Church Unleashed: Part One

Like most solid theological ideas I get, my latest revelation from God came from watching the Simpsons. Okay, so it probably wasn't a revelation from God, but it was something that made me think about the state of the Church. The token conservative Christian on the show, Ned Flanders, is preparing his house for a hurricane and he makes a statement that struck me as oddly deep. While talking about a nativity scene that might pose a dangerous threat due to the imminent winds of the hurricane, Ned says, "If baby Jesus got loose, he could really do some damage".

Now, I'm aware that it was just a punchline, but my mind made everything complex by misinterpreting what he meant. I thought about that statement, "If Jesus got loose, he could really do some damage". How true is that statement? If Jesus had his way in this world, he could really do some damage. The entire world would be revolutionized, if Jesus got what he wanted.

Then I thought about how that sounds like Jesus can't get what he wants. That there are things that Jesus wants changed about this world, and he can't do anything about them. How does that fit in with the fact that Jesus is the all-powerful God of the universe? It seems to me that if there were things in the world that Jesus didn't like, that he could just change them.

I don't want to get in the argument of free will here. I'm aware that God in his great love allows us free will, and because of that free will, we can make decisions that God isn't happy with. In fact, he'll often let us stay in the consequences of our freely chosen decisions. However, I still believe that God's Will is going to be accomplished no matter what.

Now, I've always believed that God's will is going to be complete when Jesus returns. However, Jesus sets up a different ideal when he talks about heaven. When Jesus speaks about heaven in the Bible he doesn't speak of some far off place. Jesus talks about a kingdom. Now it's not an earthly kingdom, but a kingdom in the sense of the word. A place where the king's will gets accomplished. Christians typically refer to this as the Kingdom of God, but Christ often used the term the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus creates this idea that we are called to create the Kingdom of Heaven here and now. If a kingdom is the place where the king's will is done, then the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven is the place where God's will is done, where things are like they'll be in heaven.

Then I was left with this idea, if the Kingdom of Heaven is where God's will is done, shouldn't that be the church? If the church is the body of Christ, then the church is only the church when it is in line with the Kingdom of God. If Jesus is the head of the church and the head decides what the body will do, then the church should be the place where our will aligns with God's will. Not the place where we try and force God to go along with our plans, but the place where we ask God what he wants to see changed in the world and we do it.

The problem is that this is not the picture I see in the Church in America. The Church in America is more focused on getting God to endorse the candidates we endorse or to get God to bless us financially or to get God to promote our kind of lifestyle. When you see the place where God is moving the most, it's where people are willing to open up their hands to God and ask him to change them and the world around them.

So maybe it's not there are things in this world that Jesus can't accomplish, but that there are things in this world that Jesus is waiting to accomplish. Maybe God is working in our hearts to change the world. Maybe God is waiting on us, not because he needs us, but because we need him.

Maybe God is waiting on us until we're ready to act, so that we can get the joy of being in his presence as he changes the world. But do not be confused, God is not held back by our unwillingness to move. A good friend once told me that God is a God who risks. God is the God who stands at the door and says, "I'm giving you the opportunity to do something for my glory here. Don't screw it up." But if we choose to waste our opportunity, God's Will still will be accomplished.

Maybe the phrase shouldn't be if Jesus got loose he could really do some damage, maybe we should say, "If the church let Jesus loose, we could really do some damage". God is not hindered by our lack of motion, but sometimes he waits on us to mature to the place that we're ready to do some damage.

So, what is it that you want to see changed about this world? What really bothers you? What keeps you up at night, yelling at the ceiling to a God you might not even believe in, asking Him to change things? Whatever it is, maybe the reason it hasn't changed, isn't because God is helpless. Maybe the reason it hasn't changed, is because God's waiting for you to do some damage.

The question is: are you willing to do some damage?