June 2003
The Power of Relationships
by Charles SimpsonI am fascinated and impressed by people in a business setting who remember my name or something about me. Partly, I'm fascinated because I am not very good at that, but mostly because they show a real interest. I like to do business with people who remember me. Now I realize that it is just good business practice on their part-but it still works with me.
"It is not what you know, but who you know" is a statement that sometimes may be intended in a cynical way, but it also carries a very positive truth. People do go out of their way to serve those that they know and care about. Beside family, our network of friends and associates is our most valuable asset.
I took note of President Bush's cabinet choices. Several of them were people with whom he had a close personal relationship. And why not? His relationships have taught him about their gifts and ability to work with others. They have come to power in part because of proven relationships. He also values loyalty in those around him. Loyalty is good and godly.
THE PERSONAL SAVIOR
Our world has become increasingly impersonal. The very size of government, corporations, cities, and yes, even churches, have moved people more and more toward institutions and bureaucracy. Try calling a business on the phone: "If you are calling about...press one; if you are calling about....press two..." And so it goes.
Thank God, prayer is not that way. Imagine-heaven having an automatic answering service! "Your call is very important to us here in heaven. If you are calling about health, please press one; if you are calling about finances, please press two."
Jesus is not "Jesus, Inc." He is our personal Savior. Yes, He died for the world and for the Church, but He died in my place. He shed His blood for me, and arose from the grave to secure my salvation. He is my personal Savior, and I trust that He is yours as well.Jesus left the "99" to find the one lost sheep. He taught His disciples to go into the highways and hedges to find the lost. He saw individuals among crowds. He could hear one voice among many. When we no longer see people in a personal way, we have lost the heart of Christ and the heart of the apostles.
Luke 6:12 says that Jesus spent the whole night in prayer. The next day, He chose twelve whom He called apostles. No doubt He brought their names before the Father and asked for the Father's will in this vital decision. These men would come to know Jesus in a most personal way. From these men, we know that Jesus was without sin. That is a credible witness from people who knew Him personally.
Creeds, confessions, and doctrinal statements are very important. They tell us what someone believes and what the Scriptures mean to a particular group. However, our faith is not in those things-it is in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. A creed cannot be your friend in a time of need, change your life, or resurrect your body. Jesus can. We do not go to heaven because of what we believe, but because of in whom we believe.
The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that Jesus came to reconcile, and He has made us reconcilers to God. The apostle John tells us in 1 John 1:1-3, that the apostolic fellowship was one of intimate relationship with Jesus and the Father, and their purpose was to call us into that same intimate fellowship. That fellowship would make our joy complete.
Jesus' prayer recorded in John 17 goes even further to ask that we would be one, even as He and the Father are one. This is incomprehensible to the natural mind. Nevertheless, the Lord gave Himself relationally and taught His disciples to do the same, and He invites us into the divine family to experience God's goodness and mercy.
BARNABAS AND PAUL
In order to understand the vital nature of this invitation, let's look at Barnabas' invitation to Paul. Through an encounter with the risen Christ, "Saul the persecutor" became Paul the convert. He was blinded by the light and led into Damascus. Ananias, a stranger to Paul, came to the house where Paul was staying and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you, has sent me in order for you to receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." "Brother," he said, not, "fellow church member" or "parishioner."Saul the persecutor soon became Paul the persecuted. Even other Christians were unsure of Paul because of the fierceness of his former persecutions. But Acts 9:27 says that Barnabas came to Paul and "took hold of him and brought him to the apostles." Barnabas' testimony about Paul's conversion and boldness convinced the apostles, because they trusted Barnabas. This was not the work of a committee-it was the work of a friend. We owe Barnabas a great debt!
Through Barnabas, Paul came into fellowship with the apostles and became one of them himself. He entered into God's place for Him through the power of God-ordained relationships. This is what John meant when he said, "that you may have fellowship with us."
THE INVITATION
Who is inviting and what are people being invited to? We know Jesus is inviting and He has called us to invite. But what are we inviting people to?It is certainly important to invite people to "hear our pastor," or to "come to our Easter drama," or to "hear our great choir." But is there something more? Are we inviting them to know us, to eat with us, to pray with us, and to be our covenant friend? Unless we go further, we have lost the invitation that Jesus and the apostles gave. Unbelievers often get the wrong invitation.
To be sure, the Church will be a great gathering. It will not be a small insignificant group. But it will also be an intimate group. That is, there will be within the great Body circles of intimate fellowship that keep the authenticity of the Church…or it will cease to be what it claims to be. The invitation is to know Jesus-it should be given by someone who knows Him personally, and who is willing to be known personally.
DISCIPLESHIP
The word "mentor" has gained popular usage. A mentor is someone who builds a personal relationship with a young believer, has become a role model, and is giving guidance to bring the new believer to maturity. Hopefully the one being mentored will also eventually become a mentor.People who mature under personal tutelage-like children who mature under healthy parenting, usually reproduce in kind. People who are born of institutionalism usually become dependent on institutionalism and trust institutionalism to do the reproducing for them. That is how we get "Jesus, Inc."
It must be said that many people like "Jesus, Inc." instead of "Jesus personal." "Jesus, Inc." requires little: no accountability, no tithing, no personal holiness, no real discipline, and no rules. It is usually wholesome entertainment, uplifting, and educational. There is a lot to be said for it. But it requires no personal evangelistic responsibility.
One wonders, however, how all of this relates to what Jesus and the apostles did. Will it produce spiritual maturity and procreativity? Will it be there to personally help in times of real need? Or, will it simply say, "Be warmed and be filled." Will "Jesus, Inc." be there with God's goodness and mercy? Will it redeem the lost soul and restore the wayward one? Will it offer the power of personal relationship as Barnabas did to Paul? Will it produce apostles or performers? Will it ultimately disciple or disappoint?
Each pastor and Christian must answer this before God. The current models seem to cater to our social and cultural condition of impersonal relationships and highly individualized thinking. We seem to be offering a "cafeteria" approach instead of a substantial healthy diet around a family table.
The jury is still out on "Consumer Christianity." "Sermon burgers and worship chips" are a booming business and it is hard to knock success. But we may be selling fat and not muscle; convenience, and not durability. Spiritual "fast food" is not apostolic Christianity.
GETTING TO KNOW JESUS
I urge you to know Jesus in a personal way and enter into His family. I urge you to know real lasting friendship and fellowship with Him and with people. I also urge you to take the personal responsibility to pass on the power of personal relationship.
My intent is not to be critical, but to exhort us to avoid the lowest common denominator syndrome, the path of least resistance, and avoid the temptation to expect the Church in general to do what we are not willing to do in particular.
John Powe said, "Anyone who builds a relationship on less than openness and honesty is building on sand." Jesus builds upon the personal intimate truth about Himself and about us. Anything less will lead to unreality.I began the ministry in 1955. People sometimes ask me, "What about your ministry have you most appreciated?" My answer is "There is not a close second…it is the people that God has brought into my life, and those to whom I have been able to bring life."
May God bless you with abundant life-enough to share with someone else.
Taken from "One-To-One" magazine, Summer 2001, by Charles Simpson; used by permission of Charles Simpson Ministries. For more information, please write to CSM Publishing; PO Box Z; Mobile, AL 36616, or www.csmpublishing.org
Charles Simpson is an internationally-known author, speaker, and pastor who has been in ministry since 1955. He became a pioneer and leader in the Charismatic Renewal, traveling around the world and teaching thousands of people. He will be speaking at our Holy Spirit Conference on August 6-7, 2003. The conference runs from August 6-9, 2003.
