Men Of Destiny
Method to the Madness
We church people are an odd bunch. Don’t be mad; after all, the Bible calls us “peculiar”. Not only is our belief system the complete inversion of what most in our society deem to be a successful life, the way we govern ourselves and define victory is completely foreign to those outside of the Kingdom. It’s very hard to explain to someone who doesn’t know Christ personally how the Body of Christ works. In fact, sometimes it’s hard for us within the Church to understand it from time to time.
Lately, it seems rather fashionable to spend more time pointing out what’s wrong with the Church over what’s right. However, in spite of any criticism offered, I believe in the Kingdom of God and in The Church of Jesus Christ, an institution of God’s making. It offers the absolute best chance for community, evangelism, and discipleship to be accomplished. But no institution involving people can possibly be perfect. By virtue of our rampant imperfection, organizations run by them will also have inherent flaws. Many of those flaws have been in place long before Christ even walked the earth.
In Numbers 21, we read of an instance in which the people of God were rebelling against Him. The Father responded by sending poisonous snakes into their midst, killing many. As a result, the Israelites begged Moses to intervene on their behalf. The answer given for their cure was a unique one. “Then the Lord told him, ‘Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!’ So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!” (Numbers 21:8-9) It was a unique solution to a very unique problem, and all who looked upon it were cured.
Fast forward a few generations. Moses has died; Joshua has conquered; Israel has honored and dishonored God through the time of the judges; King Saul, David, and Solomon have reigned; and eventually Hezekiah comes to power. As this twenty-five year-old man takes the throne, he begins his reign by ridding the kingdom of idols. Take a look at what had survived all the transitions of God’s people. “He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it.” (II Kings 18:4)
How amazing that a bronze pole had lasted through Israel’s travels, upheavals, and transitions of power. How much more amazing that the purpose behind its construction had been long lost and became an object of worship, rather than reminding the people of their True Object of worship! But such are the pitfalls of believers in God. Without direction or a sense of priority, methods become the message rather than a tool that brings about the Message.
We church people have an odd way of falling in love with our methods sometimes. In the absence of hearing from God regularly for our world and life today, we substitute “what worked” at some other time and place. There is no evil intent here. Often, Christians want succeeding generations to have a replica of their own spiritual experience. So programs and methods become of greater value than hearing from God for His unique solution to our current problems. Most of the battles within our churches are being waged by those who refuse to tear down a pole. We know there is only one way to the Father; but it’s through Jesus, not Girls Ministry or Youth Convention or Junior Bible Quiz or a men’s prayer breakfast or Sunday night service (or Sunday morning service either) or a bus ministry. They are simply tools and have to be kept in their drawer or box until God tells us it’s time to use them. It’s a reason why Christ did not heal people the same way twice. He knew our penchant for method and “how-to”. He knew we would rely on “Christian abracadabra” rather than, “Lord, what do you say?”
Most tools are the result of people who are desperate to hear from God for an answer to a particular problem. In Acts 19, Paul didn’t have enough time or hands to touch all the people. So God creatively provided handkerchiefs and aprons to touch Paul and be placed on the sick. It was a special miracle for a unique moment. Still, how many “handkerchief and apron” campaigns or services do we see, even today? Again, people are well-meaning and desire healings to take place. But if God didn’t instruct us so, we are missing the mark, relegating God to an ATM machine that responds to the right PIN number and push-button commands.
We must keep remembering the mission of winning and discipling souls. How we get there is up to God, not tradition. He has a solution for us in 2012 if we’ll just call on Him, not be afraid of the answer, and take a torch to the poles that have become our objects of worship and affection. When we truly love Jesus more than our programs and methods, we will love the lost a lot more as well.
Mod Men’s Group 2012
