Three Becoming One
Three Becoming One
"There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the most holy place of the tabernacles of the most high." (Ps 46.4)
The Tribulation Church (www.thetribulationchurch.co.nz) is being brought into existence by God now, through a process of fusion...not organisation. The Kingdom of God's three great "streams" (contemplative, missions, and local church) are being dissolved and blended into the one great "river" of God.
"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." (Rev 22.1, Eze 47.1-10, Zec 14.8-9)
The River of God is the historical Presence of the Lord and all of those who have ever been, are, or will be engrossed in and carried forward by His Will. It flows out from Him, catches us up, and returns to Him with us. (Php 1.6) There can be, of course, only one River...but it does comprise three streams. Tragically, usually these strands have been jarred and wedged apart and separated by the devil, the flesh, and the world. In the economy of God they are ordained to be "one"..."plaited" together, like unto "a threefold cord (which) is not quickly broken". (Ecc 4.12)
But generally, I would have to say that this "divorce" is sustained by the willful ignorance and/or pride of men. To be sure "the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal", but oh, how we long and love to exalt ourselves (and our "party") over our Blood-brothers and sisters..."I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas"! (1 Co 1.12) By such carnal chunterings, we do render "Christ divided", and fatally condemn ourselves to be warped, weird, and weak.
The fire and heat of these Last Days is going to melt us all. Some are going to dissolve into nothingness, while fervently clinging to their traditions and their spiritual identities, status, and possessions. But for others, this ultimate eschatological and restorative event, is going to be exceedingly costly and yet the greatest supernatural and Kingdom adventure of all!
"He that loses his life for My sake shall find it." (Mt 10.39, Php 3.10-11)
In the natural world, fusion creates something entirely new and different through the melting and "disappearance" of the individual "ingredients", under intense heat. The Last Church is going to appear and be radically different from all that has ever been before. (And we can choose to do this either by anticipating and embracing change, or by playing "catch-up" for years to come?)
And yet, most mysteriously, the "new" will "speak" to our hearts, declaring that this is who and what we have ever been made for and meant to be.
"The heaven must receive (Jesus Christ) until the times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." (Ac 3.21)
For centuries fragments and splinters of Christ's Body have sought (in their own understanding and strength) to form alliances with each other...but always along administrative, organisational lines. Trumpet-ed "successes" in fact have been little more than a larger portion swallowing up the smaller...ecclesiastical, corporate raiders strutting their stuff, ever on the hunt for bigger, better, brighter!
But what is upon us and required of us now, is of an entirely different order. It is not merely a bit of a repair job. It is the total reconstitution of God's House according to all of the Architect's divine specifications...most especially the seamless blending of His contemplative, missions, and local church callings and traditions. Each one is absolutely and equally essential. However, that which has been most marginalised - and at times in history suppressed at the point of a sword (1) - will prove to be the key and the catalyst for their fusion.
The missions and local church "personality" is usually of necessity "activist"! This is as it should be. These trail-blazing, barn-raising characters are neither wired for nor disposed to extended seasons of adoration and reflection. They are intent upon conquering and colonising "higher ground", with all of their guns blazing. For them the contemplative is (at best) an unproductive dreamer, or (at worst) a malingering time- and space-waster!
But the contemplative, while being many things, is pre-eminently the guardian of that which is not merely common, but completely and utterly and absolutely foundational to all of the "streams"...namely the prophetic fire of prayer for prayer's sake.
Speaking out of the catastrophic furnace of WW1 concerning our (the Church's) failure, the Scottish prophet and scholar, Peter T. Forsyth said that "prayer is often represented as the great means of the Christian life. But it is no mere means, it is the great end of that Life...we pray because we were made for prayer, and God draws us out by breathing Himself in"! (2)
"The Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered...according to the will of God." (Ro 8.26-27, Heb 7.25)
In spite of their often eccentric spirituality, and unimpressive "un-productiveness", the contemplatives' different-ness is the only "glue" which can bind and bond the other two parties (ingredients), which ordinarily are sprung apart by their very similarity...and sadly, also by the baleful influences of selfish ambition, competition, and rivalry.
From time-to-time, the Lord sends someone our way who actually incarnates harmoniously all three "streams", so that we may see in that one, ourselves as we are called to be together. Ironically, history usually remembers them, not in their glorious full-orbed-ness, but according to that part and aspect of their being and ministry which we find most agreeable, useful, or fashionable.
An outstanding and glaring example of this is Francis Bernadone (of Assisi), 1181-1226. He is usually best remembered and admired for his barefoot, missionary fervour...skipping over geographical and religious boundaries as if they hardly existed, and asserting along the way, "Preach the Gospel every day. If necessary use words...It is not use walking anywhere to preach, unless we preach as we walk."
But any history makes of Francis a caricature if it fails to represent him as an equally fervent contemplative and lover of the local church. Immediately after his dramatic conversion to Jesus, Francis set to work to repair a derelict chapel on the edge of his town, thus taking literally His Saviour's command to "build My Church"!
What is generally less well-known, is that his incredibly active and fruitful life was founded upon and in prayer, which was under-pinned by prolonged periods of time spent "buried" in a cave, living as a hermit. His inner-circle knew better than to interrupt Francis' contemplative existence, which for him was a matter of "life and death"! He left a "Rule" (guidebook) for contemplative Christians which is still in use today. (3)
Today's 11th hour fusion of the Last Church's contemplative, missions, and local church "streams" requires an authentic revolution. Many things that have been long considered as cast in iron will be over-turned...e.g. membership and leadership. What exactly will "belonging" look like, as we begin to respond in ways more and more radical and daring to His call to "life together" which is anchored and propelled by daily, ordered, corporate prayer (and the Eucharist)? And how exactly will Jesus express His Lordship and Headship in our midst as we stretch out towards an End Times' lifestyle which is less and less institutional, and more and more organic, daily, communal?
We could choose to view this necessary upheaval as a massive threat which needs to be controlled or even suppressed by an irritated, angry conservatism. Or we might have the intestinal fortitude to acknowledge that our recent history has been spectacularly average; that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by striving for God's best...especially at this Age's end.
"The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels...Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." (Mt 13.39&43, 1 Pe 4.7-8)
I think it highly likely that the heat and turbulence of these Last Days is going to produce not only the House of Prayer-Tribulation Church, but also authentic Ascension Gift leadership. (Eph 4.8-13) For too long the philosophy or theology of Christian leadership has been cobbled together by cliques of "leaders". Their frame-of-reference is often their own personal profile or preference, standing and status, prestige and power. It ought to be "the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection". (Eph 4.13 Amplified Bible)
"Whoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." (Mt 20.27, 1 Pe 5.3)
Jesus is the perfect and complete Incarnation of the leadership of God, and He harmoniously expressed the apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral and teaching vocations. There is no power struggle going on within Him; no diminution or exaltation of one role or gifting over another. Before His Return we must expect and earnestly look for this kind of collegiality and deference amongst His Body's leaders who, publicly and privately, ought to be "in honour preferring one another". (Ro 12.10)
The House of Prayer-Tribulation Church will be "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" (Eph 6.10) through the fusion of its contemplative, missions, and local church "streams". Its completely new breed of leaders will be similarly established and fortified by co-operating rather than competing; deferring rather than hierarch-ing; blending rather than monopolising!
For some, these Last Days will prove to be an era of heat with very little illumination, alteration or fruitfulness. But for those who are prepared to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Co 5.7), it is going to be an unprecedented season of the profoundest and most radical recovery and reconstitution. In the end it must and will eclipse even the great 16th C Protestant Reformation and the 20th C Second Vatican Council.
In Noah's time, the great Flood and the Ark were unparalleled. Likewise, history on earth immediately before King Jesus' Return, and His Last Church, will both be unprecedented, unrivalled, exceptional. How awesomely naive to ever believe it can possibly be "business as usual"!
"And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man." (Lk 17.26)
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." (Heb 11.7)
(1) E.g. During the English Reformation in the 16th C.
(2) 'The Soul of Prayer', New Creation Publications, South Australia 1999.
(3) "Rule for Hermitages". www.hermitary.com/articles/francis.html
See also www.franciscanhermitage.org/ and www.littlebrothersofstfrancis.org/
