“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isa. 43). “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3)
The Lord is always on the move…constanstly creating stories of deliverance and transformation among us! Sometimes I think we have it backwards. In our self-centered way of perceiving reality, we tend to believe that God exists to bring us the comfort, solace, and deep sense of peace that we all seek. In reality it is we, the creatures, who were fashioned by and for Him, the Creator, in order to address His desires and carry-out His plans. Ironically, it is when we give ourselves over to Him that we experience glimpses of the fulfilment & joy that otherwise elude our grasp. This dynamic can be really confusing to those of us who follow Him, because of the many promises of peace that are given in His Word; but we’re reminded also that this life is for fruitful labor rather than blissful reward. He is constantly at work, and incessantly urging us to join Him in it.
The Body of Christ, which all of His committed people are part of, is His continuing and active presence in the world today. In a culture that hijacks the message of blessing toward destinations of indulgence, we are those who are called to be perpetually giving ourselves away for His purposes… serving the beloved poor He is seeking to bless through us…sharing the message of hope with those who are searching for the truth. I’m convinced that one of the reasons we’re not seeing more Kingdom-Of-God stories of transformation in our day is because the rank & file Christians have forgotten who we are. We all want salvation for the next life, but it seems like only a few of us are willing to set ourselves apart to be fruitful for Him in this one. There is an artificial distinction between the religious and secular, or in philosophical terms the “sacred and profane.” Our system of understanding & practicing “church” is based on a model that would be foreign to Jesus and the early Christians.
The New Testament Church – the One we read about in the Bible, which is our model of faith and practice – was more like a loosely-affiliated web of friend-groups led by ordinary people than the highly centralized, professional organizations that superceded them. Today, many Christians in America believe that they need to show-up to a Sunday morning event for concert-quality music & professional motivational speaking in order to connect with God. This has created a massive ecclesiastic consumer industry that plagues the Church of Jesus with shackles of perceived powerlessness. My wife and I love our congregational church services, but we recognize that they’re supplemental to what’s primary.
As a “ministry insider,” I intimately understand the challenges of modern church staff who long for their people to understand & grasp the identities that the Father calls them into as His agents in the world. Most of the pastors I know are working & praying their tails off, trying to motivate their churches to actually BE the Church; finding themselves locked into robust, million-dollar programs that often perpetuate the consumeristic culture of “churchianity.” This is part of the reason why Catalyst exists.
We want to be servants of Jesus and His Church to be part of the solution, catalyzing every follower of Christ:
- To meed the needs of the poor/needy in their own neighborhoods
- To be ready to answer those who ask about his/her hope in Christ
- To see his/her living room, coffee house, or break room, as primary places for fellowship
- To take the church back into the world, as a multi-faceted expression of all His people
We’ve experienced all of these values in the first 12-years of Catalyst, and are eager to share what we’ve learned. Coming Soon: “Catalyst Network” will pass-along the principles we’ve learned to others, equipping them to continue the movement.