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Collision
Course
by
Carman Niesley
The
present day in which we live is a time of transition. We
need to understand that the present is in reality
transition from the past to the future. While there are
numerous transitions in the course of life, never have
we experienced the degree of transition we are presently
going through. This is a transition of one age passing
away while at the same time a new age is taking its
place.
The
modern age with its linear thinking, absolutes and
scientific reason has given way to the postmodern age,
celebrating pluralism and declaring the absence of
absolute truth. Gone are the days of incremental change.
Welcome to the world of exponential change.
As
difficult as it may be for each of us as individuals to
change, multiply that a thousand times over for the
church. Here is an institution that has been entrenched
in modernism for centuries. Now almost overnight, it
finds itself in the midst of a culture with a new
mindset requiring a new language.
Many
decry the postmodern age with its agnostic tendencies.
Others continue to function as they always have, in
their own modernistic mentality. Neither is relevant.
Both fail to recognize that God is the one who changes
times and seasons (Daniel 2:21). Whether we like it or
not, God has brought in the postmodern age. From God's
perspective, it is an integral part of His purpose being
fulfilled in the earth.
Coupled
with the transition from the modern to the postmodern
age is another transition of even greater consequence.
This transition, however, will occur through an invasion
and hostile resistance. The kingdom of God is invading
the territory occupied by the world system. These two
kingdoms are incompatible. Neither will tolerate the
other. And at the center of this conflict is the church.
God
has ordained the church to be the primary vehicle
through which He will infiltrate the world with His
kingdom. It is the postmodern age that is the
environment in which today's church has been placed to
manifest the kingdom of God. Postmodernism is an
attitude that is an enigma. It is indefinable. While
there is a rejection of present day Christianity, there
is an insatiable thirst for spiritual things beyond
anything we've known in the modern era.
This
paradox of the rejection of Christianity and the
embracing of spiritual things is a wakeup call to the
church. It suggests that postmodern people do not see
Christianity as spiritual. Why?
First,
we who profess to be Christians must accept
responsibility for the postmodern perception of
Christianity. What have we modeled that would cause
people to not see Christianity as spiritual? To help
answer this question, we need to look at the meaning of
the word "spiritual." The Merriam-Webster
Dictionary defines spiritual: "of, relating to,
or consisting of spirit: incorporeal." So then, for
our purpose, what is the definition of spirit? "1:
a life-giving force; also: the animating principle: SOUL
2 cap: the active presence of God in human life: the
third person of the Trinity."
We
can conclude from these definitions that these
postmodern people who are interested in spiritual things
do not see any life-giving force or any active presence
of God in Christianity. Furthermore, there is no
evidence of the Holy Spirit.
Western
Christianity, with its scientific bent to accept only
that which it can understand and explain, has
emasculated the gospel by rejecting the unexplainable,
supernatural elements of the faith. Thus it has become a
product of the modern age, which is now a thing of the
past. Even the word "Christian" is meaningless
now. Everyone refers to himself or herself as Christian
if they're not Muslim, Hindu, or some other religion or
cult. So it means whatever the person using it wants it
to mean.
God
is removing modern Christianity. He will accomplish this
through the postmodern age as Christianity is
marginalized. It is then and only then that the people
of God will become the viable force that He has created
us to be. History has proven that the church is most
effective in manifesting the kingdom of God when she
suffers under persecution. Acceptance and political
power only corrupt, causing complacency and apathy
toward her first love.
The
earth is the Lord's and all it contains (Psalm 24:1). He
will use the injustices of a hostile world to bring the
church back to her first love. We, the church, are on a
collision course with God. No longer can the church
trust in her own ways. Stripped of her self-sufficiency,
she will trust in the Lord with all her heart, not
leaning on her own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). As the
church acknowledges the Lord in all her ways, He will
make her paths straight (Proverbs 3:6). Then the life
and the power of God will begin to be released through
the church in ever-increasing measure.
The
church as we have known it, will cease to exist. Oh,
there will be vestiges of it strewn over the landscape,
but there will be no life there. These will simply be
the rotting corpses of what once was. For the One in
whom there is life has moved on, leaving in His wake the
dead traditions that have replaced the Word of God
(Matthew 15:3-9). There will be a form of godliness, but
no divine power (2 Timothy 3:5). But the church that
Christ is building will pulsate with His life and power,
being the personification of the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself.
Instead
of promoting herself, the church will return to
proclaiming the singular message that her Lord
proclaimed in the days of His flesh - the coming of the
kingdom of God. Her proclamation will be with authority
because it will be both in word and deed. These words
and deeds will transcend the natural because they
originate from a kingdom that is not of this world. Then
the postmodern generation's thirst for the spiritual
shall be satisfied. As they experience the kingdom of
God through the manifestation of Christ in His church,
they will come face to face with the One they have been
unknowingly searching for.
And
yet opposition will intensify. While multitudes will be
joyfully coming into the kingdom, the world system will
lash out with a vengeance in a vain attempt to thwart
its ultimate destruction and removal. It's a revolution!
The overthrow of an evil system that has enslaved
billions will finally be brought down. The most radical
revolutionaries the world has ever known will rise to
the occasion. These are those who have counted the cost,
who have denied themselves, taken up their cross, and
followed their Lord into battle. These are the ones who
have chosen to lay down their lives for Christ's sake,
and in doing so, have discovered life in all its
fullness. The revolution has already begun!
Finally,
let me say that these are personal observations gleaned
from my own personal experience, study and dialogue with
others. I'm not a prophet. I don't pretend to have it
all figured out. In fact, I won't be surprised if it
doesn't unfold at all like I thought it would. We all
see through a glass darkly. The Lord has disrupted,
upset and changed my theology so much over the years
that I know for certain that I don't have the final
word, He does. I'm just seeking to walk in the truth He
makes known to me.
I
trust that these few thoughts may challenge each of us
to press into the One who said, "My thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways
higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your
thoughts." Only as we draw into greater intimacy
with Him will we truly know what His thoughts and ways
are.
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Carman
Niesley lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with his wife
Joan. He was a church planter and pastor in the
institutional church for nearly twenty years. He
resigned from the pastorate to begin to model the
relational and missional church he saw happening in the
pages of the New Testament. Presently he is walking in
kingdom relationships with other brothers, networking
with those who are likewise seeking to model the kingdom
through a simple lifestyle.
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