Recovering Pharisees, by Charlie Wear and Scott Bane from Charles Wear on Vimeo.
This is a message that I gave with Scott Bane, Next-Wave editor in March of 2010.
Archive for: ‘April 2010’
Bam! Hit and Run…
I’ve really been enjoying the last couple of weeks. We leased a Honda Accord and I have felt like everything is coming up roses! There’s nothing like driving a new car to give you that feeling. Then yesterday afternoon on the way home from the office, Bam! I was rear-ended, and pretty hard! I avoided hitting the car in front of me, and drove the car into the parking lot of a service station on the corner. I was a little light-headed from the adrenaline and the bump on the head, and was amazed that the person who hit me, had driven off.
Rear-ended!
A couple of young people witnessed the accident and stopped in to see if I was okay and to wait for the police, in case their statement was needed. I called 911 and waited. A few minutes later another young man drove up in a truck and told me he had witnessed the whole thing and had followed the person who hit me. Unfortunately, he did not get the license plate. A Riverside Police officer drove up a little later and took my report and the witness statement and gave me information for the insurance company.
Driving home I felt a definite disturbance to my “mojo.” A little earlier that day I had been talking with a friend who mentioned that he had lost his “mojo.” When we were talking about it I thought I knew what he meant, but I asked him anyway. He said he just had not been feeling on top of things. I looked up the dictionary definition of:
mo·jo
/?mo?d?o?/ Show Spelled[moh-joh] Show IPA
–noun,plural-jos, -joes.
1.
the art or practice of casting magic spells; magic; voodoo.
2.
an object, as an amulet or charm, that is believed to carry a magic spell. [dictionary.com]
It’s true, the last several weeks have been feeling magical, but I don’t believe in magic, I believe in real life. But it is kind of human to enjoy seasons when it feels like we are going from mountaintop to mountaintop with no trips to the valley. But that is not the way life really works, is it? Even though I have been experiencing a season of profoundly experiencing the Holy Spirit’s presence in my daily life, literally going from what feels like one divine appointment to the next, that feeling couldn’t last forever, could it? I was listening to a sermon the other day and the preacher seemed convinced that watching “Sex and the City” could definitely block the presence of the Holy Spirit. That didn’t sound exactly right to me, but I am still thinking about it.
Purple Flowers with Thistles!
As a recovering legalist (Pharisee) I am learning that God’s presence does not depend on my activity, but on His activity. My salvation does not depend on my actions, but on his completed action. I can’t “conjure” up God any more than I can make bushes burn or Red Seas part! I am learning to enjoy my friendship and partnership with God. It seems that the more he floods into my life, the more I experience his overflowing. One example? My wife was thinking about the accident in the midnight hour last night (she told me about it this morning) and before she knew what had happened she found herself praying for the person who hit me. Praying that they would find and experience God! What a great example of the overflowing of God’s Spirit.
We live on a Ranch in Riverside County, California. And the ranch is in full bloom this spring with all kinds of wild plants (weeds) that have an abundance of flowers. I like these little purple flowers that grow on the thistle plants. When the plants dry out later this summer it won’t be safe to walk among them. Our dog’s coats will be filled with stickers. So, this is what life is like, huh? Flowers grow among the thistles, and then they dry out and the seeds fall to the ground. If the next year is particularly rainy, the plants will grow taller and the flowers will abound.
I am grateful to have walked away from my accident unharmed. I feel blessed. I know that Jesus loves me! Forget about “mojo.” I am just going to keep following in His footsteps.
Going into full-time ministry
I once heard my mentor, John Wimber, say on an audio tape, “The day I got saved I went into full-time ministry, and I’ve been in it ever since.” At the time I heard him say it I thought he was saying, “When I got saved I began the journey that lead me into the full-time ministry positions I now hold.” I think my mindset stopped me from understanding the full implication of what John was saying. It probably would have been helpful if he had explained a little more.
When I heard John say this, I was on my own trajectory toward “full-time” ministry. I was serving as the Executive Pastor (unpaid) of a church, helping to lead them to a new worship center location. In that role I was doing all of the things that the “full-time” ministers were doing: meeting in staff meetings, making plans, executing them, and dealing with the stuff that goes on behind the scenes of any normal church. Eventually I accidentally ended up the pastor of a Vineyard church. At last, I was truly in “full-time” ministry (although still unpaid!).
Over the years I have heard numbers of people say, “I wish I could be in full-time ministry.” What they are saying is, “I wish I could stop working as a ___________ (you fill in the blank) and work full-time as a pastor, or missionary, or nonprofit leader of some kind.” It is only in the last few months that I have figured out that Jesus wants me to be in full-time ministry and he has wanted that to be my condition from the day he called me to follow him.
In the last few months I have had a shift in my worldview, especially concerning my business as a lawyer. I have begun to see my law practice as my “flock,” the people God has sent to me for ministry. Since that shift I have begun to see my clients through Jesus’ eyes and my daily life as one divine appointment after another. The results have been mind-blowing! I have seen Jesus enter the courtroom with me and set a captive free. I have been given the opportunity to share the good news about Christ with others. I have prayed for physical healing and seen instantaneous results. I have comforted the bereaved and the hopeless. It has been an amazing time.
I have seen that one of John Wimber’s favorite sayings is true, “The meat is in the streets!”
I have shared my thrilling insight with others, and have been shocked and surprised when they have said, “You didn’t know that? I’ve know that for years!” Why didn’t anyone tell me? I’ve been thinking long and hard about that question. This seems like the biggest and well-kept secret in Christianity, Jesus has called all of his followers to be full-time ministers and to partner with the Holy Spirit in daily service to the world they inhabit.
Maybe professional pastors and chaplains don’t know this fundamental fact of discipleship. Maybe the implications are too frightening to the paid professionals. All I know for sure is, I have been bitten by the bug and will never go back to my former way of thinking and living.
