Lessons From Desert Man
The Small Church #11
You Still Can't Touch the Stars
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Abraham sat back, propped up against the acacia tree,
and peeked between the branches into the vast solar
systems across the heavens, and counted the stars.
Of course, he was lost before he got beyond double
digits. Sinking a bit into relaxation, Abraham contemplated
the word of the Lord which had come to him, "Look
now toward the heaven, and tell the stars, if thou
be able to number them... so shall thy seed be." (Gen.
15:5) He breathed a pregnant sigh which spoke both
hope in the promise, and sorrow at the distance. In
that moment, with great desire welling up within,
he may have choked out such a prayer as, "Thank you,
God, for Your promise of hope, but I still can't touch
the stars, like I can hold a son."
Abraham's life, and promises were merely a foretaste
of the promises God has given to the New Testament
Church. We have the potential of experiencing these
promises even now, but of the Old Testament prophets,
and of Abraham it is written, "These all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off...." (Heb. 11:13)
The salvation experience, the promise of the indwelling
Spirit of God, the transformation of the human heart,
and the fellowship of the saints are some of these
great promised blessings which we experience today.
Unfortunately, many people sit beneath the acacia
tree with Abraham, and sigh, "I still can't touch
the stars."
Whenever the church acts like anything less than the
Family of God, its members suffer the same plight
as Abraham - promises seen, but yet unexperienced.
When the church acts less like the church, and more
like the world, we all feel the distance it places
us from the potential abundance of New Testament Christianity.
Too often, the church exercises what I call "Gentile
authority" (see Mk.10:42) by distancing the leadership
from the laity. In establishing this administrational
format, we have created "stars" out of our pastors.
Like city kids looking into the desert sky on a clear
night, we "oo" and "ah" at the sight of our church
"stars," but the Abrahamic plight remains entrenched
in our hearts - We still can't touch the stars.
Jesus discipled His disciples. Today, we lecture ours.
Jesus went off to be alone with His disciples. Today,
we go off to be alone without them.
Jesus had a hands-on approach to training. We tend
to wash our hands of the relational work like Pilate
at the trial.
This is not all our fault. Rather, we have inherited
a model of leadership, which although well-intentioned,
was based on more authority, and less servanthood.
If we are willing to rise up, and take on Jesus' challenge
of servanthood, and if we are willing to establish
small groups of Christians who are committed to living
out New Testament Christianity, then we just might
touch the stars.
The small group which understands that it is "church,"
is the place where everyone is a star, and at the
same time, it is the place where no one is untouchable.
Thus, smallness leads us to a fuller experience of
God's promises. In the small church we can find the
satisfaction of not having to sigh that Abrahamic
sigh. It is the place where we do not have to cry,
"I still can't touch the stars."
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