’t be read. If you had any since at all you would think, at the very least, Christianity was ran by a bunch of bipolar manic depressives.
What would you think if today you stepped into a church that preached liberty in the Holy Spirit while demonstrating stuffiness and restriction on anything non churchy? We have a long way to go when it comes to being Jesus with skin on. We need to put up or shut up and not be willing to substitute anything for the love of God and the power only He can offer.
Power outage
Legend has it that when Francis of Assisi was given an audience with Pope Innocent III, the pope brought Francis into his throne room and proudly displayed his gold and jewels.
“Do you see, Francis,” he boasted. “The church can no longer say as Peter once did, ‘silver and gold have I none.’”
“Yes, your Holiness, but neither can the church say ‘In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk,’” Francis replied.
Now, the Brewer has not taken on a vow of poverty, but I refuse to live a powerless life. In fact, I want to be a mean motor scooter when it comes to dominion, and I invite you to jump in because the water is warm.
What the heaven?
Believe it or not, there are still Christians out here who believe a church service should be all about an encounter with God and equipping and edifying the saints. We also do not believe that our whole lives should be about church services. There is just as much power from God in learning how to throw a curve ball as there is in learning to have good church.
We also believe that to preach life without loving life is hypocrisy. To preach the Power of God without demonstrating the power of God is ludicrous. To say that God is giving and loving without we, as a church, being giving and loving is unthinkable and to teach and study about God without personally knowing God in intimacy is tragedy and a life wasted.
So dad-gum-it, let’s be people who are naturally supernatural in how we love and live life more abundantly. The world really needs us to put up or shut and for a motor mouth like me, the later is never an option.
“And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 1 Corinthians 2:4
Troy Brewer Pastors Open Door Ministries in Johnson County, Texas and can be found at www.freshfromthebrewer.com or www.opendoorministries.org
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