Release the Primal Fire Within, Part Two

Perhaps the greatest impediment to the church’s work in the world is not discovering what to do but what to stop doing. So much of what happens in the church is programs and methods designed to put something into the disciples. But as we’ve seen in the previous post, we have the fullness of Christ and all His gifts already within us. So, what’s needed instead of a “putting in” is a drawing out of what Jesus has already placed there.

Leadership in the New Testament is about equipping the saints to serve the Head, not doing ministry for them...or even to them. We are not to strive to get our teaching into the saints, but to equip them to use the deposit already in them to teach others. This is a radical change in approach for those who lead.

Church leadership must shift from trying to put good stuff into Christians and start releasing the God-stuff already within. That is a complete 180º turn for most in church ministry. The deposit is already made and the treasure is within, sealed with a pledge that cannot be broken  (2 Tim 1:14; Eph 1:13-14). Christ in you is the hope of glory...and nothing else is (Col 1:27). Our role as leaders is not to try and add anything to it in some egotistic way as if we have anything that deserves to be in the same conversation. Imagine telling people that they have the powerful, continual, presence of the Spirit of Christ within them, and if they just add my teaching or read my book they can be used by God. Sounds awful doesn't it. Because it is. Our role is to help people realize what they already have and walk in that power rather than try and put anything within them. All leadership, speaking, books and methods should be about that.

Maturity in Christ is about discovering who you are in Christ, rather than trying to become something that you are not. Equippers have a single role, help people discover what it means to be connected to the Head and to serve Jesus.

_________________________________________________
This post is adapted from content in my book Primal Fire. 

Release The Primal Fire Within, Part One

Hetty Green, called the witch of wall street, died in 1914 as the richest woman in the world with an estate worth between $100 and $200 million dollars (that’s a lot of money now, but much, much more then). Though wealthy beyond belief, she lived like a pauper. She would eat cold oatmeal because she refused to pay the expense to heat the water. She would rarely pay the expense to clean her clothes so she was always dressed in worn and dark clothing looking like she came off the streets. When her son injured his leg, she took so long looking for a free clinic for his care that eventually he lost his leg due to infection. 

Like royal heirs living like paupers, we often act as if we’re unaware of the immense power available to us. As bearers of the image of God, there is far more to who we are than most of us realize. It is time for the primal fire that is Christ in us to be awakened and released.

For those who have accepted the grace of God in Christ, our Lord has already invested all that He has in us. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). All that we need to live godly in Christ Jesus is already ours (2 Peter 1:3). We lack nothing. Realize what is already within you  (Christ). . . and let it leak out naturally in your words and actions. Stop living life as if you just need a little bit more. There isn't more, you already have more than enough in Christ. You are spiritually wealthy.

Jesus came, died, rose, and sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us with His power. The true beauty within us is liberated, enhanced, and empowered by the  good news of redemption and the resulting mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory. We don’t have to gain more spirituality; we simply need to live out what is already invested in us. If we are “in Christ,” and thus a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17), everything we need is already within us—young or old, black or white, male or female, rich or poor.

If we are in Christ, we don’t need to try to gain the riches of Christ; we need to realize that Christ’s full treasure is already within us. Doing good works, memorizing more Scripture, praying more, and devoting ourselves to spiritual disciplines will not gain us any more spiritual blessings than we already have. All we will ever need or want is already found within us, and not as the result of good works that we can boast about (Ephesians 2:8-10). In fact, taking the pathway of performance in an effort to gain godliness will only hinder the release of the true blessing that is already within us (Gal. 5:1-12). We need to open our eyes to what we already have, rather than setting our sights on what we think we need.
 

We are not spiritual paupers, but spiritually wealthy beyond our wildest dreams. Live like an heir of the kingdom of God...and share the true wealth.

This post is adapted from content in my book Primal Fire.

God is Saying Something, We Best Listen

Four books by good friends in the missional church conversation are coming out at the same time and address related themes––but in very different ways. Do not think that if you read one, you have read them all, for that could not be further from the truth. There is actually very little overlap in the content, instead they seem to each build on one another as though designed to do so.

Mike Frost, Casesar Kalinowski, Hugh Halter and myself are friends who are frequently together addressing the missional church and training folks around the world. The four books being released are Incarnate by Mike Frost, Transformed by Casear Kalinowski, Flesh, by Hugh Halter and Primal Fire by myself.


The theme that is overriding all four books is that Christ within us is what makes all the difference in the people of God and their mission in this world. But this theme is addressed in very divergent ways with distinct voices. None of these books are a rerun.

I am convinced that God is saying something important that couldn't be entrusted with just one author or one book. Why not take a short season to delve into this subject by studying these four books one after another? It seems as though God has providentially arranged at this kairos moment to address this important topic. I am inclined to believe that God is saying something to us of utmost importance and he has moved through several people to say it in fullness.

Incarnate By Mike Frost

I have read many of Mike's books and was truly moved and challenged by this one. In fact, I couldn't just skim it in a fast read (as I fully intended); I had to read it slowly and take notes. I didn't really have time to do this, but I had to––it was that good. I think it may actually be his best yet, and that is saying a lot.

Let me just say that I have always loved Mike's books, but he is actually getting better with age! This man is pursuing Christ, learning and maturing as he does. That does not mean his earlier works are not good, but that he is getting better, and I think that is one of the highest praises a follower of Christ can receive.

I would argue, however, that Incarnate is misnamed. It is less about incarnation, and more about the fact that we are living excarnate lives: void of authentic human connections. With cutting social commentary, this book rips a useless band-aid off a lethal wound exposing a serious issue for us all.

Transformed by Caesar Kalinowski

Caesar is a newer author and I was pleasantly surprised by his writing skill. I have known Caesar as a missional practitioner as well as a bold thinker and communicator, but that doesn't always translate into a good book. In this case it does. He not only communicates profound ideas, but he also does so with many real life examples and moving stories.


Transformed is about how the gospel changes us from within so that we live from our new identity in Christ as God's children on mission rather than seeking a sense of importance from external behavior. It flows well and is easy to read.
 
Flesh by Hugh Halter

I have read most of Hugh's books. He is a prophetic voice and a great story teller. This book is no exception. While I was reading this book I felt self-conscious because of my tears. At other times I would embarrass myself while sitting in a cafe as I bust out laughing at some of his stories. Like Mike (and a good bottle of Scotch), Hugh seems to get better with age.

I understand that Mike and Hugh were originally writing a single book together, but the Lord made it clear that these were two separate works on the same subject but from different angles. I am glad they listened because the result is two very different books that are both needed.

Primal Fire by Neil Cole

Primal Fire is probably my most important work to date. I value all my books in different ways, but the implications of this one affects every kind of church and every kind of Christian in the most profound ways.

Fire is often used to represent God in the Bible. He is the first fire––the primal fire––that consumes, purifies, heals, forges, warms and provides light and serves up nourishment. Whereas the Primal Fire was something people saw at a distance and even followed behind in the Old Testament, in the New Testament it rests upon us and has taken residence within us. The fire now burns within and should be contagious and spread.

This book is a fresh take on Ephesians 4:1-16 and specifically the difference the five gifts of verse 11 makes in the health, development and reproduction of churches. I believe that the Primal Fire within us is Christ and that His strengths are measured to us in five gifts: apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, shepherding and teaching.

I have known that I was to write this book for 15 years. I tried writing it a few different times and even had to cancel a contract with a major publisher (and pay back the advance) because the timing and content of the book wasn't right...until now.

It cannot be coincidence that these four books all have come out at once. Perhaps they tell a full story together.

Incarnate (Frost) sets the table for the dinner and whets our appetites for what is to come. Transformed (Kalinowski) prepares the food in the kitchen so that it is served fresh and warm. Flesh (Halter) brings it out to the table where we all can see it, smell it, and taste it's goodness. This is a full meal, not just hors d'oeuvres being served up, and Primal Fire (Cole) addresses the menu with all the ingredients and recipes of each course for a balanced culinary experience.

Perhaps an important question to ask is why did we each feel led to write on this theme at this time in this specific way? I suggest that there is an important message that God wants to get across and He is doing so from at least four different angles so that it is a holistic message. Bon appetite!

Interesting Church Statistics

The following is from my good friend and coworker

Felicity Dale's blog called Simply Church...

According to a good and informative 2013 year-end status report by Leadership Network providing statistics on the state of mega-churches in this country, almost 10 percent of Protestant churchgoers attend a mega-church.

According to a Pew Forum report in December 2009, (if there is a more recent report, I am not aware of it), 9 percent of Protestants “attend religious services in homes.”

Just saying…

I actually think that the numbers of people seeing a small gathering in the home as their main spiritual family is much larger (Felicity notes that the stat is four years old). Even many mega-churches today are working diligently to make sure that missional commuities in homes are people's primary source of spiritual relationships.

The public platform of the mega-church is viewed as a much bigger stage because of obvious marketing reasons, but I do suspect that the organic church movement is having more influence than is noted by some.

Scott McKnight has interesting observations about the marketing platform of the mega-church pastor on his blog that closely relates to some of my own thoughts that same week.

The Pressures of Plagiarism, Part Five

Plagiarism is an especially a strange concept when we dive into the pool of Biblical interpretation. My theologian brothers and sisters in academia may not like to hear this, but at the end of the day it may be so. 

Is it really right to say that Professor Such&Such is responsible for an interpretation of Scripture when in fact the Holy Spirit had given that truth to us two thousand years ago through Paul, Peter, James or John?

This is especially a question when we approach Scripture with the belief that there is one true interpretation of most passages. To give one person the credit for the correct interpretation of a passage seems to grant them perhaps too much authority and comes close to ranking them next to the original author.

Is it really possible for any of us to claim ownership of ideas found in the Scripture? Or is it more likely that all of us should claim ownership of what is in the Bible? I’m in favor of citing sources and giving honor to those who went before, but in truth every good idea is built on thousands of years of good ideas...and several bad ones as well.

If we had to cite every one responsible for our own limited intelligence displayed in a single message it would sound like the listing of possible negative side-effects read off during a pharmaceutical commercial, and the sermons would be just as interesting.

The Pressures of Plagiarism, Part Four

Perhaps the bigger problem in Church is not the amount of plagiarism, but the lack of creativity. I suspect that if we had an environment that was more innovative we might see better thinking and less rehashing of the same ideas.

Maybe we have become so placid in our canned routines and expectations that we are not producing people who are able to think outside the box. Perhaps our staid practices, perpetuated for centuries, draw only the kind of person who is uncreative and actually resists innovation.

Church has become sedentary in so many different ways that it is actually hostile to creativity and innovation. It is also boring. This pressures pastors to spice it up a bit just to stay “relevant” (read: compete with other churches) within the confines of inherited boundaries in both practices and beliefs. This pressure results in needing to find another message every week that is at least as good as the last. Plagiarism can be the byproduct.

Every time we do this we take more steps away from the beauty evidenced in our Creator. Reconciled to the Creator, we of all people, should be the most creative in this world. But alas, we are the least. Rather than innovate we end up copying the innovations of the world. We sanctify the lyrics of a popular rock song as best we can for our saintly audience to try and make church less boring this next week.
 

This lack of innovation is especially true in certain domains of the kingdom that emphasize liturgies, hymns, creeds and doctrinal systems developed centuries ago. It is as if nothing new can be learned since John Calvin, John Wesley or Martin Luther.

We dare not question the ideas of great men who died 300 years ago. Realize that these are people who executed other Christians for a baptizing differently, or sold tickets to buy seats in pews. These men couldn’t even imagine a world with mass communication, rapid transit, instant publications, smart phones and global news channels on our LED TVs. In my iPhone I have dozens of versions of the Bible at my finger tips (literally) carried around with me all day in my pocket. What would Gutenburg think of that? They are dead and buried– their brains are but dust–yet still they think for the rest of us. In such an environment, where every thought must be held up to the mentality of long dead theologians, plagiarism is not surprising––an original thought is scandalously shocking.

We haven’t reached the apex yet of learning from God’s word. Luther, Calvin, and Wesley were not the final word in our march of progressive revelation. Creeds written in the fourth century cannot possibly contain the whole of scriptural truth and define all there is to learn. There are insights and understandings that they missed, in spite of how sound and profound their observations were. If encouraged, our Spirit-led children will discover even more than we do in the Bible.

Do not be afraid to dive boldly into the Scriptures without the boundaries of your inherited theological restraints. Keep on learning. Keep on growing. Ask questions of sacred ideas that have been around for centuries! If you have the Spirit of God in your heart and the word of God in your hand (or pocket) get out of the box and start to think for yourself. Feel free to make a mistake or two, that’s how we learn. Is this dangerous? Perhaps, but maybe our Christianity could stand for a little more danger in the mix. In fact, those very creeds we have loved for a millennium and a half came to be because of dangerous thinking.

Am I anti-doctrine? No, but I am against closed doctrinal systems that don’t stimulate better thinking or advance in understanding and application. When all the possible categories are defined, and the walls well established, and all learning must be within their boundaries you have put your god in a box. I am against that.

I am devoted to the Scriptures as inspired revelatory truth that is alive and enduring. The Scriptures are a baseline of all truth, but they are also eternal and inexhaustible. We do them a disservice by making them submit to our theological categories, labels and systems, it should be the other way around. I do not think the creeds or writings of church fathers are equal to the authority of Scriptures––or as empowered to change lives. I'm weary of theologians judging another teacher's orthodoxy based upon how they line up within  the categories of a human designed system of doctrines, rather than simply how they square in the light of Scripture. Those two things are not the same thing and I believe to equate them is less than orthodox...heretical even. I am not against learning from great men, I am against seeing those men as having already learned all there is to learn. I suspect that if they truly are great men, they would agree.

What would Christendom look like if we all agreed, all the time, and no one ever raised a different point of view? Some may say that would be heaven, I think it would be hell. All learning and growing would stop. We'd be monochromatic robots with little beauty or diversity, and we would lack all creativity and surprise. Heaven will be like our Creator who made 10,000's of varieties of flowers and birds, and gave each person a one-of-a-kind DNA so that each one is unique in all of history. Personally, I am grateful for the diversity of opinion. I love people that disagree with me, and those who agree as well. We all can learn from each other. We can discover the rich depth each part of the body brings to the round table if we only humble ourselves and accept one another. Perhaps combinations of thought can produce entirely new realms of understanding.

Doctrine was not meant to be the glue of unity. A statement of faith does not bring people together, in fact, it's designed to keep people out! Humility induced love is the only way to have true unity. Knowledge induces pride and division, only love edifies. If you have to agree to love, than you do not know love. Love shines best when you do not agree. When we make agreement to doctrine what unites us we end up dividing...time and again. When will we learn this?

We need to aspire to be more attentive to the voice of Scripture without hearing the same old broken record of theological systems replaying over and over. Is it possible for the church to break free of this? It will take people that are free and innovative, and right now the church doesn’t seem to favor that kind of person. We’ll see. I have hope, but not in the religious system that exists but rather in the Creator who always has existed––both in the system and outside of it.

The Pressure to Plagiarize, Part Three

Plagiarism is sometimes very obvious, at other times it is not. At the end of the day you really can’t always find the initial source of every quip, story or idea. My question is: Why are we so concerned with credit for everything we’ve said?

I have had more than a few of my words used by others without credit given. I’ve also seen where someone used my material and attributed its authorship to someone else that had “borrowed” my ideas earlier. Honestly, that makes me excited…most of the time. Sometimes I'm troubled because I sense a less then genuine person capitalizing on my work for his own financial benefit…and ego. But most of the time I am able to recognize the benefit of ideas spreading. 

We cannot catalyze a movement that spreads far if we have to be at the center of it all. We should want the ideas to be owned and spread willingly by each part of the movement.

I regularly preface some statements with: “We have a saying in our movement...” I do this for the very reason that I want others to own the idea and say it as their own rather than simply quote Neil Cole. I want the movement to own the idea. This actually fosters an environment where there isn't individual credit for an idea. Sometimes we must sacrifice individual ownership for the sake of mass ownership if we want a real movement. At the end of the day we want people talking about Jesus more than about their pastor or favorite author...don't we?

That is a very different value. It's a more apostolic (sending) approach to words and statements. You see, in a movement ideas must be owned by everyone so that they will get passed on by everyone. People must be so gripped by the idea that it becomes their own for all intents and purposes. That is how they go from consumers to communicators. Perhaps that is why Paul called the gospel "my gospel." If you are always worried about who gets the credit then you will not witness a movement. You will end up owning your own material and getting the credit, but you will not spread those ideas far and wide. There is still no guarantee that others wont plagiarize your idea anyway.

I’ll never forget the time I was at a restaurant and saw a couple guys using one of our Life Transformation Group (LTG) cards. I asked them about it and one of the men enthusiastically evangelized me with the concept of LTGs not knowing that I was the author of it. I reveled in that moment and did not bother telling them who I was. I simply said, “Wow, that’s great…I think I'll do that too.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be right for me to take full credit. The LTG concept was first inspired by John Wesley’s class meetings. But then Wesley got the idea from the Moravians.The early church was said to meet early in the morning to ask each other hard questions of character...so how far back do we go with the credit?

Am I giving permission for people to steal ideas? No, I’m not saying that. This is more a giving away of ideas than stealing. We need a more generous learning environment, so we need more generous teachers who are actually wanting others to learn, implement and even teach their ideas. Perhaps if we had a more generous learning environment we would be less inclined to steal some one’s words and would be generous enough to honor others wherever possible.

Lets value everyone's learning more than one person's teaching.

Note: this post is copyrighted and usage of any part of this material is strictly forbidden without the author’s expressed written consent…just kidding. Use it. There’s my expressed written consent.