northphoenixhousechurch.comLee West, Pastor of Cheers Church brings us back to the basics.
What Is The Church and Why Are We So Confused? | Part 1 | Lee West | Cheers Church
What is a Church Gathering Supposed To Look Like? | Part 2 | Lee West | Cheers Church
Should We Still Tithe and Give To Churches? | Part 3 | Lee West | Cheers Church
The Church – What do Pastors Do? | Part 4 | Lee West | Cheers Church
The Church – What Does The Church Do? | Part 5 | Lee West | Cheers Church
This excerpt is from a book by Travis Kolder, Stick Your Neck Out
“But I’m not equipped. I’m not ready.”
You’re right. You’re probably not equipped or ready. But Jesus has this disturbing habit of picking people who aren’t ready. He doesn’t call the equipped; he equips the called.
Stop for a second and think about the guys who were the first fruits of this laborers’ prayer. None of them were equipped. Sure, they left their lives to follow Jesus. But none of them were ideal church planters. They were fishermen, tax collectors, and revolutionaries. None of Jesus’s disciples were trained as Pharisees. None of them had spent their lives studying the Scriptures. But he still called them.
In fact, the only religiously trained follower of Jesus who started churches was a very violent man named Saul. He would later write, “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you” (1 Corinthians 1:26).
Think about this: Who in the Bible was ready for the call of God when it came? Most of the truly called people were surprised. Some even rejected the call at first. Most were not qualified by the standards of those around them. That is what made them the perfect choice. No one was expecting Saul the Christian killer to become Paul the church planter. No one was expecting Gideon, hiding in the pit, to be the deliverer of the nation. No one was expecting fisherman like Peter and James and John to turn the world upside down.
So you might not be the ideal ministry candidate. That’s what makes you so perfect for working among the lost. That enables you to build bridges with those who know nothing about Christ. You are not the ideal candidate, which makes you ideal. “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
The harvest is great. The laborers are few. Jesus is asking you to pray for more laborers. As you do, you become the answer to that prayer.
You are called! Don’t say no to the calling because you aren’t equipped. Say yes to a God who is infinitely wiser than you are. Say yes because the power of God is stronger than all your imperfections and reasons for saying no.
I’ve been telling you over the past few chapters that this is a dangerous calling. This calling will bring all your fears, insecurities, and reasons to give up to the surface. Jesus must be more valuable than your fleshly need for safety and security.
You will need to be sure you are called. It’s the only way you will stick your neck out.
INDIVIDUALISM – ENEMY of THE CHURCH
We live in an utterly individualistic and “self”-oriented age today. I’m sure few would disagree. Every advertisement appeals to ‘self’ in some way. We are taught from childhood to be completely self-contained, reliant on no-one, living in our own little bubble where we decide exactly what will take place. We are often frightened to commit to any particular group or cause, any particular leadership. The modern man is an “individualist” to the core. “Don’t ask me to join or commit! And don’t tell me how to live my life!”
But all of this, of course, is the exact opposite of “Body”. It is the exact opposite of ‘Community’. And thus the exact opposite of the true Church. And yet millions upon millions of Christians today (especially in the West) are just as “individualistic” as the next man. Sometimes even more so.
As noted previously, the very first sentence used to describe the early church says: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42).
That is the very picture of a BODY – not a pile of “individualists”. They have GIVEN themselves to a group and a cause – a group with real LEADERS who are anointed preachers from God. But it is almost anathema for a modern person to give themselves to any group in such a way. We are far too suspicious and individualistic and untrusting to ever do such a thing. And thus the question must be asked: Is it even possible to have true “BODY” in our day? Is “CHURCH” (in the true sense) even a concept that we can understand? Or have the media and our entire culture so “individualized” us that true ‘Body’ is no longer possible?
You know, Christianity is not designed to be lived out by a pack of “individualists”. And half-committed “building-attenders” on Sunday mornings are not it either. Christianity is designed to be lived out CORPORATELY – the “Body of Christ” – an entity that can be seen and observed by people – full of the glory of Jesus. A Body that corporately carries all the words and power and love and miracles of the King.
So how on earth can such a “gathering” take place? How can the scattered remnant of today come together to form such a Body? Well, it all starts with the anointed “word”. You notice in the above verse that these people gathered around a very specific thing – “The apostles’ doctrine and fellowship”. It is an anointed apostolic “word” being preached that is a crucial element in all this. From such a ‘word’ everything else follows and comes into alignment.
But the big question is- Could today’s “individualistic” types bring themselves to form a real ‘Body’ – even if such a word was being preached? Or is individualism so ingrained that even ‘apostolic’ preaching might not bring this about? Individualistic types want to tear down the local body, not build.
These are questions that every one of us should be asking ourselves if we ever hope to be part of a true movement of God in these Last Days.