During a training on disciple making and church planting with Neil Cole in 2015, we were asked to read and discuss Chapter 6, verse 16 to 21 in John's Gospel.
Any normal person reading that short paragraph in John would have easily seen Jesus walking on water as the MAIN THING! It is THE outstanding, miraculous, cool, awesome thing!
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
The exercise was to practice reading Scripture in the context of discipling a lost person or new believer to help them hear what God was saying through His Word.
"That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him. But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. They had rowed three or four miles when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here! ” Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!"
I was in a group with 10 other pastors and missionaries who proceeded to do a verse by verse exposition starting at verse 16, "That evening...".
We had 10 minutes and the problem was the group spent the next 9 dissecting "that evening"!
They talked about what hour evening referred to in the context. What was the accurate biblical definition of evening. Then someone shared their experience of visiting the supposed site, the weather conditions and how dark it would have been. Another then explained the geography of the region.
I sat there with my eyes getting wider and wider in a mix of shock, bewilderment and resignation. I might have even unconsciously rolled my eyes.
Finally, with 1 minute left, I couldn't hold it in any longer and said, "Hey, I think you're all missing the point here - JESUS WALKED ON WATER!"
Any normal person reading that short paragraph in John would have easily seen Jesus walking on water as the MAIN THING! It is THE outstanding, miraculous, cool, awesome thing!
But the experts missed it. Everyone in my group, and the other 10 groups, was too churched and operated in default theological, preaching, teaching mode for Bible school, Sunday service or a Bible study.
We have become like the pharisees and teachers of the Law in Jesus time - searching and teaching, but missing the main point and instead replacing truth with our man made systems, traditions, practices and institutions.
Our natural and spiritual eyes have become so warped by the systems of churchianity that we've lost the ability to see the obvious - Jesus.
I too was no different, blind until I stepped out from the religious "church" system I had spent 35 years growing up in. What I often now refer to in hindsight as the artificial construct of synthetic Christianity.
Since then, some of the most refreshing things I've heard, seen and experienced have been through reading the Bible with unchurched people.
"Have you never read? Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise." - Jesus, Mt 21:16
In the last few years, I have rediscovered Jesus in a whole new way, that's real and life-giving, by sitting down and learning with lost and newly born again people - babes and infants. They see Jesus without the baggage of theology or the blinders of church systems of belief that stem from a conflict of interest - the need to twist Scripture to accomodate and protect anti-biblical instituitions and institutionalism.
Jesus Comes Not to the Righteous but to Those Who Recognize They are Sinners
Sinners like Matthew and Zacchaeus invited Jesus to dinner to meet all their other sinner friends. Meanwhile the religious professionals openly criticized and condemned Jesus for eating with scum.
Ironically it was the scum and sinners who recognized and welcomed Jesus while the "churched" rejected Him. The same often holds true today.
Do we recognize that we too are scum and sinners? No better than those we might be quick to criticize?
Or are we so "churched" we've become just like the Pharisees?
When we realize our own state, it will help us step out from our ivory towers of church-centric nonsense and go into the highways and byways where the real lives of real people are lived.
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
Jesus doesn't live in temples of brick and mortar. He indwells people and His mission is to go, to find and heal the sick, to seek and save the lost.
His Church isn't a place, a building or a weekly timeslot to conduct a religious meeting. It's not only a tragedy, it's also a travesty when churches spend their time and effort on better buildings and more butts to fill them (because now they need more consumers, aka members, to pay for the building upgrade and the futile cycle continues). We also place an inordinate emphasis on sacred cows, which devour much time, effort, finances and are a breeding ground for hierarchy and church politics.
What if those resources are invested in the kingdom? What will it look like?
If we have families, schools, entrepreneurs, businesses, social and community initiatives that bring real change in real life to real people - His kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.
Want to see change? The fields are white unto harvest, but you must step out, look around and take action. My suggestion is to start by looking around your own community for those who are in need. You might be surprised to find that they've been right there all waiting all this while.
Oh, and we're to reach people with the light and life of Jesus, to bring the kingdom into their midst. Please don't settle for asking them to go to church, that would be missing the point. (This sounds controversial but, there is good reason, which I'll explain in separate post).
