The Christian’s Inheritance : Part 2

  • Nick Davis
  • Aug 4, 2009

    Small Malady #1 – Excessive Genealogical Focus
    When we only see our inheritance as receiving the blessing of the gospel and passing it on to our family, the church introspects and eventually dies. I know of a church in Australia that is now buried in the church cemetery, and the building has been rented out for secular use.
    No matter how noble the family intent, the church remains to propagate the power and person of Jesus Christ throughout the earth. As Christ came with a message, so too do we carry the same message for the multitude in the valley of decision .

    Small Malady #2 – Excessive Geographical Focus
    When the effort is missional more than familial - when the mission becomes a “missional movement” - we spread out but are leached over time of power, testimony and the legacy to keep things going. Churches are planted, but most never quite take root. Fathers are burnt out and gifts become “as sharp as basketballs”. For a few years, the hubris of national and global spread warms the innards with tales and testimonies from jungles to rented school gymnasiums, but eventually the movement dries and withers through rootlessness; through inter-generational failure .

    Small Malady #3 – Gravitational Focus
    By “gravitational”, I mean that within me that pulls things towards me. The self-focus. Nick Hardy said it best when he commented that “most people love the Kingdom coming when it means blessing, but not when it includes suffering”. Suffering is part of our short term inheritance, in walking as Jesus did, in attaining to the same resurrection.
    The Latter Rain movement, also known as Word of Faith, spawned many good ministries, and also definitely stimulated faith in churches. Sadly however, as it became a “movement”, much was directed gravitationally, attested to now by the vast swathe of TV and internet ministries, promising or suggesting blessing, healing and prosperity - if the “faith-formula” is followed. Such a push-button god is not the God of the Bible .
    A sector of this focused not so much on wealth, but on doing the miracles of Jesus. Miracles – megas teras – are part of the Kingdom coming, but our founding faith should not be in them, or a lack of them. The focus on “Kingdom Now” (focused on social and national transformation through the gospel) teaching de-prioritizes spiritual ambitions as well as Christ’s return; while “Latter Rain” (focused on doing the works of Christ) teachings still all too often de-deify Christ to the unbiblical single-nature “Man with the Spirit”, thus elevating ourselves to Christ-status, once we have received the Spirit .
    The more extreme statements must be contemplated, simply because many of them came from the “founders” of the Word-Fath Movement. To illustrate this de-deification of Jesus, Kenneth Copeland said the following in 1989:
    The Spirit of God spoke to me and He said, “Son, realize this. Now follow me in this and don’t let your tradition trip you up.” He said, “Think this way: a twice-born man whipped Satan in his own domain.” And I threw my Bible down, like that, and I said, “What?” He said, “A born-again man defeated Satan, the firstborn of many brethren defeated him.” He said, “You are the very image and the very copy of that one.” I said, “Goodness, gracious sakes alive!” And I began to see what had gone on in there. And I said, “Well now you don’t mean, you couldn’t dare mean that I could have done that same thing?” He said, “Oh yeah. If you’d had the same knowledge of the Word of God that He did, you could’ve done the same thing, ‘cause you’re a reborn man too.” (Substitution and Identification, 1989)
    The evangelistic awakening through Billy Graham and the healing crusades of Roberts, Coe and Branham were stirring indeed, and I would agree that millions of believers fly well below the altitude God wants for us. I do believe in miracles to gather crowds for the preaching of the gospel; I do believe in supernatural healing too - having received it from God and seen God give it through my prayers. I do believe in signs and wonders. I want to see more, but my gaze must remain on Jesus, and He remains the Son of God, and I only a son in Him.
    One nett effect of gravitational ministry is the formularization of God’s nature, power and dealings with mankind. It also so easily lends itself to guruism (“get the touch; “carry the flame”; “receive my anointing”), imitation and a robbery of the power and romance of each individual journey and calling. I would prefer to aim at something rather than nothing, yet this alone does not protect us from all manner of idolatry in the long run.

    Major Malady – Missing the Christ-Hermeneutic
    Humanism is ugly in any form. This anthropocentric tug came into force the moment Eve bit into the apple . It is man’s way of doing things his way. It is man’s way of remaining focused on man – this goes beyond the Tower of Babel even into Christian ministry .
    God wants us looking to Him, for everything. In life and in death, in sickness and in health, in riches and poverty. Blessings and hardships – these are all God’s way of turning our eyes to Him.
    And then, ultimately, God sent His only begotten Son. In surrendering His dignity, His status and His very life for our sins, Christ opened the Life Gate that All may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice…. yet so many remain deaf, unwitting, un-appreciating.
    And so too in the church, we get saved in a rush of heaven, and we fall in love. But our motive in this marriage can be as self-indulgent as many men on their honeymoon. And as time goes by, the selfish nature of our mindsets pervades into self-centered pursuits, where our new Life Partner is invited to bless, help, serve, love, but we remain the Lord of our own chariots.
    In the modern world, many in the church are not so carnal as to merely use Christ for material Ends. But use Him we still can do. In this more ecclesiastical scenario, He is the empoweror of our Preaching, the planter  of our Churches, the Enlarger of our Congregations, the worker of our Miracles, the definer of our Success-Identities, the vindicator of our Decisions.
    I cannot give my life to these ends, no matter how noble or altruistic they might “feel” for a while (normally 10-15 years). The “Christ-hermeneutic” is more than a change of source of blessing (whether corporal, ecclesiastical or social); it is a change of heart, aim, ambition, power, destiny, Sovereign.
    John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”.
    The threefold prayer of Paul for the Ephesus church – that they might know the hope, the inheritance and the power – all were prefaced with the chief prayer of “knowing Him better”.
    •    The key to prosperity is Christ, not a faith formula. Ps 16:5 “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.”
    •    The key to leadership is Christ, not training leaders. 1 Cor. 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
    •    The key to miracles is Christ, not atmosphere or music or a quest for miracles. Gal 3:2, 5 “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?”
    •    The key to marriage is Christ, not marriage seminars. Eph 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”
    •    The key to church planting is Christ, not the right team or prayer. Acts 11:20-22 “Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.”
    •    The key to perseverance is Christ, not success nor psychology. Heb 12:2-3 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
    •    The key to rewards is Christ, not a focus on rewards, or trying not to focus on them. Phil 3:10-11 “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
    •    The key to scripture is Christ, not another podcast. 1 Cor 2:16 ““For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?”. But we have the mind of Christ.”
    •    The key to unity is Christ, not an insistence on unity. Eph. 4:15-16 “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
    •    The key to holiness is Christ, not principles for holy living. Col 1:22 “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation”
    The key to our inheritance is Christ, for He is the sum total of our Inheritance .
    It is true that leaders and ministers in a church scenario without Christ as the central gaze, become one of the following (as more earthly inheritances than Christ are pursued) :
    •    Pundit – the one for whom everything can be known; everything can be pronounced on, centered professionally on the importance of information. Knowledge is more powerful than Christ’s Humility.
    •    Engineer – the one for whom everything can be designed, everything can be produced, centered professionally on production. Production and administration is more important than Christ’s Love.
    •    Marketer – the one for whom everything can be positioned, everything can be sold, centered professionally on consumer satisfaction. Impact is more important than Christ’s Truth.
    •    Consultant – everything can be better organized, everything can be better delivered, centered professionally on management. Efficiency and workflow are more important than Christ’s Life.
    •    Therapist – everything can be gotten in touch with, everything can be adjusted or healed, centered professionally on healing. Human need more important than Christ’s Mission.
    •    Impresario – everything can be conveyed to advantage through the presentation of images regardless of any reality, centered professionally on public relations. Sensation and Impact more important than Imitating Christ.