Singapore Gathering Takeaways
Coming out of a recent leaders consultation in Singapore has left me challenged and incredibly hopeful. In fact more than hopeful – filled with fresh vision and expectation for an outpouring designed to change us all. It has become abundantly clear the Lord is calling us into yet another level of revelation as He proceeds to unfold His magnificent glory.
CHALLENGE REVEALED
The time for us was pivotal both in terms of intimacy and revelation. Two particular impressions stood out to me. The first one came out of a challenge presented by the younger generation. Their cry was for a solution to the crisis facing our culture around the brokenness of sexuality. It is an issue we may see at a distance, but they face intimately every day.
Their message came in the form of a cry of compassion for their friends and classmates. If I read their heart right, they were not questioning the moral code of the Church, but its capacity to respond in love.
It is a question for us all asking, ‘is there a balm in Gilead?’ The balm is a reference to a rare perfume used medicinally in Biblical Gilead. It has since become a figure of speech as a universal cure for sin. Hence, asking the question, ‘Do we have a cure for the worst parts of the human condition?’
BALM OF GILEAD
A famous old hymn answers saying,
"There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul."
Thus the question intrudes on us in order to provoke by asking, ‘Is there power in our gospel for the sin-sick soul?’ Is it enough to change all or just some? Or to put it another way, do we care enough to look for one? We need to decide whether it is sufficient to identify sin or are we responsible to search out a remedy. To this end I posted this statement on social media.
“The difference between pointless religion and true faith surrounds the cure for sin. Religion is content to diagnose you, while true faith reaches into the heart of God for your cure!”
WHAT IF?
The fact is that God by His Spirit is drawing us into His heart. God wants to elevate the potency of our gospel. This is not an indictment as much as a call to ascend—it is an opportunity. What if the manifestation of gross darkness is meant to be a catalyst pushing us deeper into the hidden power of salvation? In my mind it is clear that where sin abounds, grace is still much much greater.
Ultimately we are leaning into a level of love and truth, which will manifest in a family able to absorb the sins of the world. We are God’s agency of change, the light of the world, but when deep darkness covers the earth an even greater light will emerge.
All of which creates a tremendous hope for what is surely coming upon the nations. The promise we have is a people forged into a family, identified as Sons, whom even creation anticipates (Romans 8). He waits for us to awaken and realize we are His solution to the earth’s woes.
This is critical for us to grasp. For while the language we use suggests we expect an event, His answer has always been a people.
TABLETS OF FLESH
God’s reply to the cry of the lost is a generation like no other. A young leader alluded to this promise by quoting Paul who wrote,
“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” – 2 Corinthians 3:2-3
This is the heart of the second impression. It is the assurance that a generation carrying an unimaginable weight of glory is coming.
It came to light as I basked in the amazing atmosphere. While it was beautiful my thoughts quickly turned pragmatic; my heart turned to those not present. I wondered, ‘How do I capture the beauty of these moments and convey the depth to others?’
My impulse was to find the appropriate means to package the experience. As I contemplated ways to communicate the present depth to others, I thought along typical lines—things like photos, media posts and videos. All of which might hold something of the atmosphere and profound beauty of God’s family. Suddenly I was interrupted by God who said, ‘You ARE the Message’.
GOD’S ARROW
It was immediately clear to me. While we are drawn to these mediums for capturing His truth, God has already given us His preferred device. He told us that His instrument of choice is mankind–to inscribe the reality of heaven in the hearts of men. There is no better container! We, like sons, are arrows in God’s quiver (Psalm 127:3-4). His strategy is not an institution or program, but a people.
At that moment I remembered an exchange with my wife. Despite my busy travel schedule she gladly released me to these events. Not because she wanted to see me less, but in her own words said, ‘You always come back a better man’.
The goal in the heart of God is a better version of what it means to be Christian. We are His workmanship! Holy Spirit is saying ‘we are His message—a people unlike any other’. So while we might want to enshrine a life-changing moments in a caption or video, God has ordained us as the container in which He stores unfathomable treasures. We are His ‘divine hard drive’ etched with increasing levels of heavens reality.
TRANSFORMED PEOPLE
Nothing makes an impact like a transformed people. We are letters written ‘not with ink but by the Spirit of God’. The plan of God was always that priests would carry the glory of God on their shoulders. Likewise we are God’s choice in vessels. There is a measure of glory that can be housed in structures and programs, but no glory is as enduring as that which is enclosed in earthen vessels. Thus out of the furnace of intimacy a people are emerging who shall be identified as ‘Sons of the Most High’. Creation waits!