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What
Every Corps Needs To Embrace
by Captain Peter
Brookshaw
God can do
immeasurably more than anything we ask or imagine. Yes, that
is true. Most of us know these words inside and out, quoted
regularly from the letter to the Ephesians. We nod in
agreement, and give a wry smile. We’ve heard it all before.
I wonder
though, whether we actually take heed of such words?
Let me
suggest for a moment, that if we truly believed God was
omnipotent, then prayer meetings would be overflowing, altars
would be jammed-packed and corps gatherings would be bustling.
But we don’t and they aren’t.
God can do
immeasurably more than anything we ask or imagine.
The issue
isn’t that we don’t believe God is all powerful per se but
rather that we don’t actually believe God cares enough for us
to answer our prayers within his omnipotence. We embrace some
sort of deistic approach to God, and unknowingly commit to an
ideology that suggests God is inactive in the world we live
in.
Convince
me I’m not telling the truth.
If what I
am saying is false, then tell me why Salvation Army corps
struggle in their pursuit of well attended, passionate,
vibrant prayer meetings? Surely one of the reasons is, whether
we articulate it this way or not, is that we simply do not
believe God is willing to hear our prayers.
You could suggest other
reasons why fundamental expressions of Christian worship and
discipleship are lacking in (primarily) western world
contexts. You could say that people are ‘time-poor’ or
apathetic. Though, the reason for their apathy is surely
because they have not caught a revelation of the love of the
father, and have failed to embrace the all encompassing
greatness of the father, exhibited through the work of the
father.
See,
God is willing to hear our prayers and answer them according
to his will in Christ Jesus. He absolutely cares for us and
absolutely seeks the best for our lives and society.
The
question is: do we really believe that? My observation, at
least in my limited perspective, is no. We like to say we
believe it. We love to recall the Ephesians 3:20 passage and
other great bible verses that affirm God’s greatness, but when
all is said and done, Christians prefer to nibble biscuits
while watching Master Chef, than attending a prayer meeting to
seek salvation for the world.
You are
welcome to disagree with me. That’s fine. I just hope you are
one who is speaking from a perspective that has a credible
voice to disagree with the assertions I have made.
It is time
that we grasp a revelation of the power of God, of the loving
nature of God and of the intent that the Lord has to work
through us to bring redemption to the world.
We don’t
need another ecclesiastical corps cumbering the earth.
We need
Salvation Army soldiers who will have an increasing
understanding of the power of God, and recognize God’s desire
to enact change to their communities through his people.
We must
stop embracing a watered-down pathetic representation of God,
who lives in some ivory tower, seemingly uninterested in the
affairs of humanity.
God is
surely looking for some passionate, committed, sold-out
followers of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who believe
God is going to work through them to see a holy transformation
of their world.
When these
kind of faith-filled believers are on the scene, ministry is
exciting. At times people get healed; and I mean, literally,
physically, healed. You witness moments when someone speaks a
‘word of knowledge’ into someone’s life and the brokenness
that has characterised their life for the last two years is
demolished. You see unbelievers choosing to follow Christ,
because all of a sudden their God-conscience is pricked.
Social justice goes from being a trendy option, to a
Spirit-led imperative.
Oh that we
would hear the call to radical, passionate, faith-filled
prayer and discipleship. Every corps needs to embrace this.
Every leader needs to promote this. Every soldier needs to
live this.
Anything less is robbing
God of what he intends to do through The Salvation Army.
God can do
immeasurably more than anything we ask or imagine.
Captain
Pete Brookshaw
www.petebrookshaw.com
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