The Viral Church [part two] ...

An elder moves with caution.  History has been his teacher, and longer years of experience have taught him to think before he moves.  All too often, the natural human state of a spiritual elder asserts “itself”.  Long years of victory over sin give rise to the idea that perhaps they are a result of the efforts we have undertaken ourselves instead of the complete providence of God.  In that instant where credit is wrested from God and ascribed to the image in the mirror, failure enters the horizon.  This example serves to introduce apprehension, and caution in the movement and journey of a spiritual elder.  The lesson of total dependency on Jesus is not lost on someone who has seen victory over an addictive sin in their lives, and then watched themselves throw that away for a dalliance they don’t even really want.  It is this very scenario that helps to qualify the elder to provide guidance to those of less years living the salvation experience.  The lesson of total dependency on Christ to be remade, is ever-new, ever-fresh, and ever-needed.  It is no less exuberant in infancy than it is after long years of embrace.  In our previous study, Peter laid out the basis for a viral church, beginning with spreading out the leadership responsibilities to elders who live the salvation experience.  But diversifying leadership responsibilities, and eliminating the financial incentive to lead, were only the beginning of his plan.

Peter also understood that the passion of youth must be employed in the cause of Christ.  Peter knew that while history tames the activity of an elder adding insight to their arsenal, there is still much value in the passion that arises from “first” loves.  The first experience of living what it means to be made free from the slavery of self, is often very profound, and burned into the memory of the Christian who discovers it.  The testimony is unique to the person, but common to the cause of Christ.  Someone, no matter what their physical age, or sex, discovers they are enslaved to a particular sin, simply powerless to defeat it.  After varied attempts, they finally give up and in desperation call out to God as ONLY His mercy can see this addiction removed from their lives. 

And in that moment, they empower God to do for them, what He always longed to do for them, but was unable to do. because up to now, they would not let Him.  He changes what they want, and therefore what they do.  It is in this moment of absolute desperation, that we finally discover absolute surrender, and the absolute power of God to defeat in us, what we cannot defeat.  And this experience is life altering.  It is liberating beyond any other form.  The freedom from past obsessions is not where it ends, it is where it begins.  The time we used to spend obsessed with sin, or controlling sin, or longing for sin we dare not perform, is replaced with freedom to think about other things, better things.  We begin to see scripture more clearly.  We begin to see how loving others would steer us away from the sins that reflect only a love of self.  We begin to lose the judgmental outlook we once had on those engaged in the same sins we embraced.  And the passion it inspires in the Christian who has finally discovered how sin will be defeated is like a white hot flame, yearning to spread.

In this “first love” salvation experience, the youth of a Christian and the passion of this first discovery, yearn to act.  The “new” experience of being made free from self can come at any age.  When an 80 year old experiences it for the first time, they are as exuberant as the 12 year old who has seen the same thing transpire.  It is hard to tell them apart.  They yearn to share with others what they have found for themselves.  The passion of being made free is not something to be set on the mantle-piece and admired from afar.  It is life altering.  It infects the mind, the heart, and the thinking, for it is Jesus Christ remaking all three.  Love for others begins to become more than a concept, it becomes a passion that WILL not be ignored.  And in this is the adoption, the internalization of the gospel, that is needed for any viral church to succeed.  It takes the message from theory to personal experience, from which there is no substitute.  And the actions those on fire yearn to take SHOULD be taken.  Peter knew there was a place for this youthful passion and it must be directed in the right form so he offers counsel in his first letter to the churches.

Peter continues his outline for the viral church, offering counsel to those younger and more passionate in the first love of the faith in chapter 5 beginning in verse 5 saying … “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”  First Peter begins by stating that the direction in which to share our passion for the living gospel should be deferred to our elders who have had this experience for a longer duration.  It is great that we wish to share the passion for Christ, but Peter says to allow the elders to point us in the right direction to take it.  Peter reminds the youth, that their experience will only grow as they are WILLING TO LEARN.  The first experience is NOT the last one.  The road is long, and those who have journeyed ahead of you can help you navigate it better, if only to avoid the same mistakes they made on it.  One of the dangers of the new passion of discovery, is to believe that “now” you have all the answers, and need no more “help” from those who must be by definition, less enlightened than yourself.  Arrogance is a temptation the devil presents to the newly inspired.

Peter then reminds BOTH the youth, and those longer in the faith, that the key to continued growth and success is to remain in a state of humility.  No matter how long I have been on this road, living this freedom, there is still something the newborn baby can teach me, or inspire in me.  No matter how new the convert is standing next to me in my own discovery, equal distance on the road to perfection, he still has something to teach me about the body of Christ.  Whether newer, older, or the same distance, there is no limit to the blessing I can receive from another believer, IF I will allow them to teach me through a spirit of humility in myself.  Peter uses strong language regarding the state of the proud, saying that God resisteth them.  What Peter reminds both young and old, is that once “self” or pride emerges, even in our Christian experience, it constrains what God is able to do for us.  We fail.  God does not.  We stumble.  God does not.  If we are to attain perfection, and hold on to it, it will be through complete and consistent absolute surrender to God.  The minute we think “we” have anything to do with our perfection; we. Like Peter will start sinking into the sea, we were just walking across.

Peter continues in verse 6 … “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”.  Peter speaks to the passionate youth in the salvation experience.  He knows their role in spreading this message is vital to achieving the viral church status.  And his first words of counsel is not restraint of spreading the gospel message, it is of remembering how it is achieved.  We are to remain humble before the enormous power of God to free us.  We did not deserve our freedom from sin, it was a gift.  We did not earn it, nor work for it.  It was given to us.  It is NOT because we are special above all other men; it is because all men and women are EQUALLY special to our Father God.  Peter’s counsel to the spiritually young who discover freedom from sin, is to remember to point to God for this victory.  For it is the power of God that frees us; and it is equally available to any who would ask it.  “We” are not to be celebrated for having discovered the power of the gospel.  “We” are not the subject of the message.  God is.  “We” are only examples of what His power is able to do.  To remember we are not perfect examples, is to keep ourselves clothed in humility while pointing others to the perfect power of God to transform how you think, feel, and act.  In His time, God will complete the work of perfection in us, exalting us to a status of sinlessness through His power, and as evidence of His glory.  It is for that day we wait in patient humility.

Peter continues in verse 7 … “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”  Peter now liberates the youth as well as the elder leadership as he writes we are free to let God take care of us.  How often is the gospel message stunted by the ideas that we must take care of ourselves, or perish in the world around us.  So we prioritize our work first, our survival, our ability to pay the bills we owe, and put the sharing of the gospel in second, third, or a worse place in our lives.  Peter liberates our thinking.  Peter does not advocate abandoning responsibility, he merely tempers it and reprioritizes it, by stating the first priority is the gospel itself.  It can be shared with co-workers.  It can be shared with creditors.  It can be shared with friends and family.  And if it comes to a choice to “worry” about preserving our lives or to spread the gospel, choose the gospel.  The whole point of this promise Peter makes on behalf of the Christ who inspires his writings, is that “we” DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY.  We are free to cast our cares upon Christ, because Christ is not only interested in freeing us from sin.  He is interested in our lives and how we live them, and that we live them.  After salvation it no longer matters how “long” we live, but how “well” we live.  All of us will die someday, unless blessed to see the Lord’s return.  But living everyday between now and that day, unburdened by the cares of this life, is a continued liberation the viral church has to offer.  It is an expansion of the freeing power of the gospel.

Peter continues in verse 8 … “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”  Peter resumes his counsel to the youth and less experienced in the faith.  The viral church will grow as we are careful with the decisions we make, always asking the Lord to make them for us.  To be sober or vigilant is to be aware that now past the discovery of being made free from any given sin, we enter the real battlefield with our enemy.  The devil walks as a roaring lion, looking first, for those who understand the power of the gospel.  He knows he cannot win a head on battle with Christ.  But like a lion who hunts at night, and in the dark.  He hopes to have us defeat Christ for him, as we begin to entertain ideas of self-accomplishment instead of self-reliance.  Satan hopes to devour those who understand the freedom God brings, for if they were to share their personal experience, he would lose others to the cause of Christ.  Therefore those who have discovered the power of Jesus to transform must be the first targets on his radar.  Peter does not tell the youth to cower in fear at this.  He is not attempting to squelch their passion, only to make them aware of the reality of our world.

Peter continues in verse 9 … “Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”  Peters advice for dealing with the attacks of the roaring lion, is to remember that it is our surrender to Christ that will defeat Satan.  To remain steadfast in a trust in Christ to save us in spite of our weakness and inability to save ourselves, is to remain safe from the otherwise unconquerable lion.  The temptations we face, the hardship we face brought about by our enemy are universal in nature.  Satan attacks both those in the world and those in the faith using the very same methods.  He tempts both believer and non-believer to entertain ideas of self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and self-accomplishment.  He tempts both those inside and outside the church to believe that “they” are responsible for all the good things in their lives, and “others” responsible for the bad.  These afflictions are common to humanity.  And if we do not ground ourselves in surrender to Christ to see them defeated in us, they will take hold in us.

Peter concludes his exhortation to what would become a viral church in his day in verse 10 writing … “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. [verse 11] To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”  Peter recounts the lifecycle of young to old in spiritual experience.  He begins by reminding us that our God, is the God, of “ALL” grace.  There is no grace outside of the God we serve, and no method outside of Jesus Christ to find grace.  For we are called, chosen, selected, treasured, prized, and made free because of His glory, through the mechanism of surrender to Jesus Christ.  Peter offers no other deity to substitute for Christ.  Peter offers no other path to grace and freedom from the addictions of sin, than through Jesus Christ.  There are not many paths to God, there is only one.  It is only through the son of God that we can be made free from the power of self-service, made free from ourselves.

Peter points out that our suffering has a purpose.  The attacks of the enemy that drive us in desperation to the feet of Jesus Christ has a purpose.  It is to see us saved.  It is to see us made “perfect”.  We are to achieve a state of perfection, or the absence of continued sin, through our initial submission to Jesus Christ because of His glory.  Our initial state of perfection, or our journey towards perfection is then to be established in our continued surrender to Jesus Christ.  The road to perfection is one in which we will be established to travel.  Next on this road, is the promise to strengthen our resolve to surrender to Jesus Christ.  Having discovered the method, we are now only to deepen ourselves in it.  To give up more and more of ourselves, until we have given it all, trusting God with every part of our lives, from our sexuality, to our family, to our finances, to our very core desires.  To trust God with all of it, through the strength He provides to do so.  And having done this, comes the promise to “settle” us in this path and pattern until it is finally completed within us through His glory and power.  For it is to Jesus Christ, that glory and dominion belong.  It is Jesus Christ alone who is to rule this viral church, and our own salvation.

We must ask ourselves, if our church is in a state of decay, is it because we have substituted the traditions of men, for the wisdom and plan of a viral church?  Peter advocates that elders lead, and not be incented by using this position as a way to make a living.  Peter advocates that our youth be free to express their passion and have it directed and encouraged by the elders who have the honor to feed the flock of God.  Peter points out that Jesus Christ alone is the true Shepherd of His church, and that any who assume the mantle of leadership are only under-shepherds who serve the cause of God.  A diversified leadership, and an impassioned constituency who are all LIVING the salvation experience, form the basis of church organization Peter espoused and witnessed the success of.  The early Christian church internalized the message of the gospel, allowing it to free them from sin.  They had a personal experience all too many of us talk about, but have not experienced for ourselves.  It was that personal experience that empowered their witness to the Truth of Jesus Christ.  Long before the terminology was popular or understood, Peter laid out the plans for a viral church.

If the power of the gospel is to go viral, it must begin in you.  If the love of others is to replace the love of self, and end evil in existence for all time and eternity, it must begin in you.  The transformation that will empower the viral church to complete the work, and see the return of our Lord, begins as you submit the core of who you are to Jesus Christ to be remade.  Once that fire is lit, it will consume everything in its path.  Scripture is not irrelevant in our day, it is lost in the traditions of men, that have infected our minds so that we do not see the simplicity and beauty it would otherwise espouse.  If Peter could lay out plans for a viral church 2000 years before the internet would even exist, what can God use you to accomplish right here and right now?

And the counsel of Peter’s first letter had one more thought to convey …

 

The Viral Church [part one] ...

In the golden age of the Internet in which we live, the goal of any content or message is to achieve a “viral” status.  You tell 2 friends and they both tell 2 friends, and before you know it entire email address books are geometrically expanding and promoting a given link and millions of people are said to have experienced the targeted content.  While this model seems to have the most meaning to advertisers with short messages and singular tag lines, or musicians sharing a single song, the model for a church has a few missing goals.  It is not only exposure the online church needs, it is not only the repetition, not even the propagation of the message to promote its viral nature … it is adoption of the content internally.  The “experience” of being set free from self cannot be relayed only in words, songs, or short video clips.  It must be personally experienced in order that YOUR witness is true, not simply the re-telling of what you heard someone else’s story to be.  Living the salvation experience provides a real-time view into what it means to love others like Christ loves others.  And that love comes out of you in all kinds of forms; from what you say, to what you do, to quiet deeds of charity that no-one will ever give you credit for - for credit is not what you seek.

Living the salvation experience, where through submission of your desires to Christ to be remade you become someone else; remakes “church” into a group of people who share this common Christian experience.  “Church” becomes viral at that point not only online, but in real life.  Messages are spread not only through our words and posts, but by people inquiring how we seem so happy and at peace all the time despite what life brings our way in the War with evil.  This model also however has one missing role that tradition has enforced in us that we “need”.  That is the role of Pastor, or church leader.  Tradition has made us lazy.  We expect our “pastors” to play the leadership role in the faith.  We expect them to “spread the word”.  We even expect them to be “holier” than us common folk.  In short, we have adopted the WRONG model of church.  And in our quest to organize a body of believers, we have allowed hierarchy to replace personal participation so that now only a few are held accountable for the success or failure of the forward momentum of the gospel.

But Peter held no such illusions.  Peter may have been one of the first after Jesus to promote the basis of a church organization that could and would go “viral”.  Peter understood the first goal of any viral church is to spread out the leadership responsibilities NOT to consolidate them into only a few individuals.  In his first letter to the church, he begins outlining exactly how a viral church should work in chapter five, beginning in verse one … “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:”  First take note that Peter does not begin his exhortation of encouragement by addressing the “pastors” of the church, nor does he refer to them as “priests”, “bishops”, or “reverends”.  His counsel is intended for those who are “elders” in the church.  Further he identifies himself as a fellow elder.  In this context he is leveling the playing field.  The encouragement he is about to offer is spread across the church for those who are more senior in the faith.

The common Christian experience that forms a true church is living salvation.  Those who have been living in this condition longer are by definition elders in the faith.  The designation of elder is not constrained only to those of advanced physical years (though typically they have had the most opportunity to be living in salvation the longest), it is simply about those who better understand what it means to be saved FROM YOURSELF.  Those who have had long held addictions to sin in any form, and have found themselves made free from that addiction, get it.  They understand what it means to be remade by Christ.  No longer wanting and craving the thing that once destroyed them, gives that Christian an insight into salvation that someone who has not had the same personal experience can ever truly understand.  Those who are in that journey, but not as far along are likely not elders.  Those who are in that journey, but much farther along, likely are elders.

Peter was around long enough to be a personal witness of Christ, but he immediately outlines that those who are fellow partakers of His grace and glory are also now revealed to be co-leaders in the faith.  Think how tradition has robbed the cause of God.  In a group of 100 church members, tradition dictates that the pastor is the sole leader of the faith and movement.  But in the model Peter ascribes, there would be a body of elders who are equally responsible for the growth of the church, both inside and outside its walls.  These elders would ALL have a role to play in the viral church, not just a supporting role to the singular pastor, but to be a body of pastors who not only speak the gospel, but live under its life altering power.  The transformation of the lives of these elders who have lived in this condition longer than the average member is THE witness for Christ that no single individual could ever replace.

Peter continues his counsel in verse 2 … “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; [verse 3] Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”  Keep in mind Peter is NOT addressing a set of pastors, priests, or bishops … he may well be addressing you.  He begins by pointing out the first blessing of anyone who is living the salvation experience, the honor of “feeding” the flock of God.  He encourages those who understand salvation from a personal experience to take oversight of the body, NOT through force of constraint, but by choice and of a willing heart. 

This gift of feeding the flock is designated to the elders of the church, to those who personally understand living in salvation, not just the figurehead.  The “leadership” these elders provide is encouragement, counsel, and direction to those less advanced in the journey of transformation, of how to take the next step in the surrender process to Jesus Christ.  That is how the collective “we” feed the collective flock of God.  It is not about preaching formal sermons that take 6 days to prepare, and get delivered in 90 mins in a formal church setting once a week.  It is by daily interacting with the part of the flock we come in regular contact with and providing insight and sharing common experience of how to surrender even more to Jesus Christ.  It is by seeking out those who may have strayed from our company because we care about them, and realize that sometimes the War against evil inflicts casualties and pain.  Watching out for our sheep means going the extra mile to find the ones that stray and reminding them of just how much they are loved, not how guilty they may be for straying in the first place.  The Shepherd brings the lost sheep home on His shoulders, He does not spend the next 60 minutes giving them a lecture on how stupid they were to stray from His company in the first place.

The next tradition buster Peter has the audacity to be blunt about is … the role of Church leader, or feeder of the flock that was intended for elders not pastors, is an UNPAID position.  We, not the formal pastor-ship of a given church of believers, are to feed the flock as Peter says … “NOT for filthy lucre”.  Instead we do these acts of love because our minds are made ready by the transforming power of the love of Christ.  We too pick up the lost straying sheep, and tenderly lay them across our shoulders without ever voicing a word of condemnation, and gently invite them back into the fold of Christ, bringing them personally into His presence and love once again.  We, like Christ, meet whatever physical, mental, or emotional needs they have - that through Christ we have the ability to meet.  And we do ALL of this without a single thought of how much money it is worth to the church, or to the lost soul we minister to.

In the viral church Peter advocates, there are no offering calls intended to fund the work of the singular minister.  Instead resources are collected and distributed as the members have need.  That too is a radical departure from tradition in our churches.  Using collective wealth to benefit the members as they have need, with everyone contributing including the self-funded elders, is unheard of.  Musicians who gladly give their talents back to God for free in His services, or better, in His cause whatever the venue is a far cry from the paid positions that infiltrate the ranks of our wealthier churches today.  Peter continued his skills as a fisherman long after his additional role as Apostle and elder was taken on.  He did use donated funds to enable mission work and to establish churches in areas that did not formerly have them.  But he did none of this in order to “make a living”.  Nor did he aspire to the great wealth that could be had off the collective backs of believers who continue to donate to the cause of Christ.  He did not live with hand carts carried by slaves to ease his passage to new areas of the world.  In our vernacular, he did not go buy a Rolls Royce to get to church because he had the money, and wanted to make a statement about the blessings of God to His flock.

Instead Peter supported himself when he could, and used donated funds when the cause of Christ required him to.  What is more, he advocates the same model to the elders across the faith.  Peter continues his counsel of what it means to lead emphasizing that the elders are NOT to think of themselves as “Lords” over Gods people.  A Lord had every right in the day of Peter to expect compensation from his assets.  His servants worked to earn their Lord means to ever grow his kingdom.  Peter is quick to point out this is not the model for the viral church.  Instead the elders of which he counts himself, are to provide leadership by being examples to the flock.  Again Peter emphasizes that the distinction of elder is reserved for those who are LIVING the salvation experience.  The living example of what it means to be made free from sin, is the hallmark of an elder.  It is the very reason why an elder knows his own unworthiness, realizes how much he needs Christ in order to reach others, and is so grateful even to be used in the cause of Christ for the redemption of others.

When we love others like Christ loves others, our entire purpose for living is to lure the non-repentant sinner to the Lord of love through acts of unselfish charity and personal investment no matter what their response.  This is the mission of spreading the gospel, and it was never intended to be consolidated in the hands of single pastor, or single church leader, under the auspices of needing organization.  This role of elder was to be defined by how good one’s understanding of personal transformation to love like He loves was known and adopted.  Elder(s), plural, were to provide the leadership and living example to the flock of God, not as a paid position, but as stewards of his flock applying resources as needs were revealed, and contributing to this cause themselves as they were able.  This is the model that would create a viral church, both then and now.

Peter concludes his exhortation to the elder leadership of the viral church in verse 4 writing … “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”  Peter first reminds these intended leaders that they are under-shepherds and living examples in the cause of Christ.  The ONLY true leader of the church of Christ is Jesus Christ, the chief Shepherd.  When He shall appear, those who have pointed others back to the source of Love, will receive a crown of glory that will not fade away.  First, notice that it is not the sparkle of jewels illuminated by the eternal light of God, that are reflections of our accomplishments in the kingdom of heaven.  Stones are not the prize.   What will stand without fading in His kingdom are the souls who might not have been there, but for our choice to reflect His love to them at just the right time in their lives, no matter the conditions of our own life at the time.  Choosing to reflect love to others, not just when it is convenient to us, or expedient to us, but based on the needs of others results in the glory that does not fade.  Putting the needs of others ahead of our own, is the exact path Christ walked when He was here, even when it was not convenient.

The ministry of the leading elders in the church is not about the reproof of sin, or the watch guarding of standards, it is about the experimental love of Christ.  It is about living under the freedom from sin, that unburdens the soul and brings a level of happiness those who remain chained in sin want to aspire to.  Without living in freedom from the pain of self-inflicted sin we have nothing the world would long to acquire.  We have then only words, not deeds.  We have only stories, not experience.  You do not need to condemn the pain sin causes at all, if you can DEMONSTRATE what it means to live free from it.  Punishment, judgment, and consequences are not what is needed to call our attention to in the cause of Christ – what is so desperately needed is the WAY OUT.  Point the flock and the erring soul to the love of Christ, demonstrating how He can make them free from sin, just as He is doing for you.  Demonstrate to the flock of Christ that the freedom He has already brought you has taken away your self-inflicted pain and is making your life better every day, and you will find willing ears, and hearts that desire to find what you have found.  This is the way in which the cause of Christ is advanced, and the gospel spread in the power in which it was intended.

The role of leading the viral church was not ever supposed to be constrained to the few, but instead experienced by the many.  Tradition robs the leadership of Jesus Christ to replace it with limited humans in limited roles in paid positions of formal authority, and thus reduced what was supposed to be a viral church into a focused failure.  But it is not too late to return to basics.  It is not too late to see the gospel advanced by the living example of those who understand transformation to love others like He loves others.  When we begin to reflect the love of Christ to those in need, we become the gospel message in living form.  Until we reflect that love to others, we are sounding brass, and tinkling cymbals, full of fury and noise and meaning nothing to His cause.  It is not the stories of others that is needed to reach the person in your path, it is YOUR story he needs to hear and to see.  In this you become the elder who shares in the spread of the gospel.

But the counsel of how to achieve a viral church Peter intended was not constricted only to those of more experience He had ideas for those less experienced as well …