Most folks have read or heard the story of Nicodemus. The respected religious leader who wanted to talk with Jesus but couldn't be seen doing so. He wanted to know more about what this Jesus was teaching, but his position and standing in the community required that he meet discreetly...privately...in a safe out of the way place. He didn't feel free to ask his questions out in the open where everyone could see. He didn't feel free to step out of who he was and into who God was calling him to be.
What would happen if people’s eyes were opened to who they
really are in Christ? What would happen if we gave them permission to be who
they are? Right where they are?
I got a phone call from the pastor of an almost mega-church
with which I was vaguely familiar. A
mutual friend had given him my number and he asked if we could meet and talk…privately. We agreed on a time and place where he was
unlikely to be recognized. The next
morning as we sat drinking truck stop coffee in a neighboring county, he shared
his heart.
He was lead pastor of a successful, growing church. They had
all the right programs. Youth activities, women’s bible study, men’s group,
home groups, prayer groups, adult education offerings. They had lively worship,
relevant sermons, and a food-pantry to serve the poor. The local newspaper even
interviewed him occasionally when they thought a national or regional issue
merited an opinion from a local religious leader. By all indications, he had it
made.
And he had felt hollow. Spiritually empty. He could go
through the motions…do all the right things…and achieve all the expected
results. But he wanted more. Privately, he longed for an experience of God’s
presence and power that was REAL. Like
in the bible. Like in the books he was reading during his personal devotions.
Over time, God answered his prayers and he began to sense the presence of the
Holy Spirit deeply and daily. In prayer and personal ministry, he spoke less
and listened more, and saw the Holy Spirit move in amazing and powerful ways
for which he had no theological grid.
Much to the chagrin of some of his board members, this
hunger for more of God’s presence, more power, more reality, began to show up
in committee meetings and in sermons. He tried to heed their advice. Maintain “balance”.
Avoid becoming too “radical”. But he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that
God wanted MORE for his church as well. That a church filled with God’s
presence and power would actually start to look like the New Testament church…outside
the walls and impacting whole regions! And while he tried to be reasonable, the
still small voice grew louder and rowdier.
“So what do I do?” he asked. “Where do I start?”
We talked for a while, and prayed, and I agreed to visit his
church the following week to quietly watch and pray. That Sunday he poured out
his heart from the platform. He shared a vision for the transforming power of
the presence of God moving through their congregation, healing lives and moving
people out of the seats and into the streets. The Holy Spirit was palpably
present and many were quietly moved to tears. But when he finished and invited
people to come forward to pray with members of the ministry team, almost no one
did. Many told him afterward how “touched” or “moved” they were by his words,
but then quickly left. Others were silent, thoughtful, even struggling…but made
their way to the doors and parking lot.
Two days later we met at the truck stop again. When I asked for his thoughts on why so many
were touched but so few responded, he was quiet for a long time. Finally said
softly, “No one has ever given them permission to want more! No one has ever
given them permission to be desperate.”
How often have you been given permission to be desperate? Different?
Unique? To get the job done but to do it in your own way? To go after more when
others seem satisfied? Does it seem that the “now” and the “how” of the calling
you sense just doesn’t quite fit with the reasoned and orderly and dignified “when”
and the “way things are done” of those around you? You’re not alone!
This is the topic of today’s Marketplace Kingdom
conversation. We hope you’ll join us and invite others to do so as well. It’s
time! Listen. Be encouraged…and find “Permission to Be Who You Are!”
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