Church before awakening - 2

© TuneAndPrepareBlog

Our Sleeping Beauty - 2

..a calling for the
Man/Woman
of Prayer..

Eph 5:25
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Logos, so that he might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Lk 1:17

Prayer With Humility

Gd proof against the proud...
Jms 4:6

The Christian humility, unlike the observance of the Old Testament, is the result of intimate encounter, the joy and Dignity of the spiritual Adoption, the peace of the Acceptance – but also brings up the common sense. This allows us understanding the total dependecy.
Dependency of the Holy Christ, of His Spirit and His Word, depending on his providence, every area of our life, according to His Will.
Gd is not simply angry with the proud. He opposes.. Our Biblical text here refers to a heavenly character which is like a sealed layer, like the waterproof jacket: separates itself from the pride ..
Gd is against the pride - in any form. He is enormously strong, and He is humble. The lion and the lamb. His humbleness is gloriously visible in his dedication - which is not Abdication at all. He, the Mighty Gd, God Most High - can be the uttermost authority over the world. But he made a decision:

.. the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
Jn 5:22-23

I think it's a good base for our humbleness.

Humility is simple

It means: confessing our faults. Confessing Gd's power & plan and crying out for His power & visions in us - through us, as we are in Him. This is the first step in every priestly service, in every radiant movement. But humility also means that we rejoice in our adoption and in our full righteousness through Him!
Childlike heart is a humble heart.
Childlike heart is a cheerful heart.
⬇

On Humility

Humility is
· High regard for Gd
· Low regard for ourselves
But. Humility is not simply "confessing our weakness" and bringing up "our insufficiency". That would give a place for an exemption-seeking spirit, a self-justifying spirit, a human-centered mindset, saying that "the one is just a sinner". This philosophy is the practice of many mega churches or congregations with horizontal Humanist perspective.
Nope. We, New Covenant Bearers, are NOT sinners anymore but are a redeemed, free nation. We can not be sinners, since we are under the Blood and not under the Law anymore. To say and assume that a believer is still a sinner is completely contrary to the plan of salvation:

Col.2:14
..having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

Sinless life is free to get – but Someone has paid a price for it. An unimaginable price.

Fruits by humility

A deep understanding and experience of this status will bear fruit that cannot be imitated. Sacrifice brings humility.
And humility produces better relationship with the Holy Spirit and this relationship brings fruits:

Hope
Courage
Determination
Opennes, upfront character
Ability to learn (lifelong learning)
Ability to love (lifelong learning: agape & filia)
Action for the visibility
Ability of dependent life
Ability for the multiplication

Let me explain the last two because I think they are keys for the restoration.

A. Sailing, not motor boating

The worldly leaders are good managers. They are like the captains of the ocean-liner {or motor yacht owners}. They are good to pull levers, push buttons, giving commands to the Machinery. But.., since they don't understand the craft of sailing They aren't organic. Sailing requires expertise, experience and heart. Knowing the winds. The currents. The sea.

B. Understanding multiplication

Since we have no more status syndrome and we understood the significance of reciprocity, were able to delegate others, dedicating persons, Freeing up resources, gifts and sharing them with others: with the services in the Church. And for the outspreading services around us. In the mission.
↺ again: dedication is not abdication: The Father gave us the model.

Let me use a picture:
Before awakening humility is just like a wadii. During the awakening the wadii became a broad river. It is swelling by various sources - sometimes digged out of the sand of anonimity. Of course, they are persons.
If these persons are risen by the Paulian method, described in the 1. and 2. Timothy, they will keep the dynamic of the Holy Spirit.
As for the Church, Paul is not naive:

In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable
2Tim 2:20
.. having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
2Tim 3:5

This is not a condemnation. This is a righteous, sober judgement. In the corrupted spiritual world every look alike is dangerous and poisoning. Jesus warned his disciples about the danger of look alike although he has not given us the opportunity to uproot it thoroughly.
As we can see, ap. Paul has guidelines for the responsible person. Awakening brings lot of characters into the net. Here comes the {often neglected} difference between overseers, pastors or manager-leaders. There's a significant difference between managing for quantity or pastoring persons by quality.

.. an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well.
1Tim 3:2
the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness..
2Tim 2:24
what you have heard from me.. entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
2Tim 2:2

In the last phase of the awakening, in the "movement" phase, in the congregation phase: the activists slowly block* the river with the horizontal focus, with self-righteousness in their activity. The new generation uses the benefits of the former one, more and more often daydreaming an idealistic "Christendom" during its wandering – more or less: in the desert, again.
And the wadii is rare, again.

*'they block' means that the personal motivation is less and less for the glory of the Kingdom and more and more for the enhancement of the community life and personal achievements.
"Shepherds" come into the movement. Persons who are gifted leaders {by the Worldly measure} but plan horizontally, not by the Spirit. They are preparing a seeker-friendly church.
Fruits? More and more 'seemingly good things' will be created, more and more selfish, carnal worship, activity, function is happening.. alongside the new buildings and lot of printing...

New GenThe Original Leadership model

Judgment vs. Condemnation
The revelation of the judgment, the adjusted hearts, brings replacement in the leadership.
The leaders of the new generation guided by the new apostolic model do not depend on the stage, buildings, "likes," or nice suits/mantels.
The apostolic teaching and habit {ap. concentric circles} gives us insight about the mutual responsibility and reciprocity in the Church {between the church members}. Then we see some new fruits: the believers gradually understand the given heritage and the authority of the Church among the lost.
Remember! Close, informal relation­ships were common in the first Church and the new, open hearted community lived in a sensitive human society during the 1st century. Leaders were not exempt.
Ap.Paul says:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1Cor.13:4-5
I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
Rom.11-12

Reciprocity means pluralism. It's not a democracy. It's pluralism. We have Kingdom, we have the King, we have different responsibilities. We must nurture excellence over equity.
But - as humans - we all need each other:

.. if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
1 Corinthians 12:15-18

And - as we saw in Rom.11-12 - leaders are included in the reciprocity.

In the next chapter I will write some thoughts about practical changes, The Original Priesthood Model ("original" means Early Christian Priesthood) and changes within the hearts.

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*MSG – The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language
Copyright © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.
*Phillips translation: The New Testament in Modern English © 1958, 1959, 1960 J.B. Phillips and 1947, 1952, 1955, 1957 The Macmillian Company, New York