A Kingdom

A Kingdom, A People & A River
A New Paradigm For the Post Modern House Church Movement

Parousia Weekly Update Letter For The Week of October 6, 2005

"When a prophet is accepted and deified, his message is lost. The prophet is only useful so long as he is stoned as a public nuisance calling us to repentance, disturbing our comfortable routines, breaking our respectable idols, shattering our sacred conventions" (A. G. Gardiner as quoted by Arthur Wallis, "In The Day of Thy Power").

In This Issue:

Post Cards From The Edge of a Post Christi an Post Modern Culture
“Morons, Inc.” & The Calling of The 5-Fold Ministry
Update Regarding The Move

Dear Friends,

My thanks to all of you who have e-mailed me with thoughts & questions regarding our up-coming “School of 5-Fold Ministry.” I plan to keep you posted, and one of the ways I want to do that is to send out some of the things we will be teaching and modeling. Believe me when I say we really do not know what we are doing, but are trusting God to show up and teach us. Unfortunately, that isn’t something you can put into a manual. I thought I would share some of my preliminary thoughts in this week’s article.

‘Nuff intro.

Blessings,
Maurice

Post Cards From The Edge of a Post Christi an Post Modern Culture

"I believe in Christi anity as I believe that the Sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else."-C.S. Lewis

More Post-Cards Next Week

“Morons, Inc” & The School of 5-Fold Ministry

I confess. I’ve always had a love for morons. O.K., that really does need some explaining. I’m referring, of course, to Moe Howard, his two brothers (Curly & Shemp) along with Larry Fine, whom my generation grew up knowing as “The Three Stooges.” Their “comedic shtick” was known as “Morons, Inc.” and throughout the hay-day of their careers (during the 1920s, 30s and 40s) they kept us in absolute stitches with their slap-stick low-brow humor. (O.K., Their real last name was “Horwitz” and Curly – everyone’s favorite stooge – left the trio in 1946 after suffering a stroke during the filming of their 97^th 2-reel comedy episode. He was replaced by Shemp whom I never really liked). I still laugh like a kid every time I see & hear Moe look at Larry & Curly and say something like “Listen up, you morons!” Never had three people had so much fun or made so many people laugh by acting like complete clueless fools!

So, what’s all this have to do with house church and the 5-fold ministry? Well, nothing really, except that our English word “moron” comes (almost directly) from the Greek word “moros” meaning “fool.” And therein lies an apostolic story. The word “moros” describes “that which is considered by the ignorant as a foolish policy or mode of dealing.” The Apostle Paul uses it four times in his letter to the church at Corinth . I want to look at his use in 1 Corinthians 4:9-10 where he says, “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to me. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.”

The Corinthian house churches had a problem (well, they had several, but I’m short on time & space here!). Having heard the gospel, having received and tasted of the promised eschatological Spirit and having experienced many of the promised gifts and manifestations of that Spirit, the Corinthians thought they “had arrived.” Their spiritual experiences had led to an attitude of moral superiority which caused them to tolerate gross sin in their midst. To make matters worse they had “fallen for” traveling teachers (self-proclaimed apostles) whose rhetorical skills (i.e., great preaching) and human wisdom had contributed to the Corinthians’ ego and had made Paul’s simple proclamation of Christ crucified seem like the “foolish” words of a second rate “country-bumpkin” in comparison (I’m paraphrasing Dr. Gordon Fee’s evaluation of the situation in Corinth from his excellent commentary, “The First Epistle to the Corinthians,” 1987). To the gullible Corinthians, these guys looked and sounded like “real” apostles, whereas Paul . . . . well, you get the picture.

In defense and explanation of his ministry, in Chapter 4 Paul uses three insightful words. And I believe these insights are broadly applicable to all of the 5-fold gifts. The first of these is found in 4:1, “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” The word translated “servants” is the Greek word “huperetes”. A huperetes was literally “an under-rower.” It was used to refer to the lowest rower on a Roman trireme, a galley slave whose job was to “row the boat” and whose fate, if the battle went ill, was to perish with the ship, chained to his oar (check out the sea-battle scene in the movie “Ben Hur”). Welcome to the “high calling” of the 5-Fold Ministry (were you wondering when I would get there?)! If you thought that 5-fold ministry was the glamorous world of Italian silk suits, leased jets and Rolex watches, think again. Here is how Paul described his high calling to 5-Fold ministry: “To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.” (1 Corinthians 4:11-13). How’s that for good copy in a recruiting brochure?! Still interested? O.K. For those who believe they are called to the 5-Fold ministry, here is your first challenge. Are you genuinely content to simply “row the boat” or do you see yourself as the Admiral in charge of the fleet?

The next interesting word Paul uses to describe his apostolic calling is found in verse 9 which we quoted above. It is the word “spectacle” in verse 9. The Greek word here is “theatron” and occurs only here and Acts 19:29 & 31 (the riot in Ephesus when the city gathered in the local amphitheater). It is the Greek word from which we get our English word “theater.” Paul likens his life and apostolic ministry to playing out a part on a public stage, a play in a divine theater in which both men and angels watch to see how he will acquit himself and play out the role given to him. In this divine drama each of us is given a role and a script (a calling & gift – and no swapping scripts either!) to play out before a watching world. Do you see your life as a divine drama to be played out on full public display so that others can see how “people of the Kingdom” live their lives and respond to the challenges of life, and how the God of this Kingdom responds and works in the lives of His people? I find it fascinating (and somewhat sad) that “seeker-friendly” churches think they are somehow “cutting edge” by using “ Christi an drama” in the form of artificial people acting out artificial stories, rather than recognizing that the greatest “dramas” of all are the ones God is working out in the lives of ordinary people whom He has called to worship Him by living out the drama of their lives for men and angels to see. This is particularly true for those people who aspire to walk in leadership of God’s Church. God’s call upon leaders, as it was upon Paul, is to live our lives as “spectacles” in God’s divine drama for men and angels to see! This isn’t a call to outward legalism masquerading for “holiness.” Rather, it is a call to authenticity and integrity. Authenticity means that our lives are “real,” while integrity means that we are consistent – we are the same in public as we are in private and the same in private as we are in public (or as I like to say, “Do you really pray like that when you’re at home alone?”). What you see really is me in all of my fallen glory and transformed mess. For those who believe they are called to the 5-Fold ministry, here is your next challenge. Are you prepared to allow your life to become a public spectacle for others to see? Are you prepared to play out your part in God’s divine drama with authenticity and integrity before a watching world?

Finally, there’s this whole business of being a “moros” (please note – I did not say “moron”!), a genuine “fool" for Christ, who is willing to be regarded by others as engaging in foolishness, staking our lives and reputations on the belief that the “foolish” things of God are wiser than the greatest wisdom of men, declaring with saints and leaders who have preceded us that “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliott, Through Gates of Splendor)

Welcome to what it means to walk in the School of the 5-Fold. If what you’ve read so far hasn’t discouraged you, then please allow me to invite you to join us:

1. We will meet for only 6 weeks at a time, and then take 6 weeks off. In other words, only a 6-week commitment is needed. At the end of 6-weeks we will stop and spend the next 6 weeks re-evaluating what God is doing. Then the school will start again for another 6 weeks.

2. My tentative plan is to meet on Friday evenings beginning at 6:00PM with a potluck dinner, followed by worship, pray er, teaching, interaction & ministry. We are going to DO, not just talk. EVERYONE will be involved. We are going ask God to raise up, call out, release and anoint 5-fold giftings and show us house church strategies for how they can be best utilized to reach our community for the Kingdom of God .

3. The first School will be held at the home of Garold & Kitty Shipley (N. 1114 Rudolf in the Spokane Valley) starting Friday, October 14 at 6:00PM and going until we’re done for the evening. If you need directions, please call (926-7743). If you have additional questions please contact me. You can call me at (509) 276-6469 or e-mail me at Maurice_Smith@parousianetwork.com.

Update Regarding The Move

This is a quick update for those of you who have asked about our upcoming move (November 1). No, we do not yet know where God would have us go, but we are looking & pray ing. We are in discussions concerning some possibilities, but nothing solid yet. Please keep us in your pray ers. We are doing fine and believe that God never leads us simply to bring us to a “dead-end.” That’s why it’s called a walk of “faith” rather than “sight”.