A New Reformation of Christianity Is Stirring that will engage people and culture with the love and grace of God—finally, a new, Jesus-inspired Second Reformation. This one will not result in a new denomination (or thousands of denominations). It will neither emerge because of theological differences or because there are religious leaders imposing ungodly, unbiblical things upon their church members.
This Reformation will simply emerge as a result of a revival of repentance, a greater awakening and a remnant Jesus People that will become unstoppable in the streets, in the marketplace and in the city squares. All of these glorious moves and manifestations are ignited by the Holy Spirit’s power. It’s as if a cake is being baked and these are the ingredients to a New Reformation.
As Dr. John Jackson said in a recent speech standing in front of the California State Capitol steps, “I’m here to share with you that the last several years I’ve sensed a stirring in my heart, as have many others, that we are on the edge of a second Reformation. The second Reformation is not about grace received, it’s about grace distributed.” I concur with that statement. “Twenty-twenty is a year of such shifting, of such magnitude that the Church of Jesus Christ will never be the same. That’s our calling. That’s our assignment and this is that time,” said John. He went on to declare, “Part of what God has been doing here in our midst today is stirring us up, to repent to the fact we’ve not been engaged in culture. We’ve allowed culture to do its thing as long as we can be satisfied for a protected hour on Sunday morning and do our worship and then go home. And culture has drifted all that time. That stops now!” Hallelujah, the Church has left the building.
Only God’s hand has forced us outside the walls, has woke us up, has brought us to our knees, deeper into the Word of God and back to our First Love, Jesus. When the Church wakes up, the culture wakes up. It’s really that simple. In our current culture, people only consume things that have a good rating or positive social proof. Our lack of engaging culture as witnesses filled with the Holy Spirit is why God is stirring hearts and breaking ground in this moment, in this new era.
We’ve tried every way of packaging Christianity and “church” so people will come to us. If we follow Jesus’s example and His mandate, we’ll find it was never intended to be that way. He engaged the culture which taught the apostles to engage the culture at all cost. What they witnessed Jesus do and how He personally illuminated their lives and changed them was evidence of His love, His goodness and His grace. Because of their own experiences, they wanted everyone to know about Jesus, the Messiah, too.
While the Church has been praying, fasting and waiting for real transformation to come to our culture and nation, we have missed the obvious for a long time. Look in the mirror because there’s the answer—the reformation has been here all along, and it lives inside you.
Do not fear because the future reformation is not about adding something more to Scripture, but is more about going back to what Jesus said a long time ago. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8).
If we want to know how Christianity can reach people, then we have to remember who we are—living, breathing, WITNESSES. We need to rewind and get back to that one place of commonality across all Christian denominations, to this place in Christianity where we can kiss the debilitating, limiting, Christian “religion” goodbye and go back to who Jesus said we would be, His witnesses. And we must always remember: not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit.
The First Witnesses After Jesus
The true followers of Jesus (the first disciples), living out the principles of the Kingdom of God, were taught by the apostles. They were eye witnesses to the lifestyle and teachings of Jesus and were people who were once called “The people of the Way.” It wasn’t until Acts 11:26 that the disciples went from being known as “The people of the Way,” or the Nazarenes, to being called Christians. Like the “Jesus Freaks” of the 60s, the term “Christian” was likely a derogatory “nickname” that was adopted nonetheless by this sect of Jesus followers. Perhaps it was because they were so persuasive, so fearless, in their approach to sharing their witness. Another mention of the term “Christian” follows in Acts 26, where Herod Agrippa II replied to Apostle Paul, “You almost persuaded me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28). It’s interesting that Paul wasn’t with Jesus during His ministry and yet was an apostle, an eyewitness account, whom without question, is one of the most influential apostles. Jesus was gracious enough to show him how blind he really was as a murdering pharisee. He knew this guy would be a great witness.
Continue to Part 6 of What’s Stirring? — A Witnessing Model