3 things the Church is called to do – and one it is definitely not

So much heartbreaking stuff in the name of Jesus these days. Churches and church leaders going off the rails, spreading strange fires on altars to false gods.

Yet the Spirit reminds me to look more broadly and see all the people of faith who have not bowed down to such strange fire. In contrast to the heartbreaking stuff I see, the Spirit continues to do amazing things among God’s people throughout the world.

This weekend is Pentecost Sunday, with churches everywhere celebrating the Church’s birthday. We Pentecostals especially like to emphasize how on this day 2,000 years ago the Holy Spirit descended with power from on high. We are power people.

On the day of Pentecost, eyewitnesses saw what looked like tongues of fire resting on each of the believers gathered in the Upper Room. It was a holy fire, purifying and imbuing with power for service. Such, I was taught from a tender age.

But these days, a strange kind of fire burns on altars across the land, a fire that dangerously misconstrues Pentecostal power, threatening to burn down our very houses of worship. It burns in all kinds of Christian conferences, networks, and denominations. It’s even being exported to other countries, but mostly it burns on US soil. If we are not careful, this strange fire with its emphasis on the wrong sort of power will destroy us.

I’m concerned about the country I live in. So many troubling things. But I am far more concerned about the church. Nations, including ours, come and go. Yet the work of God never dies. However, there is no guarantee the church in a particular part of the world will survive.

I think it will survive here in the US, but it will do so only as it stays on mission.

What is our mission as the people of God? Three things we are called to do – and 1 we are definitely not.

Let’s start with what we are called to do:

1. We are called to bear witness.

I just read it again, how Jesus commissioned his followers to go and spread the good news. As Act 1:8 puts it, we are to be his witnesses everywhere. Hear that phrase, “to be my witnesses”? Basically, Jesus is telling his disciples that we are to testify what we know about him.

We hear it in the Nicene Creed, celebrating its 1,700^th birthday this year. The Creed bears witness to what we know of Jesus. How he came down from heaven and became a man. How he was crucified, was buried, and rose again. How he ascended into heaven. And how he will come again – well, that we haven’t witnessed yet, but we accept it on his promise.

I too bear witness how he called me as a child to follow him – and again and again he’s continued to call as I’ve grown older. How he’s led me through good times and bad. How he’s blessed me in so many ways I can’t count. I’m here to testify of the goodness of God.

I’ve never testified in court. There, people serve as witnesses to a crime or to vouch for someone’s character. They’re sworn to say only what they have seen or heard and nothing more. In so testifying, they bear witness.

When I was a boy, people would stand up and testify in church. They’d tell a story – sometimes cryptic, sometimes long, sometimes well crafted, sometimes not. Regardless, they’d tell how Jesus saved or healed or solved a problem for them. I miss such spontaneous storytelling. These days, testimonies are more staged, often videotaped in advance. But I still love them. I love hearing people tell in their own words what Jesus has done for them.

Testifying is people doing just what Jesus told them to do – bearing witness of what God has done. You hear it in preaching, conversations, in stories shared via social media, and you see it in water baptisms. Nothing spreads the Good News like people talking or writing about how God has worked in their lives.

2. We are called to serve.

There’s a saying, supposedly by St. Francis. It has a point while also tending to miss the point. “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.” Whether or not he actually said it, he certainly lived out the call to serve.

The quote makes the point that we don’t always have to use words to declare the Good News, we just need to do good. And yet, proclamation – bearing witness – is essential for explaining why we do what we do.

That said, I love how 1 Peter 2:12 describes the power of doing good: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (NIV)

Our very actions bear witness to God.

For an extended time, I lived in a place where I could not verbally bear witness to the people I worked with. To do so would have harmed them and short-circuited the work we were doing. But I vividly recall the day a friend in high places told me that the way our team related to him and to each other and the way we served those less fortunate made it very clear to him that we were people of profound faith – even if we’d never verbalized it.

As James bluntly states, “Show me your actions!” Back up your talk about faith with some good serving. You can read about it in James 2:14-26.

In my book, Night Shift: Crossing the Cultural Line for the Kingdom, I describe these first two points of our mission as declaring and demonstrating the good news. Jesus sent out his disciples to both preach and heal the sick.

I see it in my own faith community – people going locally or abroad using both words and actions to reveal God’s love. So many good things happening right here locally as people of faith care for single parents, look after kids in foster care, minister to the elderly, help refugees resettle, support people breaking free of addictions, pray for the sick to recover, provide materially for those in need, work to change laws in favor of justice, and work through private and public institutions to serve those less fortunate.

3. We are called to speak prophetically.

The church is called to speak truth to the very halls of human power.

It’s what John the Baptist did when he confronted King Herod. Lost his head over that one, he did, but he was just obeying God. You can find plenty of other examples in the Bible – of women and men who spoke to those in power and told them to get their act together. To start ruling justly, to provide for the poor and the foreigner, to stop abusing and oppressing people, their own and others.

The word “prophesy” and all its related forms tends to be either neglected or overly used, often in all the wrong ways. At times in the Bible, prophesying speaks of what is to come – foretelling. Other times, it means declaring what is right or wrong in a situation – forthtelling.

The latter is what John the Baptist was doing when he addressed King Herod. He was telling Herod to stop abusing and controlling people for his own pleasure.

This forthtelling is not just toward individuals. So much of prophetic speaking in the Bible is addressed to kingdoms, nations, people groups, whole cultures even. It is declaring to human institutions and civilizations that they have obligations to fulfill – for which they will answer to God.

I am using “speaking prophetically” in this sense. Speaking truth to power.

You find this prophetic role in the voices and actions of Moses and Esther and Elijah in the Old Testament. In the New by Peter, Paul, and Mary the mother of Jesus.

You see it in the life of Anne Hutchinson as she stands her ground for civil and religious liberties in Colonial New England. You witness it in the advocacy of William Wilberforce as he challenges the oppressive economic and political structures of his day. You hear it in the words of Sojourner Truth campaigning for justice for women and persons of color. And you observe it as the Confessing Church confronts Hitler and Nazi Germany.

There are countless more and far lesser-known examples of believers and groups of believers speaking truth to power in countries and cultures around the world. Many of these believers do not have freedom of speech or the press and yet, like the Apostle Peter, they speak out regardless the cost.

So then, what are we not called to do?

We are not called to play with strange fire.

I spoke earlier of how the fire that came down on Pentecost speaks of power. Jesus predicted as much when he said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” It’s a promise to all who believe in Him. But it was a specific kind of power – the power to bear witness, to serve, and to speak prophetically to the nations.

In contrast, earthly power is altogether different. It is a strange fire that is blasphemous when found burning on the altar of God.

Leviticus 10:1-2, speaks in King James language of such a strange fire. Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, the high priest, offered unauthorized fire before God. It destroyed them – as it will anyone who plays with inappropriate power in God’s name.

Here are 5 ways we play with strange fire:

1. The church plays with strange fire when it uses its prophetic voice selectively. I watch these days to see if prophets in our midst will address the beam in their own eyes or the sin in their own camps. True prophetic speech will be omnidirectional – speaking to all parties and powers alike. I wrote about this in my recent post, “The Pope and our partisan gods”. Nothing discredits a message of truth like selective finger-pointing.
   
   
2. The church plays with strange fire when it enmeshes itself in the halls of power, even when doing so in the name of bearing witness or serving or even speaking truth to power. Oddly, when the church becomes part of the power structure, it loses its prophetic voice.
   
   
3. The church plays with fire when it attempts to control the reigns of earthly power. The church is not called to control, dominate, or overpower people or structures. Instead, the church is called to be salt and light, seasoning and illuminating every part of every society.
   
   
4. The church plays with strange fire when it takes on the form of civil religion. Seeking to align itself with a specific culture, it loses its ability to bear witness. You see civil religion at play when faith becomes too closely aligned with culture – such as our American culture – for culture always falls far too short. You also see civil religion at play when patriotism and worship become intertwined.
   
   
5. The church plays with strange fire when it positions itself in the halls of privilege, thereby distancing itself from the marginalized. While we are not to seek martyrdom, we destroy our witness if we conspire to become martyr-proof.

We are called to serve, not to dominate. There is too much talk these days of dominion and power of the human sort. All power and dominion ultimately belong to God. And if God elevates any of us to positions of human power, we must walk humbly and hold lightly the reigns of that power, not forsaking our calling to bear witness, serve, and speak prophetically.

As we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, I pray the Holy Spirit reminds us all of our three-fold mission as the people of God and calls us to repent when we have played with strange fire.

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