Now that I’ve got your attention, are you trying to decide which
camp I am in. Are you in a camp? That word, woke, sure has people
running fast to defend their tribe, right? The bristles are bristling, and the
hackles are hackling when it is spoken or written about.
I’ll confess: I’m in the “awake” camp. Whoa, partner, not so fast;
don’t fold that laptop, delete this post, or pigeonhole me in some all-inclusive
stereotype. Give me a chance.
To begin, let’s get awake about the word woke. It is
not a sarcastic, negative word. And it is not a relatively new word. It has
been around since the early 1930’s in African American Vernacular English. The woke term showed up in the mid-20th
century and post-millennium by a small group of Afro-American singers. The phrase stay woke was coined by these
few entertainers in the 30’s and referred to an awareness of social and
political issues affecting Afro-Americans.
It was early in the 2010s that woke began to
encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racial justice,
denial of LGBT rights, and sexism. More recently, it has been used by the
American Left, involving identity politics, social justice, white privilege,
and reparations for slavery in the U.S. In the mid-2010’s, woke began to be
used by white people to signal their support for the Black Lives Movement. By
2020, the term had become a sarcastic word of contempt among political rights
and centrists.
As followers of Jesus, we are citizens of another realm, The
Kingdom of Heaven. “Consequently,
you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with
God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus
himself as the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:19-21, NIV). Or try on, “But
our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from
there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20, NIV).
Our loyalty, identity, and focus
should be on His Kingdom in our midst and what is to come. We should live with
one identity, Christians, with no prefixes.
There are great issues at hand in our
nation. There are significant inequalities and injustices, and sin abounds. What
is the solution to our desperate needs?
The gospel of the Kingdom is the
issue at hand. It is the vital, head-on, and total answer to our needs. The
foundations of our nation are being rattled as never before in our short
history. The Kingdom of Heaven must be among you. It must be allowed to break
into your relationships and remake you.
The Kingdom of Heaven is God’s order
in a society with no order. And while the nature of the Kingdom is social, it
is entered only by a personal encounter with Jesus and new birth. The character
of the Kingdom is the character of Jesus. Full stop.
“the people living in darkness
have
seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a
light has dawned.”[a]
17 From
that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matt. 4:16-17, NIV).
I
have become awakened to the plight of Afro-Americans, women, and so many other
groups that have suffered abuse, prejudice, and marginalization. I am
apologetic that this is their reality. Every single person has the same worth
in the eyes of Christ. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
But to all of us, I would give one simple, childlike response: it is time to Awaken to the Kingdom of God in our midst.
I was in the front row where I fellowship, and I saw an angel. “The Holy Spirit is refreshing your life, and you are to be an ambassador for Christ!” she said. I fell to the ground facedown and wept as she spoke.
I remember wishing everyone could hear her. It occurred to me that the worship team couldn’t see the angel’s face because she was in front of them, but then I realized she faced in all directions. The angel wasn’t just speaking to me, but to each person individually. “Elders,” she continued, “come up and pray for all to receive a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit and be ambassadors of the Lord and to speak in tongues.” As I looked back at the believers, most of them were on their faces weeping in awe of what was taking place.
I awoke from that vision in the night, and tears were running down my face. One of the most important things we can do is to discern what God is doing today in our land. Don’t be stuck in the past, trying to redo—over and over again—what God is finished doing. We have too many vivid examples across our spiritual landscape of people and churches trapped in yesterday’s anointing. One of the major themes of a recent year was transition. I believe a keyword God is speaking for us is this: The Holy Spirit is bringing a fresh anointing for His sons and daughters to be ambassadors. This anointing is for anyone who will reach out and grab it. This anointing is for anyone who will make being an ambassador for Christ a priority in life. Let me remind you that by being baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit, we are baptized to be His ambassadors.
The dictionary defines an ambassador as “the highest-ranking person who represents his or her government while living in another country”. This definition is the perfect description of who we are as Christ-followers. We are priests (the highest-ranking people), representing God’s Kingdom (His government), while we live in another country (the world, Phil. 3:20).
As I meditated on this vision, God made it clear to me that there are two keys to receiving this fresh anointing to be the proclaimers of His Kingdom on the earth this coming year—and years to come. We must be humble and repentant. Humility is the bedrock of Christlikeness. And humility is so closely linked with living in repentance—the genuinely joy-filled life. Humility frees us to seek a life that denies self and gives up the pursuit of honor from people. It empowers us to find approval from God alone. Christianity, typified by humility, will overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Christ-like humility destroys pride. Pride is the root of all lack of love. Any time we recognize indifference in our life to the feelings of others, any time we become aware of the judgments of others springing up in daily living, pride is the culprit.
Repentance is the pathway to see God (Heb. 12:14). It is God’s strategy for us to be overcomers. It is the mercy and goodness of God that we recognize sin and repent. Once we taste the cleansing and freedom that flows from repentance, we will thirst for it every day. Now is the time to receive this fresh anointing to be Christ’s ambassadors.
One pointed aspect of being His ambassador is the readiness to share your faith with non-believers and lead them to saving faith in Christ. The fruit of a righteous and wise life is to bring broken people into the Kingdom of God, where they will find God’s perfect design (Prov. 11:30). It has only been in the past few years that I have made it a habit to share my faith as the Holy Spirit leads. It is a majestic and addictive feeling to guide a broken sinner to the experience of salvation.
As I reflect on the “why” I didn’t do this for over forty years of following Christ, I come to two answers.
1) Though I know better, I was stuck in “yesterday’s” thought—that it is the evangelist’s job to reach the lost. Not only is that yesterday’s thinking, but it is also a lie. Every one of us is called to be God’s witness. We are all called to make disciples. I am apologetic if that offends you. But the Gospel of Jesus is just that, often offensive. This gospel disrupts our comfortable life and familiar patterns. Can you make room in your life to be interrupted by the Holy Spirit?
2) I didn’t feel equipped. With all my discipleship experiences, teachings, the study of the Word, prayer, and Christian fellowship, I still didn’t have the confidence to share my faith. Then, I discovered the one minute and fifty seconds gospel presentation of “The 3 Circles: Sharing the Gospel”. I know you may be experiencing everything from skepticism to laughter at this conclusion, but is the truth. I memorized—almost word for word—this little gospel presentation. The Holy Spirit empowered me. The Three Circles isn’t perfect, but it placed in my life an efficient, powerful tool to work with and share my faith. And then my church taught all of us how to give our thirty-second testimony. I had no excuses.
There is no better time in your life than right now to receive a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit to be God’s ambassador. You can stop, pray, and receive from the Spirit of God. Don’t miss what God is doing today.
The Forty-Day Word FastHere’s one sure way to attack negativity in your life—fast, negative words. Pope Francis put it this way a few years back when he made suggestions for fasting during Lent. He said—1st on my list–“Fast from hurting words and say kind words.”End the year with a forty-day word fast from complaining, sarcasm, judgments, gossip, and criticism.
Our current view of the prophetic is that it exists to bless
others and titillate spiritual emotions. Calling out someone’s address,
friend’s name or upcoming trips takes precedence over a warning or correction.
However, looking closely at the New Testament’s prophetic, it exists almost
exclusively to direct, instruct, and correct believers. Remember those three
things next time you start reading Acts. Those are the things I’ve been told my
whole life not to do with the prophetic.
Throughout the Old Testament, God used prophets to warn the people
of their actions and the results. There was hardly a more thankless or
dangerous job than the prophet. It is often met with very unceremonious ends.
Remember Jesus’s rebuke of the Pharisees in Luke 11:47? “Woe to you
because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed
them.”
The Old Testament prophets were not the most famous people in
town. Jews didn’t flock to hear what they had to say. They often brought very
“hard truths” for the people to attend. The prophets brought warnings
for people to listen to and repent.
In the New Testament, two recognizable shifts occur in the
prophetic. There are still directions, corrections, and instructions, but they
seem almost exclusively to occur within the community context. The prophets are
now a part of a local body of believers. They are not influential figures,
looked upon by others, often in a fearful sense. From Ananias to Lucius, the
prophets were brethren in the church, known by others. But more startling to
the prophetic itself is the shift that the local community should judge the
prophetic (1 Cor. 14:29, 1 John 4:1, 2 Tim. 3:16-17, 1 Cor. 6:2-3, and 1 Cor.
14:4). Words given to the community of believers must lineup with the character
of Jesus and the Word of God.
Prophets in the New Testament were still there to warn, teach, and
correct. The brothers at Tyre warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem. When Paul
arrived at Caesarea, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea,
took Paul’s girdle and used it to tie his own hands and feet together, and
said, “The Holy Spirit says this: the man to whom this girdle
belongs will be bound like this by the Jews in Jerusalem and handed over to the
Gentiles!”
This same Agabus warned that a severe famine would spread
throughout the Roman world. And there were now women who prophesied, like the
four daughters of Philip. Prophesy is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and
is designed to edify the body of Christ. Prophecy was utilized in Rome,
Corinth, Ephesus, and Thessalonica churches.
Oh, and tradition says that Agabus went to many countries,
teaching and converting many. This moved the Jews of Jerusalem to arrest him,
and they tortured him by beating him severely and putting a rope around his
neck. He was dragged outside the city and stoned to death. He was martyred at
Antioch.
Where are the prophets today who will speak the hard truth about
our culture and the church? Who will tell the hard reality, regardless of the
personal consequences? Remember Samuel talking to Eli and Nathan to David? Most
prophets today speak in a manner that best suits themselves rather than in the
Christian community’s best interest. Where are those who discern the truth of
God and speak up for it?
Why are these voices essentially nonexistent? Because there is a
price to pay. Take a stand on any number of issues, and you will be shunned,
marginalized, discounted, and labeled—quickly. Choose a label, any label:
old-fashioned, out of touch with modern culture, right-wing white guy,
homophobic, bigot, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla. You will be discredited.
The majority of prophets (?) today use their influence for
personal fundraising, speaking opportunities (for a fee), conference after
conference (gotta sell those books), podcasts (for a fee), money, money, money.
These conferences are for Christian superstar entertainers. When is enough
enough? Does this scripture resonate with you as it does with me?
Portions of 2 Timothy 3: 1-7
“But you need to be aware that in the final days the culture
of society will be fierce. People will be self-centered lovers of themselves
and obsessed with money. They
will boast of great things as they strut in their arrogant pride. They worm
their way into the hearts of the vulnerable. They are always learning but never
discover the revelation-knowledge of truth.”
It seems that three pervading tendencies quiet the voices of the
New Testament prophet today. The voice of correction, warning, and direction.
1) The trend (sin) of being more concerned about drawing positive
attention to oneself, particularly in social media. How is social media
connected to a local Christian community?
2) The tendency (sin) of being “politically” correct.
3) Ignoring the apparent warning signs of people’s behavior.
I believe these sins answer the question, “Why is there no
Agabus among us?”
Christ’s mission on earth depends upon the Kingdom of Heaven
being expressed in our midst. As my pastor says, “It is what makes Jesus believable.”
Yes, it is that important for each of us to know what it is, where it is, and
what part we play in its fulfillment. But this is the fact; most of us don’t
know what it is, don’t know how to find it, and have little idea what we are
looking for. And to be as pointed as I can muster, if we can’t get along, we
have little hope of ever experiencing the Kingdom of Heaven; that’s the gist of
it—game over. We must grasp this understanding; if we can’t live in forgiveness
and contend for reconciliation, not only will we be oblivious to the Kingdom of
God, never able to recognize it, we will not enter it. These are somber
considerations.
How does a little, staggering verse like the following float
by us and nonchalantly end up banked away in our favorite portfolio of scripture
memory or on a Christian bookmark? “But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you” (Matthew 6:33). God,
in His infinite wisdom and majesty, is putting light on the one, true path
before us. Are we blind? It seems there should be more than just a smidgen of alarm
that we come to grips with the Kingdom of Heaven. It must be the object of our
travail, not social justice, not the church, nor Heaven itself.
We must seek His righteousness. That’s a big, HIS
righteousness. I am not the quickest to the draw, the guy with the highest IQ,
or the Ph.D. in Theology, but I have a clear picture of His righteousness, and
it is Jesus. He wants to teach us about this righteousness. But there is a
prerequisite; it can only happen if we humble ourselves and receive from Him as
little children, ready to be taught.
All the vices we struggle with gain their power from pride. Pride
is both the atheist and idolator. Rejecting God’s way and choosing our way, we become
the atheist. St. Theresa Avila prayed this beautiful prayer. Govern
everything by your wisdom, O Lord, so that my soul may always be serving you in
the way you will and not as I choose. Let me die to myself so that I may serve
you; let me live to you who are life itself.
The self becomes its idol. (More to come on this
shortly)
On the other hand, the Kingdom of God is only found in
humility. Andrew Murray says, “Humility is not only one among the virtues; it
is the first and chief need of the soul.”
God’s Kingdom is where God’s will is being done. And
it cannot be done apart from the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God consists of
the people in whom God rules.
Now, back to that “Self,” The Kingdom of Self. The pleasures
of this world, sin, lust, the whole of it all, is nothing else but the Kingdom
of Self. It is the aggrandizement of pride—I know a better way. I am better
than them. The utter horror, deception, and euphoria of sin, self, and pride are
only conquered through the continual operation of God in our life by the power of
the Holy Spirit. As followers of Jesus, we are called to die to ourselves and
live to Christ.
What makes Jesus believable? Humble people, gathering in
fellowship, among whom God’s will is being done—a bit of Heaven on earth.
He cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime and provided educational opportunities for the orphans to the point that he was even accused by some of raising the poor above their natural station in British life. He established 117 schools, which offered Christian education to more than 120,000.
I Dared to Call Him Father is the fascinating true story of Bilquis Sheikh, a prominent Muslim woman. Her unusual journey to a personal relationship with God turned her world upside down and put her life in danger.
Originally published in 1978, the book has sold 300,000 copies and is a classic in Muslim evangelism. The 25th-anniversary edition includes an afterword by a missionary friend of Bilquis who plays a prominent role in the story and an appendix on how the East enriches the West.
We met Bilquis in the late ’70s. She told us of having no awareness of Christianity whatsoever. Then one day, she started having night visions of a man who said he was John the Baptist. She eventually was pointed to a Catholic church to ask who this man was who had invaded her dreams. She was told he is the forerunner of Jesus. Her husband was a very high ranking government official in Pakistan. He disowned her and she had to flee to America. In American and many foreign countries, Billy Graham had her speak in crusades.
