Bringing people to the cross has been seen to be the mission of the church for a couple thousand years. Has it been transformational? Yes – for us as individuals, for societies and for the good of those who had no idea they were reaping the reward of lives of faith.
But there’s more; there’s a WHY that simply bringing people to the cross doesn’t answer. If our mandate is merely to bring people to Jesus, it’s just a recruitment drive for heaven when we’re dead, and less about living a life that Jesus modelled. To do the latter requires maturity.
“Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done; on earth AS IT IS in Heaven”.
We’ve seen glimpses of heaven on earth, but there’s more. Creation has been groaning for it since the fall of man, and you only groan for something you have an expectation for.
I don’t have all the answers, but I have a responsibility to steward what God gives me to do, which is to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him.
I remember being at a service a while ago where the leader opened with 1 Corinthians 2: 1 – 5.
“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
His point with reading this passage was to say that it’s crucial that we keep things simple, that we don’t over complicate things, that everyone feels welcome and understands what’s being said and done. Whilst I agree with this statement, I felt a grieving in my spirit too. I reached for my Bible and turned to the passage myself and read the next part of the passage (verse 6 – 13, including my emphases):
“Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,
‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.’
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”
I was relieved by this reminder. I’m not causing trouble – I’m just keen on maturity. There’s nothing wrong with knowing nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified as long as it’s followed by a pressing into maturity, a desire for wisdom, for the things of the Spirit that are waiting to be unveiled.
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Unveiling Faith with William Thompson 