Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I apologize for not writing in so long. It is not that I haven’t tried or wanted to for I have sat here many times with things to say but the words would just not come out of my fingers. It has been a wonderful few months and as I reread the last note I had to stop in wonder at the gracious hand of God that has gently broken my heart and healed me. I hope that God will allow me to share with you in the future days what He has done.
I believe that it is time for the body of Christ to stop thinking and be. This may sound confusing so let me explain. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is a sound mind so I am not promoting an idea that we need to throw away or even discredit our ability to think and use the logical mind that God has given us. Thinking is a good thing; however, in the body of Christ today, I believe that thinking has superseded being. So what does it mean to be?
There are two avenues through which we perceive things. There is the thinking, logical piece that allows us to make choices based on what we already know and understand, and what we are experiencing that requires a decision or action. There is also an intuitive piece to the way we perceive things. Intuition is the sensory part of our perception, also referred to as our heart, that produces individuality and a sense of being. As we seek to become more like Jesus, it is in this intuitive part that the Holy Spirit dwells. This is an area of challenge for a lot of people because it is easier for us to quantify facts and logic and then make a decision to act, but much harder to act on something that we “just know.” It is important to point out that there is only one period of time when we can “be” and that is the current moment we are living in right now. It is so easy to get wrapped up in mulling over the past or trying to strategize for the future. In fact, we get so consumed by this that we brush right past one another and the world around us in our effort to do something about it. Even more tragic is our inability to let the Holy Spirit guide us because the crescendo of our thinking holds our attention and we miss the quiet voice that is ever faithful and true that is speaking right now. The truth is that the Spirit cannot speak to us in either the past or the future because we are not there, we are here in this moment. The problem is that we cannot hear the Spirit because we are not listening, we are thinking.
Here are some indicators that I see as a result of our thinking. There are some awesome theological minds out there, but it seems that we have become consumed by finding a new way to express our favorite theology. Strategy abounds in the church today; pathways, formulas, and programs have flooded the holy marketplace and we clamor to appropriately finish the next schedule of events that will propel us into a better position. We have the highest quality sound coming from the instruments and vocals of the most talented among us but what worship time can you remember when the schedule of events was surrendered because the body of Christ responded to a sense of being in the presence of God Almighty. In all this we speak the truth and teach what is right and even exercise some of the gifts God has given us. It seems to me, though, that the product of our thinking has separated us from our ability to simply “be” with Jesus.
The things which cause us to”be” such as intercessory prayer, listening prayer, or opening the Holy Bible to read the Word seem to make us feel uncomfortable. How would we react if the leadership announced that next Sunday would be devoted to prayer and seeking God’s heart for the kingdom? What if in our private time with God we put aside the devotional and opened the Holy Bible and began seeking God for the truth to be opened to us directly from those pages? What if a majority of the church gave all of their attention to being filled with the Holy Spirit so the power of God could once again flow through the church? What if we actually reached out our hands to touch the hurting? I believe that we are the most knowledgeable, highly polished church in history but I wonder if we have forgotten how to be.
Please hear me on this. I do not write this to criticize the activities we are involved with today but I do want to encourage us to at least pause and take a look at what we are doing. Is the fruit of the Spirit alive in us and the church we attend? Do we pause to seek Him? Individually? Together? Jesus spoke a very short line in Luke 10:42 to Martha who had worked very hard all day doing good honest work. He said, “…Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Mary had just spent all of her time at His feet listening to His every word. My prayer is that we will do the same.
His Kid, Your Brother
Ken
His Kid, Your Brother 