Reinventing became the rage in industry a couple of decades ago. This included reinventing everything from basic organizational structure, to how the process of making a product was done, to how it was marketed and delivered. This was helpful to many industries and businesses, but for others it only helped them to make and distribute the wrong product better, and of course they still failed.
Reinventing then became the rage in much of the church. Likewise many churches really needed a makeover, and this helped them. Others may have changed their style and even their basic organization, but they failed because their basic message was wrong and all of the repackaging in the world would not help them.
The message that we preach is crucial, but there is something else even more important. As my friend Francis Frangipane repeated often, "The church now has just about everything it needs, but God." It is the Lord in our midst, moving and doing things as only He can, that alone truly sets us apart from every other religion and philosophy in the world. More than just building to attract people, we must build that which will attract God, which will only be what He builds Himself.
Certainly there is a need to be in tune with and relevant to the times and to timing. Much of the messages of John the Baptist and Jesus spoke to the times and specific situations. Jesus did not talk to the woman at the well about being born again, but about living water. She was thirsty, not old like Nicodemus. This is why the Lord had a different message to each of the churches in the Book or Revelation, even though they each existed at the same time and in the same basic region. Each still had unique needs and a unique purpose that needed to be addressed.
One of the greatest crimes against humanity that the church has committed has been to misrepresent God to the world by being so boringly uniform. The whole creation, which we are told testifies of God, testifies most boldly about His love of diversity and creativity. For this reason, Christians, who know and are called to represent the Creator, should be the most creative people on the planet. Every church should be overflowing with such creativity that the world beats a path to the door of the church to find the new trends in everything from fashion to music to movies to all forms of art.
Now, in everything from art to music to leadership and management, and trends such as reinventing, the church tends to lag even decades behind the world. Even then, the church still cannot copy the world with even close to as much class and quality, which makes it an even sadder situation. However, this is going to change, and when it does, it will change quickly.
The main way it is going to change is when the church stops trying to compete with the world in the things that they are going to do much better than the church—such as entertainment. When we try to build on technology and entertainment, it turns our services into shows and we are not building on what will last. The only foundation that can last is Jesus Himself. He is also infinitely more interesting than any form of entertainment could ever be, not to mention that He fills the deepest need of the human heart.
The second irresistible "product" that the church is supposed to have is true fellowship. The first thing the Lord said was not good was loneliness, and there are abundant studies that show people are getting continually lonelier. People live next door to others in apartment complexes for years and do not even know each other's names. This is why television programs such as "Cheers" and "Friends" have been so popular—they are built around people connecting. However, they are popular because people are connecting with TV personalities and living vicariously through them without developing their own friends. With the breakdown of the family, loneliness is becoming even more acute.
Church is called to be the ultimate fellowship. The congregations which follow this pattern will draw the lonely like nothing else can. However, we must work hard at making newcomers feel welcome and letting them break into the community of the saints. When people come and see a depth of fellowship in the church, but are not made to feel included, it becomes even more repelling. That is why our fellowship must also be built on a sincere love of the lost and love of our neighbors. If we love them, we will open our hearts and our homes to them.
Not forgetting the most important things such as the presence of the Lord and true fellowship, let us revisit briefly the creativity and leadership issues that should also be the special domain of the church. Because we are called to represent the King of kings, the One who is above all rule and authority and dominion, the world should be beating a path to the door of the church for the best leadership and management. Who should be better leaders than those who are the disciples of and serve the ultimate Leader, the ultimate King? It does seem that the church is quite far from this leadership, but this will change, just as creativity in the church will soon be released in a way that has not been seen for many centuries.
We must address creativity and leadership together because they are linked. The greatest leaders have almost always been those who were the most creative and who could think outside the box to see what others could not see. They would likewise have the confidence and boldness or faith to be different and innovative. The church is called to be the head and not the tail, which means the world should be following us, not us following the world. The Lord's basic nature is obviously both creativity and leadership, and those who follow Him closely will be these things. The greatest example of this is the transformation that we see in His disciples who went from being anything from simple to misfits, and impacted the world like no other group of people ever have.
We are seeing the signs of a great wave of the Holy Spirit building in the U.S. It seems poised to especially touch youth, who are the future leaders of not only the church, but the world. This emerging generation is an extraordinary one, unlike any other in some ways. I see great potential in this generation—not only to see radical, biblical Christianity restored to the earth, but to actually walk in things all of the previous generations dreamed about—to truly do the works that Jesus did and even greater works as He promised. I have no doubt this emerging generation will actually cross the metaphorical Jordan River and start possessing the promised land of God. I also know that a great trap has been laid for this generation, and will be a continual trial to it. This trial is the same one that Joshua faced and failed. It is written in Joshua 9:3-6 so we can understand it and not fall to the same trap.
they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended,
and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled.
And they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us."
Joshua did not discern the trick of the Gibeonites. He made the covenant, and the Gibeonites became a thorn in the side of Israel for their entire history. The lesson is: When you start becoming successful, when you start to possess the promises of God, watch out for those who come with stale bread and old wineskins.
As the momentum and victories begin to take place for the emerging generation, they can count on such to come and try to make alliances with them. At the same time, the emerging generation will not stay in their promised land long if they do not properly honor their fathers and mothers, which is the commandment with the promise to stay long in the land that the Lord gives.
To keep these two things in proper tension will help to keep this generation on course, but it will be a continual trial that is needed. It seems that the Lord helped Israel in a great way by giving them Joshua and Caleb to lead the generation that crossed over. Joshua and Caleb were both remarkable for being a "new generation" in their mentality decades before the new generation arose. They were also remarkable in how they never were bitter or resentful toward the older generation even though that generation cost them forty years of wandering in the wilderness. By this, Joshua and Caleb proved to have the most important foundation of all for possessing the Promised Land, or the promises of God—faith and patience.
The new generation is here now and ready to cross over. I know many extraordinary leaders from the previous generation are ready to lead them over. They, too, have kept the faith and had patience. We can expect many others from the previous generation to pass soon. These are the ones who disqualified themselves from such leadership because they did not grow in faith with the passage of time, as true faith always does, but became bitter, resentful, old people. These are the ones who spend more time talking about what's wrong with the church than they do promoting vision and faith.
The fact that we are in the age of grace means there is always the potential for grace, and there is still time for some of the older, bitter ones to repent and be changed into the leaders who are needed. However, there is not much time left for this. We are approaching the Jordan River.
