Listening to God...
Listening to God has been a bit of a theme for us as a community over this last year. I can remember returning to the idea week after week as we worked through the book of Mark in our first weeks and months. Listening as individuals, yes... but also listening as a community.
The idea of listening as a community has been largely absent from my experience with church. I think the idea was that we listen as individuals, and leaders listen for our community. I wonder if this was just a practical thing, having been part of communities that were either too large to make listening together seem practical, or too if the leadership was afraid of letting go of that power, or what...
I began a new book this morning- actually something I read my first go-round in seminary- "Listening to God" by Klaus Bockmuehl.
In the first chapter he's discussing the thoughts and words of a man named Frank Buchman:
It is to a group of willing men and women that God speaks most clearly.
Wow. Could that possibly be true?
One of the coolest experiences I have yet had with Evergreen, our community, was a prayer night we had some weeks ago to pray through and discuss options for moving. There was a very clear and unifying sense of God speaking to us, bringing us together. It was...uh... wild. There were even some who were openly struggling with what they were clearly hearing... and yet we all had to admit- God was speaking. And I have to say that that was probably one of the times in my life when I have heard God most clearly, if not the time...
There's a lot I could say about this. On a personal level, I know I need to spend more time listening to God. I wonder what would happen though, if I began to bring other people into that process, enlisting other people with whom I am in relationship to pray through the same things I am praying through and process with me what we all hear. I know that probably sounds like an elementary concept to those who already do it, but for us stilted ex-Baptists who have more of the "rugged individual" ideal of Christianity, it's a pretty threatening concept.
Something else that comes to mind is this- if it really is to a group of willing men and women that God speaks most clearly, this is another apologetic for us in keeping the church small through church planting. While I know that God could speak to 2000 just as easily as He could to 200 or even 20, groups on the lower end of that numerical scale will have a much easier time processing what they are hearing and making decisions as a community based on what God is saying to them. We could say another reason to keep our community small through continual growth/church planting is so that we can more easily hear from and respond to God.
I want God to speak to me, but even more, I want God to speak to us. I suppose my "job" as pastor is to help prepare our community for that, help put us in the place of expectant listening, and help us to process what God says to us.
God, we want to hear from You. We need to hear from You. Please speak to us as a community. We need to know how to be missional, to care for the poor, for each other, for this community... in fact, there's a whole lot we'd love to hear from You on. Please help us to listen.
The idea of listening as a community has been largely absent from my experience with church. I think the idea was that we listen as individuals, and leaders listen for our community. I wonder if this was just a practical thing, having been part of communities that were either too large to make listening together seem practical, or too if the leadership was afraid of letting go of that power, or what...
I began a new book this morning- actually something I read my first go-round in seminary- "Listening to God" by Klaus Bockmuehl.
In the first chapter he's discussing the thoughts and words of a man named Frank Buchman:
"... he said, 'When man listens, God speaks. When man obeys, God acts... We are not out to tell God. We are out to let God tell us... The lesson the world most needs is the art of listening to God.' As an example, Buchman referred to the experience of the prophets and reminded his listeners of the first Pentecost. He concluded, 'Divine guidance must become the normal experience... Definite, accurate, adequate information can come from the mind of God to the minds of men. This is normal prayer.'
Buchman added a word of caution, however, by pointing to the need to test the thoughts that come in times of quiet 'to see which are from God.' He suggested two tests: 'One test is the Bible... There, culminating in the life of Jesus Christ, we find the highest moral and spiritual challenge- complete honesty, purity, unselfishness and love.' The other test is the opinion of those who also listen to God, the fellowship as the 'acid test' of individual commitment. Indeed, Buchman felt that 'no one can be wholly God-controlled who works alone. It is to a group of willing men and women that God speaks most clearly.'"
It is to a group of willing men and women that God speaks most clearly.
Wow. Could that possibly be true?
One of the coolest experiences I have yet had with Evergreen, our community, was a prayer night we had some weeks ago to pray through and discuss options for moving. There was a very clear and unifying sense of God speaking to us, bringing us together. It was...uh... wild. There were even some who were openly struggling with what they were clearly hearing... and yet we all had to admit- God was speaking. And I have to say that that was probably one of the times in my life when I have heard God most clearly, if not the time...
There's a lot I could say about this. On a personal level, I know I need to spend more time listening to God. I wonder what would happen though, if I began to bring other people into that process, enlisting other people with whom I am in relationship to pray through the same things I am praying through and process with me what we all hear. I know that probably sounds like an elementary concept to those who already do it, but for us stilted ex-Baptists who have more of the "rugged individual" ideal of Christianity, it's a pretty threatening concept.
Something else that comes to mind is this- if it really is to a group of willing men and women that God speaks most clearly, this is another apologetic for us in keeping the church small through church planting. While I know that God could speak to 2000 just as easily as He could to 200 or even 20, groups on the lower end of that numerical scale will have a much easier time processing what they are hearing and making decisions as a community based on what God is saying to them. We could say another reason to keep our community small through continual growth/church planting is so that we can more easily hear from and respond to God.
I want God to speak to me, but even more, I want God to speak to us. I suppose my "job" as pastor is to help prepare our community for that, help put us in the place of expectant listening, and help us to process what God says to us.
God, we want to hear from You. We need to hear from You. Please speak to us as a community. We need to know how to be missional, to care for the poor, for each other, for this community... in fact, there's a whole lot we'd love to hear from You on. Please help us to listen.
2 Comments:
Right there with you, Bob. To really blow it up, bringing that into a group of churches hearing the same thing from God for their city's sake, wow.
Man, it's so great to hear what's going on a million miles away. As much as we can be, our church is there with Evergreen.
"It is to a group of willing men and women that God speaks most clearly."
Amen. I don't think there is anyway for a person alone to hear all that God has for him or her.
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