Heart Tracks - Presence

"This is what the Lord Almighty says, 'In those days 10 people from nations and languages around the world will clutch at the hem of one Jew's robe. And they will say, 'Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' " Zechariah 8:23

For some time now, there has been much talk about the need for the church to be "relevant" to the culture it seeks to reach for Him. I have no problem with the thought, just the process we seem to want to adopt. Whose definition of relevant do we want to go by, ours, or His? Do we want to approach it focusing on what is relevant to the people, or what is relevant to Him? If it's people centered, than we are always going to try and reach them with a earth based, flesh centered message. It will be about offering a life that makes everything better here. A kind of "things go better with Christ" ad campaign. We present a Jesus who can make significant improvements on our lives, oftentimes with little adjustment on our part. We target what people care about....and miss what it is that He cares about. I think in our quest to be relevant in this manner, we actually become irrelevant in His.

I don't mean to put forth the thought that He doesn't care about our human needs. He does. Or that the church should not be engaged in doing good works and ministering to those needs. We must. But the element that is most needed and oftentimes most missing is our being the actual living presence of Him in the midst of it all. A presence that even the unbelieving cannot deny. There are many human agencies that do good works, and they're to be commended. But it is the presence of His Life and Spirit within His church that sets us apart from them. Without it, we are just another agency. When Christ walked the earth and ministered to the people, they knew a Presence was among them that none had ever witnessed before. The very Presence of God within One who was fully God and fully man. They saw it in His life, heard it in His words, and beheld it in His works. It was undeniable even to those who rejected Him. The same was said of His disciples after Pentecost. It was said of Peter, of John, of Paul. These men were not equal with Christ, but they were filled with His Life. And this too was evident to all. They were living out God's definition of relevance to a world that desperately needed it. A world that still does. So the question is, are you and I living that life out? Does that kind of Holy Spirit presence mark your life and mine?

Ten unbelievers laying hold of the robes of one who was His. They do so because of His undeniable presence in that ones life. A life bathed in, soaked in, His Life and Presence. A life that was His Presence to all who beheld him. Living hope to a dead world. That my friends is true relevancy. I want with all my heart to live such a life. How about you? It's a life lived above the plane of this world. It's the life that is His....and can be, must be ours.....Is it?

Blessings,
Pastor O