These are times that provide the opportunity for family and church and community to experience the presence of God in new dimensions of faith and encounter. The people of God assembled together in communities of faith for worship, teaching, fellowship, ministry, and evangelism is a powerful manifestation of His life in community. Now, as much as ever, we desperately need the church to be released in the world to be “salt and light” for the glory of Jesus.
I am believing for a prevailing church. On the authority of the words of Jesus and in the power of His resurrection, I am declaring that the era of a passive, weak, disengaged, fear-filled church is over. The people of God are waking up, rising up, and stirred up for battle against the enemy. Though he is indeed a thief (John 10:10) and roars about like a “lion” (1 Peter 5:8), we declare that the only lion who matters is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and Jesus is His name (Isaiah 11:6, Revelation 5).
For a number of years now, I have believed and prayed into the belief that we need a Second Reformation. The First Reformation was all about recovering an understanding of “grace received” where we came to a deepened understanding of the gift of God that is His grace and that our salvation comes only through His grace and our faith. In that same reformation, we also declared a belief in the “priesthood of all believers” where we asserted that each person not only had direct access to a relationship with God but also the ability to be used by God in our everyday lives. I personally think we have spent 500 years demonstrating we do not “really” believe in what I call “grace distributed.”
Covid-19 was a revealer and accelerator. Covid revealed the level of division in our culture and the dangerous lack of discipleship in our church communities. Regardless of where one stands on the political or cultural spectrum, virtually all Christian leaders can agree that the state of discipleship in Jesus’ church is not strong. These are times that call for a Second Reformation and I believe that the current social disequilibrium is actually presenting an opportunity for such a time as this.
The turbulent 1960’s and 1970’s not only produced cultural disequilibrium, they also brought forth a powerful move of God, the “Jesus People” movement. Catching the headlines of the journalistic outlets of that time, the movement also affected the life trajectory of a generation of people, many of whom became the leaders in Evangelicalism over the past 50 years. Today, that movement has been captured on film in a number of movies, most notably “The Jesus Revolution,” which has done well at the box office.
Interestingly, the Jesus Revolution movie has been released publicly following on the heels of a stirring and awakening at Asbury University strikingly similar to what happened in the 1970’s. The movement at Asbury has already been connected to a number of similar experiences of confession, prayer and worship, and spontaneous gatherings on college campuses around the country and in churches and ministry settings around the globe. Many have questioned publicly whether we are on the leading edge of another significant spiritual revival.
I believe that grace distributed is the call of God for our present hour. It is my contention that the church gathered and the church scattered, paralleled in the notion of grace received and grace distributed, is a key to what I’m calling the Second Reformation. In this Second Reformation we will see everyday followers of Jesus sharing his life, love, kindness, peace, and hope in their everyday settings. The church gathered remains as a precious place of worship, prayer, teaching, community, and equipping. The church scattered occurs as Jesus’ people move in the various spheres of family, society, culture and everyday life. Jesus came to announce the Kingdom of God and His followers are now equipped, through the power of His Spirit (the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead; see Romans 8:11) to bring His kingdom into every atmosphere they encounter.
As I have been working and praying and leading over these last many years as a Christian University President, I have been believing for an explosion of “grace distributed” in every sphere of society. I’m dreaming of the church being a discipling and equipping center as it incarnates what Ephesians 4 describes as the “equipping of the saints for the work of ministry.” I believe for, see, and want to multiply Christ-followers in business, education, government, arts and media, family, and church all testifying to a transformational relationship and experience with Jesus Christ. I believe every church needs to be a discipleship training center AND go after Education (homeschool, private, public), Vocation (equipping for marketplace ambassadorship), and Health Care (healing ambassadorship). While these are very concerning times, they are also times of tremendous Kingdom opportunity. Join me in being a Grace Ambassador to distribute His grace in your world!