by Tom Johnston
A pastor friend of mine named Buzz loves to surf. He has surfed all over the place – California, Hawaii even in the Atlantic off New England in winter! The man is a manic surfer dude. And he has a skill set all pastors need: we need to know how to surf. Now, there is NO WAY I am going to paddle out on a board and try to catch a big wave. The surfing we need to learn as servant-leaders in the Body of Christ is how to recognize, catch and surf the wave of the Holy Spirit in our lives, churches and communities.
Jesus knew how to surf this kind of wave. He demonstrated it consistently, always flowing with what the Spirit was doing –
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. John 5;19 ESV
Jesus knew what His Father was up to, and acted in partnership to see His will realized in the lives of people. He found this Spirit-awareness in that place of communion with His Father, moving from one such place of intimacy to another – and did powerful, life-transforming ministry inbetween.
We see a great picture of this in Mark 1:35, praying and communing with God, getting His direction and marching orders. In Fact, Mark 1:38 shows Him walking away from a revival outbreak in response to the Holy Spirit’s direction! Amazing, I’d love to have that kind of God-outbreak in our church and ministry, yet Jesus, secure in His relationship with the Father and certain of the Spirit’s voice, simply moves on to the place and ministry the Father was doing next. WOW.
Rick Warren, in the first chapter of his book Purpose Driven Church, talks about catching the wave of the Spirit at Saddleback – and surfing it. The rest of the book is his surfboard. Like Rick, and truly like Jesus, we need to learn to surf the wave of the Holy Spirit where we are at – seeking to what the Father is doing and doing likewise. We need to shelve the off-the-shelf programs we buy for our church and move ourselves, our leaders and our churches back to the place of communion with the Father. It’s then that we can surf into His perfect will for us, our ministries and our churches.
Let’s talk about it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
The question is what does surfing the wave look like in my community...in my church...
What are the indicators that let us know what the wave looks like?
Is it all feeing? Is there external evidence that gives us the indication that the wave is coming?
Kurt - Surfing looks like doing what the Father is doing (Jn 5:19)- we learn to discern the waves of His Spirit's moving by being in two places at once: in communion with the Father and "as we go" - walking through our daily lives. It is both intuition of the Spirit and the visable effects of His moving upon the lives of people, situations and communities. When we discern God's moving in people, relationships, circumstances, we see the wave. When we see a heart that is seeking, a mind asking the right questions, an oikos in crisis and pain yet open to love and nurture - this is when we see the wave. When more and more members of our congregation start to flow in the same direction and vision, same heart, same mind, same love - we see the wave. And all this takes us some place. Unfortunately, most of us are both too far away from practical communion with God and actual relationship with the people He is moving in and around to see what the wave looks like. He is always moving - we just aren't close enough to Him and others to see it.
Hi Tom and Kurt
First, Tom thanks for the article and your encouragement at Praxeum.
As to the comment to Kurt, I agree- it is when we see the changes in our flock, our families and communities and know that we have partnerred with the Lord that we have caught and ride the wave. May we all catch a long one! Blessings,
Linda- Worcester East ICFG
Post a Comment