Flying Faith

For thousands of years, man has dreamed of flying. Only in the last 110 years has that become reality. The first manned aircraft to fly did so 110 years ago in 1903. But in seventy years time, we were not only flying but we planned missions to fly to the Moon. What changed? How could we do more in 70 years than in over 4,000?

Let's take a look. Early on, men saw birds fly. It looked like it was pretty fun. So they looked at birds and found what they had that we didn't: wings and feathers. So in the 'we got this' arrogant attitude that mankind has always had, they slapped wings and feathers on some guy and threw him off the cliff. Didn't work out so hot. So, in that same omnipotent arrogant attitude, they did it again... and again... and again. After much pain and feather gathering, they finally quit.

So what was wrong? Birds don't fly just because they have wings and feathers. They fly because they are designed to, from top to bottom. Every part of the bird is made to be light, aerodynamic, and functional. Nothing about a bird that soars beautifully is just slapped on to a different design. Its all created with that purpose: the purpose of flight.

In this way, we as churches often wonder why our evangelism doesn't fly. We tack on some ministries, add a Saturday once in a while to go and preach on street corners or maybe hand out tracts, but it does't ever take off? What are we doing wrong?

Let's take a look into history and see how our forefathers handled these things. In the first century church (the Church that the followers of Jesus ministered in after His death and resurrection) the entire church was evangelizing. They converted hundreds a day, thousands followed Christ at that time. Similarly we find that the Anabaptists often started entire churches overnight while fleeing those who would kill them for their beliefs. Why could they and not we? 90% or more of our churches have new member growth only from our children joining the Church. As wonderful as that is, there should be more; much more. So what can we do to change this?

First of all, let me point out that I am not saying that I have mastered this myself. These are thoughts that I feel I need to share; not my instructions with a 110% guarantee. But back to the subject on hand. What can we do?

1. We see that the first church and most growing churches are mission minded. They are there for the express purpose of creating new disciples (not just one time converts). They majored in the area of ministry, it wasn't just a hobby. Ministry truly defined those churches. Outreach and sacrifice were what those churches were all about.

2. Prayer was a driving factor in these churches. They got together to pray often. They thrived off of it. They worked together and they prayed together. I'm talking about true prayer, not just memorized lines (though they can also be useful), or long sermons with our eyes closed. (I've heard these, too) True prayer is fellowship with God Himself. This fellowship with God is the single most important thing that will produce a strong ministry minded church.

3. Fellowship is another item that these churches had. There were not many rogue preachers, even those that started solo joined the church when they could. There was unity, fellowship, and accountability.

4. Knowledge can be very useful, but it is not the top of the list. In our modern world of self glorifying knowledge, we often put this far too high on our list of requirements. Knowledge can indeed be useful, but if it is not applied correctly, it makes us more like devils than saints. Bible study is a total requirement for ministry, however, I would be more inclined to put that under prayer than under knowledge.

These are all important tools for ministry. But another important thing to remember is the fact that the Holy Spirit, not we, is the driving force behind conviction. We are only to be faithful servants, not the commander. In all of this, we simply follow the commands of our Leader.