3. Awaken the Church to rediscover her true destiny
Thirdly, we're mandated to help the Church to rediscover her true identity and destiny. She should be a living organism, a countercultural and subversive movement made up of powerful ambassadors of a King-in-waiting, who are living as aliens and strangers in a hostile world and who are developing into the pure and spotless Bride of Christ as she maintains an eschatological focus.
This is no easy task. Apart from a faithful remant, mainly in countries where the Church is persecuted, the Church is largely a sleeping giant who has long since forgotten her noble birth. Institionalism has clearly taken its toll and bureaucratic power has diminished her spiritual power. Even the unity that Jesus prayed for has not yet been achieved. And despite its role in the formation of Western civilisation, today the Church in the West is increasingly thought of as 'an island of irrelevance in a sea of despair.'
Indeed, large sections of the Church have compromised the faith and given up the fight against the evil tide of secularism and paganism. They do this in order to be seen as culturally relevant and to be embraced as insiders, in a nation whose elite rulers and powerbrokers have rejected its Judaeo-Christian heritage.
It would be foolish therefore to deny that the Church is no longer thought of as a living organism or as a countercultural and subversive movement. Quite the opposite. Today the Church is generally seen (both by those within and outside of the Church) as a wealthy, sleeping, archaic and old-fashioned institution, based around denominations. It is reliant on traditions, buildings, programmes, methods, creeds, ministers, personalities, routine, social activities and so on, to give it life, shape and structure.
Here at Christian Spectrum however, we contend that the Church should never be described in institutional terms. In essence the Church is simply people. Collectively, it's a living organism and should only be thought of in two ways - the Church universal, made up of individuals spread throughout the earth, and the local fellowship of believers.
The Church comprises all the believers from every nation, tribe and tongue who acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ in word and deed, irrespective of Church style, culture, denominational affiliation, size of congregation, etc. It has no national or global headquarters or organisational structure by which it should be identified.
It is intended to be a living, moving, developing body through which God expresses himself; the means whereby he manifests his purposes, person, glory and rule in the earth. Since God is not static, neither can the Church be. If we're to partner with a God who will not be tied down or boxed in, we too must take on similar characteristics.
The Church is also to live as aliens and strangers (1 Pe 2:11) in a world that is hostile to true believers (Jn 17:14-16). We believe the Church has been lulled into a false sense of security and lives more like 'one of the locals.' Whilst this hostility is readily understood and experienced by faithful brothers and sisters living in countries where persecution of Christians is a daily occurrence, it is less so in countries like ours, where believers, on the surface at least, are currently tolerated and live in relative peace and comfort.
We would contend however, that if the Gospel is presented faithfully, Christians will inevitably be perceived by those who exercise worldly power in a nation which has turned its back on God, as being politically incorrect, countercultural and subversive to the State. Whilst personally we are in no way seditious or disloyal, the declaration we make that 'Jesus is Lord' can only be construed as politically offensive, because it reminds the State that it is not sovereign and does not have our ultimate allegiance.
We are ambassadors of a King-in-waiting who one day will overthrow all Caesars and fallen power structures, both here on earth and in the heavenly realms. As we declare this, we can be sure that the State, which no longer fulfils it's God-given mandate to minister justice on behalf of God (1 Peter 2:13-14), will feel it then has the divine right to regulate and control the Church, and should this fail, to back this up with persecution.
As these things happen, we believe the Church will become an illegal underground movement, rediscover her ability to move in supernatural signs and wonders and once again discover her true destiny and calling. And so we are resolved with every means at our disposal to call the Church back to her true heritage in Christ. She must discover her true identity as a living organism, learn to live as aliens and strangers, and become a countercultural and subversive movement comprising powerful ambassadors of a King-in-waiting. And as she does so, we believe she will not only become the pure and spotless Bride the Lord is coming back for, but will be better equipped to live for him in the present.
Apart from a faithful remant, mainly in countries where the Church is persecuted, the Church is largely a sleeping giant who has long since forgotten her noble birth. Institionalism has clearly taken its toll and bureaucratic power has diminished her spiritual power. Even the unity that Jesus prayed for has not yet been achieved. And despite its role in the formation of Western civilisation, today the Church in the West is increasingly thought of as 'an island of irrelevance in a sea of despair' . . .