Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the kingŐs horses and all the kingŐs men,
CouldnŐt put Humpty together again.
Can you imagine what it would be like to be the first on
the scene of HumptyŐs fall?
Pieces, and more pieces, of Humpty scattered all over the
landscape. Call out all the resources of the king, to see if we can again put
together this great icon of our civilization. But, alas, Humpty is too far gone
for man to put the pieces back into his whole.
Following from toothpicks last week, this new analogy
shows us afresh look at the church. All the resources of the king canŐt put the
church back into the functioning whole that the King intended it to be. This is
true even if we enlist the resources of all the kingdoms of this earth. The
only way that the church can be reassembled into her whole is if it is done by
the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. The irony of the
reassembly is that He will do it by using all of His men and horses, they will
just be utilized in a different way. A way that they would not think of being
used, by themselves.
Let us look briefly at a couple of ways that we have tried
to put the pieces back together to see their similarities and their differences
before we begin to move beyond their limitations into a new order, in which the
pieces seem to find their natural places within the whole. Not by magic, not by
might, not by power, and not even by the Spirit as we have come to define the
Holy Spirit. It will be accomplished by the miraculous work of God, using men
and women, just like you, just like me.
ŇWhat we need is a new Reformation. To return to the time
when God restored the church to grandeur under the watchful eye of Luther and
Calvin and a host of other leaders.Ó
There is nothing wrong with that concept, as long as we
realize that it wonŐt come about by studying and applying exclusively what was
taught by the Reformation leaders, These doctrines and their systems
(systematic theology) were a mechanism by which God moved at one particular
time and place. But trying to breathe life into pieces of paper, and the
greatest thoughts of man, wonŐt make anything live. No matter what the
incantations, even if we do it on All Saints Eve, for it is getting to be that
time of year.
ŇWhat we need is the spirit of revival to sweep the
land. For the fire of God to work
in the lives of men and women, to bring about repentance, personal holiness,
and to win souls for Jesus, like happened in the times of Finney, Moody, and
other revivalist preachers.Ó
When you begin to talk about revival, the first two
concepts that are usually associated with these meetings are a mighty and powerful
move of God. That generic quotation from Zechariah 4:6 above, therefore brings
condemnation upon that move of the Spirit, as another attempt to orchestrate a
move of God by our understanding, or our efforts.
Now both a new Reformation and fanning revival fires are
what the theological types would call a ŇTheology of Glory.Ó I have changed
their meaning slightly however, to denote a theology that puts God into a
paradigm of manŐs understanding. In that respect it is a theology of manŐs
glory. It has no life, because it is divorced from the true work of the Holy
Spirit, which is beyond our understanding of His workings. Those true miracles
we must accept in awe.
So beyond our best efforts, we as Christians, are left
with a stack of Holy toothpicks, Holy ashes, and pieces of Humpty Dumpty. What
the church seeks, and also many church onlookers, is the genuine work of God, a
move of His Spirit. The problem, is we have looked for new reformation and
revival in the dust, dead wood, ashes, and pieces of the past. We havenŐt
looked to the Bible except to justify our preconceptions and our lustful
desires. To sit at JesusŐs right and left hand by our effort, which is
something we can never do.
God moves through His word, people, and by faith. Any
manifestation of God always has some elements of these three, intertwined in
some unseen and unexpected way.
Now a rocket scientist, and a little child, would
probably both tell us if you have only three ingredients, the recipe, for
rocket fuel and patty cakes must lie in the proper ratioŐs of the ingredients.
The problem with modern society, and how it flows in the church, is that we
want instant gratification. Hence, we try a couple of recipes and if they donŐt
work, we either quit, or we fake the results. However, we may be able to fake
it with other people, but God doesnŐt go for our fakes. He may allow us fame
and fortune through faking it, but in the process we loose the prize we
initially sought.
There is no disciple, without knowing discipline. That is
the problem, the rampant disease in our culture. People are all too busy trying
to put together the pieces of their lives, when the king and his men have given
up. True faith is replaced with wishful thinking and many times presumption.
Part of the unique greatness, of our even fallen human condition, is that we
can create scenarios where our thinking and presumption has led to success. We
put it in a bottle, or a book and have a special on public television, or
produce an infomercial.
All leadership is really just an art, within a specific
genre, to coach discipline into the minds and hearts of the team. That is true
in athletics, business, the military, or the church. True success is determined
by the proper application of the fundamentals. But when the fundamentals are
limited to just procedures, the depth of the human personality is many times
lost.
For example, as you proceed up the chain of athletic
achievement, the level of ability has a tendency to level out. Separating the
winners from the losers, ability is not as important as attitude, because
everyone has a certain threshold of ability at any level. Winning comes
therefore by the discipline of knowing a certain plan will work. In that regard
you may lose the game, but you still win. You might be defeated, but next time.
What is lost in the understanding of Monday morning quarterbacks, is that
success takes place when you show up for practice Monday afternoon, injured,
bruised, and sore.
This same analogy fits within the church. Without the
discipline of Christian practice, after any victories or losses on Sunday, it
is impossible to put the pieces of the church back together. The church has no
effect upon the world.
Notice at this point we are still talking mostly about
the individual, but success in team sports is determined by the unity of the
team. Each player fitting into a greater whole, that synergy, that symbiosis.
If one person is lax in his efforts, the whole team suffers and defeat is the
result.
How is that team work developed? That is what I was
refreshed with at the PastorŐs conference last week. How do you get reluctant
volunteers to perform at all, little lone to the level of their ability, or
beyond? Those lessons are not learned on the athletic field, but in the
military. Even though many of the fundamentals are the same, the battle is not
for the title. The battle is for who lives and who dies.
However, the problem with the church is not life or
death. The problem is that in all our religious efforts, we forget that Humpty
Dumpty has been restored to wholeness (past, present, and future). Without that
concept, we will always find ourselves lost amongst the toothpicks and the
broken pieces. The game, the battle has been won, our job is to understand and
to walk the discipline required to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The grace of God in Jesus Christ may be a free gift, but
that does not make it cheap. Our only glimpse of its true price however, is for
us, the church, to practice a discipline that requires us to move out beyond
our understanding. The walk of faith empowered by GodŐs Holy Spirit, takes us
beyond ourselves into a land beyond the limitations we impose upon ourselves.
Each journey and adventure begins with the discipline to take one step at a time,
day after day, game after game, battle after battle, victory after victory, or
defeat after defeat.