Daily writing prompt

How do you deal with uncertainty?

View all responses

The Misunderstanding of Christianity — My Search for The Beautiful Place Where People Gather to Let Jesus Lead Them

The Bible tells Christians to meet together to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24-25) and allow people to share (1 Corinthians 14:26) what the Holy Spirit puts on their heart. (Romans 8:14) If you’ve read some of what I write, you know that I am on a lifelong mission to search for and promote Spirit-prompted, open-sharing Christian meetings, but they are very difficult to find.

As a result of my steadfast seeking and promoting, I’ve been misunderstood, criticized, accused, ignored, rejected, and insulted. But I’ve also had many incredible experiences of seeing the risen Jesus work powerfully in and through ordinary people. Those experiences have kept my heart passionately in love with and committed to Christ and hungry to see Him do more.

I’ve noticed that even people who say they believe the Bible seem to have little or no interest in gathering with other believers to listen to “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and then allow people to say and do what Jesus tells them to. However, when people take turns speaking out as the Spirit leads them, the Bible says this will happen: “If an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” (1 Corinthians 14: 27-28)

People need to see and experience actual demonstrations of Christ’s presence, power, and love. It’s not enough to merely give them the enticing words of a one-man religious lecture. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

I feel like someone who has discovered the most incredible and beautiful place in the world, but so very few people want to come with me and let me show it to them. The wonderful place I’ve discovered is any place Christ-followers gather to humbly listen to and obey His inner voice.

Although it feels like I haven’t been able to convince many people of the vital importance of such a Spirit-directed meeting, my search hasn’t been in vain. I’ve experienced that glorious place of watching Christ Himself lead a group of two or more people gathered in the lobby of a college dorm, in someone’s living room or basement, in a Bible school in India, in an alcohol and drug rehab center, on inner-city streets, in my own home, in a traditional Salvation Army church building for 9 1/2 years, in a barn with a Nashville-based ministry called Cul2vate, in a discipleship program in Costa Rica, in a Spanish-speaking house church in Nashville, and even in a burrito-based restaurant.

So why has my searching moved me around so much? I’ve discovered that Spirit-led meetings are beyond our human comfort zone.

The more God’s Spirit is allowed to take over a meeting, the more we become aware of our sinful human nature. As the Spirit prompts people to open up their hearts to one another, we feel vulnerable. Intimacy with Christ exposes our own heart to us. It causes us to become uneasy and to want to hide.

It requires courage to allow Jesus to show you what’s truly going on in your heart. When that begins to happen in a meeting, human nature wants to run away or to hide behind a pastor-led religious program. It’s at that point of awkwardness that someone who sees himself or herself as a leader may step in and take control in order to make people feel more comfortable. The Bible calls that quenching the Holy Spirit.

I’ve discovered that most Christians prefer to honor Jesus by their church attendance but to keep their heart from being mightily touched (Matthew 15:8-9) and undone by His presence. (Isaiah 6:5) Thus, the spiritual intimacy of Spirit-led meetings is resisted and rejected. I’ve even had several people tell me that I shouldn’t talk and write about it so much. (You may feel the same way.) But I can’t stop speaking about the things I have seen and heard.

Thank you for having the courage to read this till the end. Now I challenge you to find one or more people who are willing to meet with you, listen to the inner voice of Jesus, and then say and do what He tells them to. Gather with them and behold the Lamb of God working in your midst!

#ekklesiaexperience #spiritledchurch