Bang

A funny thing happened yesterday while I was in the seminary's computer lab. I was there with only one other person (I'd never met him before), and the other guy got up to leave the lab for something. Just before he left the lab, he stopped dead in his tracks and said to me:

"You know what I just realized? Jesus' ministry was only 3 years long. Just 3 years! That wasn't very long."

Then he left the lab. I thought to myself, "Weirdo."

But I corrected myself quickly. Sometimes, that's how the Spirit of God speaks to us. He reminds us of a point, a very subtle point, to invite some serious reflection on the character and history of God. Then we must think about our lives. The Spirit just had whispered something to that guy.

And I was there to see it.

Now, if you really want to spend some time on that point, we can consider that after only 3 years of ministry, and one resurrection event, all about just one man, we are all over the globe, a part of this 2000 year movement.

God started something with a BANG, and it is still moving. He accomplished a lot in a little time, and we are still feeling the aftershocks.

The point is, God can invade our circumstances and communities in intense ways. Immediately. Shockingly. Controversially. And changes happen for a long time afterwards.

I am not advocating that we only seek out huge encounters with God. There is a place for consistent, disciplined aspects of our lifestyle. And we don't want to get addicted to the big blowouts such that we lose our connection to God when there is an absence of large-scale encounters.

But... stop putting God in a box!

Too often, we relegate God to being this buddy-buddy imaginary friend that we can talk to, complain to about our friends, or just feel good about to combat loneliness. Not all bad stuff. But are we, at least on occasion, asking God to do something BIG?

Have we completely foresaken the concept of revival? Or are we afraid of how God might take over?

When God shows up and takes over, scary things might happen. People might change. Critics might start to criticize. Things might start to get messy.

As I look throughout the scriptures and throughout church history, the authentic corporate BANGS that God did involved the fear of God, wonder, awe, and widespread humbling. Humbling!! These are things we Americans don't actively seek out. When God is most present, we can't help but be on our faces on the floor.

Do we want God to make a difference with the worldwide problem of poverty? Someone will have to be facedown.

Do we want God to awaken a dead church? Someone will be facedown.

Does someone want revival in a little country town, or a big city like Chicago? Start facedown.

You might as well start there, because if God acts with a bang, everyone else caught up in the bang will be facedown with you.

And I mean facedown as a posture of the heart even more than a physical posture. The church started in Acts 2 with the new believers act, as the onlookers called it, as if they "had too much wine." (Acts 2:13)

But the BANG produced a worldwide revolution. God's wind can blow through your city, your school, your business, your town, your family.

Start with letting Him produce a BANG in your own heart. Then wait on Him to send a violent wind through a bigger area. Don't fear the big encounters! After only 3 years of work on earth, Jesus' ministry continues to move 2000 years later.