Modern Day Rainmakers

They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind
(Jude 12 – NIV)

The “job” of an evangelist has morphed over the years. Because of a misunderstanding of the sovereignty of God, and an overemphasis on the free will of man, the evangelists (not all, mind you, but many of the most popular, and those who are “learning” while coming up the ranks) have a new task or “job”, which is to precipitate a crisis.

This way a decision can be made, and the evangelist can be seen to produce results, which are equated by the host church or event, and by the evangelist himself, as doing the right things. It is seen as the favor of God over the ministry or as being faithful, and so God responded in kind with many “decisions”.

This results oriented measurement may or may not be a true measure in certain instances, but “decisionism” has crippled the American church, for sure. We have lots of baptized pagans in our pews, and lots of spiritual midgets in our midst. This can be a problem for the immature believer, the backslider, or the unbeliever, for that matter. The spiritually bored are most susceptible to this; they heed the dire diagnosis, and celebrate the loudest when the evangelist brings the supposed rain of revival to town.

When an evangelist comes into town, or when we go searching for that “event” or conference or seminar we need to go to get that “boost”, we can be setting ourselves up in a boom and bust cycle of spirituality. We get excitement, but we don’t get expansion. These are like the stony ground (Mark 4:16-17), they have no root, and while they received the Word with gladness, it ultimately did not produce any fruit. No root, no fruit, and a bunch of confusion to boot.

This is not to belittle the role of an evangelist. They do an important work in the body of Christ. First, they are to bring sinners to repentance, and second, to exhort and admonish backsliders and believers to an increased faith. We need our emotions stirred. We do not begrudge them this.

Of course, not all do these things with the same effectiveness, and herein we can see the root of a problem. Our culture in America is so tied to results that it has affected the Christian subculture in an adverse way. Considering this, when an evangelist comes to town, which ones will be invited back, the ones who “produced” results, or the ones who didn’t? How do we measure these results? Too often, because we don’t believe in the absolute sovereignty of God, we look to emotional outpourings and decisions to validate the work of those visiting us.

We would suggest that what we need to do to measure effectiveness is look at faithfulness to God and His Word. God is sovereign, and He is the one who is responsible for salvation and for growth in grace. We must recognize this, and not let decisionism take its place, or we might let those who aren’t so faithful but who produce numbers or decisions or effects or results have their way. This is how wolves get in, not to say we have had many, but to say we need to recognize the wiles of the devil for what they are.

Steadfast shepherds need to be on the lookout for modern day rainmakers.

Are You Ready?

Update 9-1-06 - 4:00 pm -
See the new link below, the old one has problems. The new one gives you extra stuff, but all I want is for you to see the video:

Check this out, and make sure your sound is turned on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmLhyPjHVes&eurl=

The Four Questions Every Christian Asks

But the fruit of the Spirit…against such there is no law
(Galatians 5:22-23)

These four questions that every Christian asks are such that they have been grappled with over and over by countless believers, and likely this missive will not settle the passions once and for all. This small contribution will not be exhaustive, by any means. However, by examining the questions in light of and living by the fruit of the Spirit, many of these questions will either be answered or we will have the answer coming to us very soon.

What does it mean to be spiritual?

Many would have us believe that it has to do with walking around in a cloud, acting as if we are nothing but otherworldly. Perhaps you have met those that seem to be kind of spooky, or that are deluded into thinking that they have special insight or a more mystical type of faith, while yours is a more “carnal” or “dead” experience. Often new converts are drawn into strange practices (unbiblical at that) wanting to be more “spiritual”, like so and so, and end up getting weird. They follow every new fad and their faith stays shallow, relying on experience rather than becoming grounded in the Word. Too many feel that they have to “go with the flow” or they are missing out on spiritual growth. Well, this is simply not the case. Operating in the supernatural is spiritual activity but to be more spiritual means to be more like Jesus. Paul explains in no uncertain terms what being like Jesus looks and acts like. He says, the fruit of the Spirit IS. When we are really living in a relationship with our Savior, we will take on His character, showing the beautiful fruit of the Spirit, replacing our old, bad traits with godliness. To be spiritual is to be transformed into the image (read: character) of Jesus Christ.

What would Jesus do?

First, it is more about what Jesus did, not what we do. It is a question that many people use as a sort of slogan, but one that would be better rendered, “what would Jesus have us to do?” Either way, the answer is the same in both these, and indeed all cases. Jesus would, and would have us to do whatever is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, graceful, and temperate. Spiritual formation, whether it comes through the practice of spiritual disciplines or through life’s experiences, is effective only to the degree that it bears this fruit.

How does something “line up with the Word”?

Have you ever heard that something must “agree with the Word” or that it is not of God? Well, you cannot be expected to have memorized the Scriptures in their entirety as a young believer, and you don’t always have all the biblical knowledge on a certain matter. How then do you know if something is in agreement? These qualities of the Spirit of Christ are the filter by which we judge things. If something seems to have one, but not all of these, it is either not from God, or not His best for you. This is what is meant when you hear that all things must “pass through the Bible”, or that some experience must “line up with the Word”.

How do you stay in God’s will?

If we are doing what is lovely, joyful, peaceful, patient, etc., we are doing God’s will, for we are acting like His Son, which is His will for our lives at all times. This is how we know we are walking with Him: the change in our lives. This is how others, including non-believers will be able to tell that we are different. By their fruits ye shall know them (Matthew 7:20).