Firstly having been truly Justified by the finished work on the cross, a person can then enter the purpose of their salvation: to be set apart from this world for the Lord. Secondly, the Lord wants to work through such a person but is unable to do so if they are not engaging the process of being set apart ... sanctification. This is dependent on engaging the risen, glorified Lord and allowing him access to our core beings. In short we call this yielding / submission / abandonment. Those willing get help to do this from the Holy Spirit - this is the purpose of our trials and sufferings and it is all by grace. This is true of individuals and individuals make a church.
If a church is not facilitating this as a body, we have the problem of 'a form of godliness but denying its power.' So people will be able to look like a functioning Christian - attend church, articulate a vision statement, enjoy worship, give to the church and serve - but not engage with the Lord in becoming set apart. So they have a form of godliness... but... the power that is supposed to occur (sanctification) is hindered. The logical conclusion is that people are not transformed by the Lord's sanctifying power and this is a huge problem. We then get people in the church that line up with Paul's list in 2 Tim 3.
The whole point of church is to be 'other than' in the world. Paul tells us in Romans 11:11 that the church should be making Israel jealous! The nature of the Gentile believers should be so Godly that Israel take notice. As it stands the church is a heartbreaking mess, an object of scorn to Jews. It's actually really easy to point out how the church is missing it. What is not so easy to dissect is why Men hear about measurable, observable and mend-able shortfalls yet do not act to calibrate themselves and their fellow believers towards the Lord and His word.
A church of 'form.'
I will try to articulate one of the problems we have that Paul helps us with in 2 Tim 3. We are all about 'form' but not about 'power.' Here is an example of what this present church age does:
Don't lose the point of this because of 'Manchester United,' put your own team in there.
Manchester United is a soccer team in the UK. They have enjoyed being among the biggest teams in the world because of one factor. That factor is Alex Ferguson the ex-Manager. Each home game the seats are full. They make millions through worldwide shirt sales and are a global brand. Imagine I look at Manchester United and desire to replicate all their component parts in order to see success. I would somehow get a 76,000 seat ground, buy world class players, gain the biggest sponsorship deals and play excellent football. However, it can never be authentic because Alex Ferguson isn't the manager. People would come to see the product, to enjoy the game. It can look all as genuine as the real Manchester United but it has not got the vital component.
For many years this is what some men have done with their church planting. Having seen a great, unmistakable move of God, they observe and study the component parts and go off the replicate it. They get the hall, the great musicians, the gifted and talented presenters, all that comprises the thing that had 'God' written all over it. Some do a stint of being a junior minister so they can satisfy the Paul-Timothy model. Its form is flawless. But it can never be authentic without the power. I was at a church where its very being was 'form' and not 'power.' The Pastor had been an observer of the Youth Alive scene in the late 80's. It was clear something was happening at that time and he came to England to plant a church. As a gifted speaker, a clarity of thinking and genuinely likable personality, the church grew. Much of the growth was transfer growth and at the time what was coming from his efforts contrasted the tired Pentecostal scene in the UK. It caught my eye as in the early 90's I had been fed the erroneous message that the church, and my life was about 'saving the lost.' So obviously I would get involved with the contemporary, intelligent and motivated church. I served this sort of thing for too many years and while I learned everything about ministry and leadership I saw little inner transformation. The church was the be all and end all of my purpose. It offered all my ego requested in attention, adoration and applause.
I have absolutely no doubt at all that this man and what he was doing was being used by God. God is like that! He will exploit any opportunity to accomplish His will and purposes. That is not to say that God is signing off on these works... He just works within the dynamic. What this church was doing was trying to provide a context for the Lord to work in and through. The problem is that church is something that must be birthed entirely from the Lord. People under the 'form' type of church do one of two things. They either serve the form of godliness and assume it is of itself the will of God or they embark upon living for Jesus, not this version of his will. Those who live for Jesus inevitably come to a point where they see the form for what it is (2 Tim 3:9)
The church of 'power.'
For a body of believers to manifest Jesus in its being and its doing there needs to be Apostolic roots. That means someone has to allow the Lord to remove all the 'form.' That means the Lord reveals the extent of the systems and structures we employ for something to look like it is authentic. Once stripped down to nothing, the Lord can then get at the Man to be able to purge all that which would hinder the Lord's work through the Man. This process is the Lord working His power in a person, the power that is denied when the form of church is passed off as authentic.
When a Man is under that power, the power of the risen, glorified Lord, Jesus can tell him anything and he will do it. If a Man is subject to worldly forces like self expectation, the need to be seen to be spiritual or similar motives, the voice of the Lord will contradict that which has been assumed to be a leading of the Holy Spirit. The Lord can work with Men who give themselves to Jesus to be dismantled. The Lord wants to work through people and show His glory in this dark world. How taken up with a 'form' of godliness are you? Is Jesus transforming power at work in your life today?
Gary Ward
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