How Application can Short-Circuit Revelation

Earlier this year Dori and I visited a congregation and the Spirit was ministering to our hearts as the pastor worked his way through passages on the passion of Christ. It wasn’t a flashy sermon but Dori and I both commented afterwards that as the Scripture was read we felt part of the story. We could see what was happening as the Spirit ministered through the story. But alas, the sermon couldn’t end without application points being added; how this story is relevant to our lives. And the application really didn’t have anything to do with the thrust of the particular passage in the Scripture, though it was true generally in Christianity. I know this is the normal way Christians give and receive communication these days, but I would suggest that the biblical stories are not simply the husks provided to contain spiritual truth (application), but in themselves have their own message to convey. There are things that God wants to speak to us, specific things, and the Scripture is more than a big storybook. And 25 minute sermons are limited in what they can do, and we have to “get to the point”, so I guess I’m suggesting that we ought to challenge the idea that we can receive the spiritual meaning of God’s story within the paradigm of three points and application. We live in a pragmatic age that exalts efficiency and brevity (and that’s being generous) at the expense of engaging in living an alternate reality.

Thoughts on The Body of Christ

Biblically, to be in Christ is synonymous with being in the Body. This Body is the church. Most of us, when we think about church, think about local church. At best when we think big picture thoughts about church it is in some non-tangible, spiritual form. My wife and I talk about this from time to time and marvel (sadly) that religions that don’t have the Spirit of God are nevertheless at least as unified outwardly - if not more so - than those of us who have denominated ourselves and yet claim some sort of profound inner, spiritual connectedness in Christ.

Could it be that our preaching for the past centuries has been so focused on a personal, individual relationship with God (Jesus) that we have completely excluded the idea of our common life being found in belonging to the same justifying system – the kingdom of God? In other words, are we so wary of anything that smells of obligation to one another because we consider it a legalism that might take away from our "personal" (read private) relationship with Christ?

O Brother Inc Philosophy of Ministry

In its simplest terms, our mission is to “to preach about the kingdom of God and to teach with all confidence those things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ” (see Acts 28: 31). Within those parameters we minister the gift of Jesus in us by the Holy Spirit. He has guided us to work and live in Peru, South America, bringing foundational truths about Jesus the Christ to established and new churches (Matthew 16: 13 – 20, Ephesians 2: 20), and to share with Him the work of making disciples (Matthew 28: 18 – 20, Mark 16: 19, 20).

Though we presently make our home in Arequipa, Peru, we have found favor to minister the gospel throughout Peru, as well as in the nations of Argentina, Chile, and the U.S.A. We see our involvement with God’s purposes as gift-driven, rather than project or organization-driven. That is, our mission is subject to what the Lord sees as the present need within the Church, for the building up of His Body (I Corinthians 12: 18). This gift-driven ministry is what has led us to travel extensively and minister across a number of cultures, nations, and situations.

We believe that Jesus’ mission was not only to save individual sinners, but to introduce an entirely new way of Life – an eternal culture - into the present mix (Mark 1: 14, 15). This culture is the kingdom of God, and is lived out through God’s nation the Church (Matthew 21: 43, I Peter 2: 9, 10), as a challenge to the systems that keep men in bondage (be they religious, political, or outright demonic: Ephesians 3: 10 – 12, Colossians 1: 13 - 16). The individual converted life, then, is introduced into God’s purpose in Christ of seeing “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as in heaven” (Matthew 6: 10).

On the local level (and international for that matter!), Church is the gathering of Christ’s disciples to do kingdom business. This can and does happen on Sundays and Wednesdays, but is not limited to set times and meetings. The oversight we provide for local congregations in Peru, and to individuals in different parts of the world, is for this purpose – that the Church might live out its high calling (I Peter 2: 9, 10). Our contribution to the work of the local church is to recognize individual giftings and help in their development (Romans 12: 3, I Corinthians 12: 11). This is done through regular gatherings (Hebrews 10: 24, 25), participating in different projects, and promoting the bond of unity among the brotherhood (Ephesians 4: 2, 3).