POWER, PROPHECY OR PROGRAMMES

“We have replaced power with programs, revelation with administration and the Father’s heart with organizational skills.”

So said John Paul Jackson in an article about the coming storm that is going to rock society here, there and everywhere.

He said we are more interested in knowing about God rather than knowing God.

He blames what has happened in the USA with the financial meltdown on the church, which is no longer a beacon for society. It is a disorganised, disunited, disinterested and a disturbingly ineffective expression of the nature and kingdom of God.

The churches focus is more about programmes, administration and organization, rather than power, revelation and the centrality of the King of Kings.

We follow the latest charismatic figure instead of the king of kings. We follow the latest fad instead of the need for prayer. We follow the traditions of our denomination instead of the pure word of God. We follow the status quo instead of the dictates of the Holy Spirit. We follow what disturbs us the least instead of the way of the cross. We follow religion instead of relationship. We follow ritual instead of reality. We follow the crowd instead of the one and only builder of the church.

Is it any wonder that our goal is not to know God but to know about him? If we get to know him, we may have to change the way we do things and the way we are. That might mean some radical reordering of our lives and the life of the church. This is fine if you haven’t got a ministry or position to defend, then it gets tricky so it is better to keep the status quo.

When we do that we lose the right to speak prophetically because prophecy never gets a hearing in the midst of compromise. Without a prophetic voice, the church is nothing more than a gabfest with the intention to keep everyone happy. In other words, it loses its power and without that it is…powerless.

Why would anyone want to join a powerless organisation when the world is full of …powerless organisations.

To speak prophetically you have to ignore what everyone else thinks. Prophets are not people who want to be popular. That is except with God. A prophet can only do one thing and that is tell it like it is. It is sufficient that they hear from God and then say what they have heard. If others cannot handle that, it isn’t the prophet’s problem.

The church has got its programmes, administration and organisation down to a nauseatingly boring T. Now what we need is a demonstration of God’s power and his word. Without that all we are doing is playing in the sandpit.