Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

In the previous article, I examined the gradual shift from a Biblical view of individuality to the Enlightenment Individualism of Rousseau and its rampant extension in the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Now I will deal with the issues I see as responsible for what the Holy Spirit showed me last year, and show how they are ultimately the fruit of this individualism:

“… the Holy Spirit gave me three words that highlight this current attack on the Body of Christ: Diversion, Deception, Division. Satan is attempting to divert Christians from their true devotion, development and direction by deception in relation to false narratives and fear about world events. This leads to the division that is a consequence of the conjoined dominating mindsets of doubt and distrust, scepticism and cynicism which are the antithesis of faith and trust in our good God.”

As division is the poisoned fruit produced by the other two, deception and diversion, that is my focus here.

I’d dearly love to have been able to examine all the positive phases of revival first, but I feel that covering the phases in the order David Bryant covered them is important. If that’s how the Holy Spirit has operated in the past, then we must follow that path.

In fact, I believe these issues I feel led to highlight are of such importance that if you identify with them as areas where you have indulged or been led astray, or even if you find these are areas of concern, even if you disagree with my deductions, then this, for you, is more than just an interesting article. It is something that needs to be studied and acted on prayerfully for as long as is needed.

In fact, I urge you to print off the whole series and sit before the Lord with it. That’s how important I believe revival is at this time. And the importance of getting every single phase in order cannot be overstated.

Sundered

When I wrote that article dealing with “Diversion, Deception, Division”, the most glaring example He showed me was the polar opposite views adopted by many in the church regarding lockdowns and mandates.

Let me say right up front that I am no fan of those measures, in particular the lockdowns. For the vaccine mandates, my personal view is that I find it hard to argue with health and aged care workers needing to be vaccinated. After all, their role is to protect and care for the most vulnerable in our community. As far as requiring the most protection in a health crisis, the sick and the elderly are absolutely “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40).

But in relation to both of these restrictive measures, some state leaders obviously used them for less than honest purposes, or to cover up their own flawed policies, and in particular the parlous state of their health systems even prior to the demands of the pandemic (as proof, there’s still a hospital crisis in most states now). And as I write, the terms of reference for the inquiry many were hoping for appear to have effectively taken such an examination off the table.

But it is not my purpose here to point the finger at anyone. It’s solely to identify the issue that God showed me, which is division in His Body. And the primary manifestation involves the breaking of fellowship.

This involves two groups of people: those who disagreed with mandates and lockdowns, and those who openly criticised and rejected the first group. Whatever their views, once either group withdrew from the other, then by breaking fellowship they had taken the wrong course of action, acting in a manner contrary to Scripture, and exposing the Body of Christ to the world’s judgement.

The first were often guilty of denigrating those who chose not to ignore the government regulations, using such mocking terms as “sheeple”, as though any good faith decision was nothing more than a mindless and cowardly adherence to what they regarded as unjust restrictions.

The second were equally guilty of making continued fellowship conditional to some who had made an equally conscientious choice not to be vaccinated. Whether any of those choices on either side are sound or not is utterly irrelevant, as it made a worldly issue more important than the plain teaching of Scripture, raising personal opinion above love.

And even if some of those were motivated by fear or unfounded rumours, isn’t that an even better reason to treat them lovingly instead of making it impossible for them to remain in fellowship?

Call to Repentance

In a Daily Declaration article two years ago, Thomas Eglinton, the pastor of Smithfield Baptist church in Sydney, drew a comparison between the pandemic and the plague of locusts in the Book of Joel:

Joel’s instructions to the people of God in this situation should not surprise us. They are standard instructions to people whenever trouble and trials come. The only difference in Joel is that the disaster has come upon the whole nation. Everyone is suffering under this plague. So, what were they to do about it?

The Scriptures also tell us that “judgement begins at the household of God” (1 Peter 4:17). At a time when we are seeing God’s judgement poured out on our nation and across the globe, I believe we are yet to see the church, on the whole, seeking to respond in repentance and mourning.

I am not saying this from my high horse; I need to learn this lesson myself.

This disaster has not driven me to mourn over my sin like I should have. I have not sought to repent as I should have. I haven’t asked the Lord to “search me… and know my heart… see if there is any offensive way in me.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

As a church in Australia, have we been proclaiming this truth as the right response to this disaster?

Some of us have been preoccupied with telling everyone to get vaccinated and to love our neighbour by obeying health orders. I would suggest the health crisis should be driving us to mourn and repent, because sickness and death come from our sinfulness.

Some of us have been preoccupied with warnings about government overreach. John Calvin once said that “they who rule unjustly and incompetently have been raised up by Him to punish the wickedness of the people.” Even those concerned by the government response should be driven to repentance and mourning.

I am not against discussing these two areas, and I believe the Bible speaks to both of them. What I am saying is that we need to be mourning and repenting, and calling the church and this nation to do the same.

Instead, there were too many who caused mourning in others, but repentance was nowhere to be found. This was highlighted recently when a co-author here at the Daily Declaration, Dr Jim Twelves, commented on an article about the documentary on John MacArthur’s church’s successful court case in California, where another commenter quoted Charles Spurgeon, which Jim highlighted: ‘save only and except when the liberty of their conscience was touched’. I was moved by his response to that:

“For me, my conscience was most certainly assaulted and I had no choice but to go along with my church’s compliance, or I could have broken with my church’s fellowship. That was a terrible time for me and I know for many others.”

Terrible though the grief and heartache was for so many like Jim, even more terrible is the effect it has on our mission. In 1 Peter 2:11-12, the apostle tells us:

“Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. Keep your behaviour excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation.” (NASB)

Meant for Unity

Francis Schaeffer dealt with this so well in the opening pages of his book, The Mark of the Christian. He first points out:

“All men bear the image of God. They have value, not because they are redeemed, but because they are God’s creation in God’s image… All men are our neighbors, and we are to love them as ourselves… they are to be loved even at great cost.”

Schaeffer then stresses the even greater responsibility we possess towards each other as members of the Body of Christ:

“If Jesus has commanded so strongly that we love all men as our neighbors, then how important it is especially to love our fellow-Christians. If we are told to love all men as our neighbors – as ourselves – then surely, when it comes to those with whom we have the special bonds as fellow-Christians – having one Father through one Jesus Christ and being indwelt by one Spirit – we can understand how overwhelmingly important it is that all men be able to see observable love toward those with whom we have these special ties.” (Galatians 6:10)

A few pages further on, he explains why:

“The church is to be a loving church in a dying culture. How, then, is the dying culture going to consider us? Jesus says, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”. In the midst of the world, in the midst of our present culture, Jesus is giving a right to the world. Upon His authority He gives the world the right to judge whether you and I are born-again Christians on the basis of our observable love toward all Christians.”

But then he goes even one step further, quoting John 17:21, “… that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent Me,” he writes:

“Here Jesus is stating something else which is much more cutting, much more profound: we cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus’ claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians.”

In his recent book, Truth on Fire: Gazing at God Until Your Heart Sings, the lead pastor at Liberti Church in Carrara on the Gold Coast, Adam Ramsey, looks at the same situation from a slightly different angle:

“The horizontal beauty displayed amongst professing Christians is a powerful argument for the reality of God…More than ever before, we are living in a time where our world needs to see that the gospel story is attractive before they will consider whether or not it is true.”

Put Schaeffer and Ramsey together, and you see that the unsaved are watching us and drawing conclusions about us and about the authenticity of our faith and of the Lord Himself. If we act the way these two groups have done, we gain the world’s judgement. If we act in a way that’s “attractive”, as Ramsey puts it, we gain the world’s interest.

How important this is at a time when we are seeing signs of increasing “soft” persecution within our culture. I believe that this will continue to increase over time. And who knows whether we will be required to experience similar levels of persecution as now occurs in many parts of the world?

Because of this, I have felt for a long time that we need to get an understanding of why it’s in those locations around the world where persecution is most severe that the Gospel message flourishes. How do those Christians live that is different to us? Why does their difference make such a difference to their witness? In that respect, Ramsey makes reference to the early church under persecution:

“The early church father Tertullian said that the pagan world of Rome looked at the Christians and exclaimed, “See how these Christians love one another, they are even ready to die for one another!” What might happen in our day if the world were to see such relational beauty demonstrated in our churches?”

One of the most frequently used justifications by those who broke fellowship was through asserting it was a rights and freedom issue. But this, too, fails the test of Scripture, and is another poisoned fruit of the individualist mindset. It places individual rights above the communal fellowship and responsibility that has been part of our cultural understanding for so long.

Love Thy Neighbour

In fact, taking sides in such an oppositional way is itself a manifestation of the kind of individualism that we’re seeing predominate in the culture, as people increasingly find comfort in banding together with other like-minded individuals, the only connection being their like-minded, and often single-issue, beliefs. That’s the cause of the contemporary catchcry, “Find your tribe.”

I also Googled “Scripture verses about personal rights” and found there are none. In fact, the two most prominent sites that came up from that search were both lists of Bible verses that contradicted the notion. The first was headed “individual rights”, but every single verse was in relation to how to be other-centred. For example:

“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. (Galatians 5:13)

No one is to seek his own advantage, but rather that of his neighbour. (1 Corinthians 10:24)

For though I am free from all people, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may gain more. (1 Corinthians 9:19)”

The second site was headed “personal ethics” and included these verses:

“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18)

So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. (Galatians 6:10)

To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit. (1 Peter 3:8)”

Harking back to the launching pad for this entire series of articles, the visitation at Asbury, where the sermon that served as the catalyst for the Holy Spirit to come in such a transformative way, was from Romans 12:9-18, 21:

“Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honour, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

So, there is not a single verse in Scripture that speaks of personal rights having primacy. It’s all other-centred.

When we are Christ-centred, it changes our whole perspective. Then we can see issues from His perspective, and the perspective of His authority, which He has delegated to His Body, the church. When we do so, then we become those who Peter describes:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10 NASB)

This means that we as Christians are never what the world describes as a tribe, with our identity derived from shared opinions and mere affections. We are “the people of God”, our identity being solely derived from Him and the work of saving grace He has undertaken on our behalf.

When we understand and manifest that mindset, we can then be people of vision, not boxed in by circumstances, but able to “think outside the box”, and in times like these, press into God and look for opportunities to shine before the watching world.

Mike Gore, the former CEO of Open Doors in Australia, is one such man I know. A couple of years ago, he posted this message on Facebook:

“I remember a good friend once said to me, ‘we’re as free to share the gospel in North Korea as we are North Sydney, for wherever there are people, the gospel can be shared.’

Those words have always stuck with me.

And I want to posit that we’re as free to share the gospel at 70% vaccination as we were at 0%.

Optimism vs. Opposition

In the last twelve months, I’ve watched as the church has gone “online”, in many cases reaching audiences they never thought possible. I’ve watched churches large and small learn to serve the community and congregations effectively when they can’t be physically present. In many ways, we’ve witnessed one of the most successful seasons of church ministry, maybe ever. (Optimism)

On the other hand, it has been a really interesting couple of weeks here in Sydney as the government has released their self-created roadmap to “freedom” and offered to re-open places of worship to only those who are vaccinated. (Opposition)

Some label this as Christian persecution, claiming that the government-imposed restrictions will stop people from accessing the Gospel. To make this about persecution over policy is unhelpful, emotionally charged, inaccurate and narrow-sighted because all places of worship fall under the same restrictions. If you want to address it, you must chase freedom of religion for all.

To claim that fewer people have access to the Gospel simply devalues the last twelve months of “online” ministry.

So, what does optimism (hope) look like?

It finds its baseline in realising that the church is not the building (it’s the people), and that no one has to be turned away because they can always join online.

I sometimes wonder, what would Jesus do in this moment? I think He’d probably stand up too and voice His frustration regarding inequitable policy, all the while speaking accurately and inclusively. But I also think there’s no way He’d let that pursuit surpass His mission or cloud his enjoyment of living out His calling.

I wonder if the question is not so much about arguing who is allowed to go to church, but rather how you can remain hopeful, optimistic and Christlike in the face of opposition.

Jesus is still building His church. Are we?”

That’s why Francis Schaeffer and Adam Ramsey are spot on. If all the world sees is Christians parroting the political conflicts and other contemporary issues in the culture without the positive perspective that comes from being linked to our good and perfect God, why should they not see us as just another group with just another political ideology? While some were focused on issues relating to the pandemic, to the detriment of the Body of Christ, those like Mike were focused on the mission field all around us that those fixated on pandemic issues had lost sight of.

This is because Mike Gore also displays the prophetic positivity which is meant to both point us, and form our responses to, the world around us. He gives us the elevated perspective which, as Christians, is meant to inform “the normal Christian life”.

Our God is good and perfect. In fact, He personifies goodness and perfection in every single positive characteristic there is. That should be enough for us to constantly strive to be the embodiment of those qualities. This means always looking to present to the world where we live that alternative the apostle Peter described, “the excellencies of Him”, that is infinitely superior to anything they are getting from the world.

It’s this attribute, the gift of prophecy, which the apostle Paul informs us is chiefly purposed for “edification and exhortation and comfort to men” (1 Corinthians 14:3 NKJV). I believe this will be one of the keys for revival in the future, and especially if and when the world around us turns increasingly hostile to the Gospel.

Paul does not isolate prophecy as being only for those purposes for the Body of Christ, but also for unbelievers:

“But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25 NASB)

We are to prophetically speak edification, exhortation and comfort to all people. Doing so brings unity to the Body of Christ. It also brings unbelievers in, both through speaking of the majesty and glory of our God (Isaiah 6:1-3), and just as Jesus treated the woman at the well with kindness while lovingly exposing her sin (John 4:16-18), so it will show that it’s the kindness of God that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4).

This is a mark of true revival.

The next instalment will deal with another negative attribute causing “Diversion, Deception, Division”, and which has the opposite effect of “edification and exhortation and comfort”.

___

Photo by Liza Summer.