Missing the Plane to Jerusalem

I have been in prayer and thought over not so much what happened Sunday, but what the Lord still has in store for us.

A core commitment that I have had for years (at least 10 years now) is that the church has to find ways to reach all kinds of people. This is not simply a question of evangelism, of getting out into the neighborhood, attracting new members to the church. Rather, it is a realization of, or a living into, the work the Holy Spirit has for us to do. We have to recognize what the mission field looks like. The days of Church-that-Looks-Like-Us are gone. That idea was never biblical, but social forces were enough to allow it to flourish. Now we’re paying the price for years of comfort and ease: we don’t have the knowledge or the intensity to flow with the Spirit.

Among the many reasons Jesus died when He did is this: Jerusalem was full. Pilgrims had come from all over the world. It was not just Jews. The world in Jesus’ day was spiritually seeking, wondering what to make of the many gods and ways of worshipping. Sounds like today! So all kinds of people came: some faithful Jews, others who were just curious if the festivals of Judaism held the meaning for their lives.

But if you made that long journey, you didn’t stay for a few days. And anyway, Pentecost was not far away. Might as well stay for that. And the masses did, from all over the world, Jerusalem was filled. So when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, it was an opportune time, not just a miraculous event. When the Spirit descended on those gathered, tongues of fire came down and as they spoke, all the foreigners heard their own language being spoken.

It was an eminently practical miracle! If you were going to get the Gospel out, you had to speak the language. And there was no time for language classes. The people would leave Jerusalem, telling what they heard—both the language and the message. So the Gospel spread throughout the world.

It is plain as day what the Holy Spirit wants to do—the same work He has been doing; convicting, preparing, equipping the church for the work of preaching the Gospel. There is something going on that we cannot miss. People are coming from around the world to this country. This country is full of churches. There is a great and powerful opportunity to reach all the immigrants coming to the country. Some are already believers; we minister to them, disciple them, strengthen their faith. Others are not believers; we win them to Christ, and then both will, by natural affinity, either return home with the message, or support the work of spreading the Gospel in their home countries. So the very work of Pentecost is happening right here, under our very noses. People are coming to this country, filling it up. If the Church misses the opportunity, we are in deep trouble. Not because of numbers, but because we will miss what the Spirit is calling us to.

Already, the Rock La Roca has planted a church. Denis Diaz, our Hispanic worship leader, is from Honduras. His brother still lives there. Ruben and Irma visited him a while back. He was inspired, and started a church, “The Rock La Roca” in Honduras. This happened totally by accident as far as our plans were concerned. But the Holy Spirit moved, whether we knew it or not!

Now, we want to be open, ready, inviting. It is, as I said, clear what the Spirit does: He enables the Gospel to be preached. I can preach a great sermon, but if I have no anointing from the Holy Spirit, it is just air. And I have to say, the source of a great deal of my frustration these past months was revealed to me Sunday: very few discussions of preaching center on the power of the Holy Spirit. By the end of just about any preaching seminar or class, you’re convinced you have to do research, an outline, and prepare a well-delivered speech. And indeed, some people are very good at delivering precisely those things. But they do not add up to the Gospel. They may repeat and present the content of the Gospel, and yet not equal the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. I spent, and too many have spent, too much time trying to be good preachers rather than praying and pleading to be anointed preachers.

Since it is clear that the Holy Spirit is about the same work He always has been, the Church’s only option is to follow. To receive the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to the ends of the earth. Unless we recognize that we are in a golden age of immigration, that we are uniquely placed with many churches to send out believing people back to their own people, there is no future for the church. And we have to realize that our Hispanic brothers and sisters are only part of the wave of immigration—that Africans, Asians, and Europeans are coming as well. It is like Jerusalem at Pentecost. Some churches will get this, will understand.