A quotation from John Wimber on jordancooper.com:
Years ago in New York City, I got into a taxi cab with an Iranian taxi driver, who could hardly speak English. I tried to explain to him where I wanted to go, and as he was pulling his car out of the parking place, he almost got hit by a van that on its side had a sign reading The Pentecostal Church. He got real upset and said, "That guy’s drunk." I said, "No, he’s a Pentecostal. Drunk in the spirit, maybe, but not with wine." He asked, "Do you know about church?" I said, "Well, I know a little bit about it; what do you know?"It was a long trip from one end of Manhattan to the other, and all the way down he told me one horror story after another that he’d heard about the church. He knew about the pastor that ran off with the choir master's wife, the couple that had burned the church down and collected the insurance—every horrible thing you could imagine. We finally get to where we were going, I paid him, and as we’re standing there on the landing I gave him an extra-large tip. He got a suspicious look in his eyes—he’d been around, you know. I said, "Answer me this one question." Now keep in mind, I’m planning on witnessing to him. "If there was a God and he had a church, what would it be like?" He sat there for awhile making up his mind to play or not. Finally he sighed and said, "Well, if there was a God and he had a church—they would care for the poor, heal the sick, and they wouldn’t charge you money to teach you the Book." I turned around and it was like an explosion in my chest. "Oh, God." I just cried, I couldn’t help it. I thought, "Oh Lord, they know. The world knows what it’s supposed to be like. The only ones that don’t know are the Church."
When you joined the kingdom, you expected to be used of God. I’ve talked to thousands of people, and almost everybody has said, "When I signed up, I knew that caring for the poor was part of it—I just kind of got weaned off of it, because no one else was doing it." Folks, I’m not saying, "Do some-thing heroic." I’m not saying, "Take on some high standard, sell everything you have and go." Now, if Jesus tells you that, that’s different. But I’m not saying that. I’m just saying, participate. Give some portion of what you have—time, energy, money, on a regular basis—to this purpose, to redeeming people, to caring for people. Share your heart and life with somebody that’s not easy to sit in the same car with. Are you hearing me? That’s where you’ll really see the kingdom of God.
Thoughts?
[HT: achievable ends]
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Comments (10)
Much needed. Thanks!
1) Is cabbie right? (I think yes)
2) Why aren't we doing this? It's clear in scripture. Is it just because everyone else is not? Are we focused too much on buildings and salaries? Why aren't we doing this?
3) how do they know we're supposed to be doing this?
Here's her reply, "Well the only reason I thought of you was you get along with most everybody, you don't really seem to care bout my involvement in it, and it's pretty much a big party,..."
I DO care, of course, but I also know that being overly negative towards her curiousity would probably mean that I would no longer be allowed to be an alternative influence in her life. I have an affinity for "fantasy," which is pretty much how I've treated our discussions thus far, but I'm not sure I will know how to act in a real world setting like this. I looked at the website and I have to admit that I'm creeped out by it. My young friend--whose experience with Christians isn't much better than the Iranian's until she met me--is one who likes to present a "dark" side, (in order to protect herself from being hurt--and with a history that warrants it) but in reality is as gentle as a lamb, vulnerable, and is truly seeking. I think I'd rather endure the creepiness in order to be at her side, than let her go alone and leave her open to predators.
Thoughts? Who better to ask than you all?
Need to be human to witness to humans...God was well aware of this when He sent His Son as a human.
I stopped going to church because I had to be fake. Everyone acted fake. (I'm not saying they were fake...I know many of them were very loving God-loving people). You can't really admit a sin without being preached into the ground. You can't be allowed to hurt without being told you shouldn't be hurting. You can't go through a tough time without someone telling you with out of can responses its temporary. As if in the middle of drowning being told you're going to be saved is comforting. (give em an oxygen mask!)
I'm sorry. I'm coming across as bitter...but I'm someone who loves Jesus and grew up in the church and believes fully in the Bible and its truths. I can only imagine how someone on the outside feels.