If Not Now, Tell Me When
In response to a question from Facebooker and Disciples pastor, Guido Climer, I wrote the following back on August 6. Guido's question to all: Where did the Holy Spirit move at GA?
"If not now, tell me when."
There were many Holy Spirit moments in Indianapolis. But one happened "beneath the radar" of most GA participants.
In a pre-Assembly event intended to take the place of the National Evangelism Workshop that failed to materialize in '09, four keynoters and several workshop leaders challenged participants to develop their own evangelism story based upon the particular "face" of Jesus that they see most in their walk with the Lord, and to consider strategies for survival, renewal and transformation...God's way. "Ministry in Hard Times," held at Geist Christian Church -- North Campus in Fishers, IN on July 28 and 29, was filled with "Holy Spirit moments" for participants to evaluate and respond to.
Another Holy Spirit moment at GA happened at the other end of the week when Carrie Newcomer took command of the entire General Assembly stage and with one melodious and penetrating voice, one guitar and one piano for back-up, asked us all, "If not now, tell me when." As she ended that final song of her performance, there needed to be at every microphone people prepared to pray with participants who were ready to answer that question with the answer, "The time is now, and we are the ones we have been waiting for." At that moment each participant could have written or spoken a commitment to one change he or she hoped to implement in the world to make the vision of General Assembly 2009, "becoming a movement for healing in a fragmented world," one small step closer to reality. We needed a moment of personal accountability and we needed a witness: to hear us make and promise to keep our commitment. Instead, in one of the more awkward and jarring transitions of the entire week, we were taken back to loud volume music and a shouting preacher performer, Mr. Lawrence, who clearly did not share that same vision, as he didn't appear to have been actually listening to what had gone before. I and all the other Assembly participants were "off the hook." I didn't have to tell anyone what I would do "for the healing of the nations," and we all left Indianapolis with only thoughts that, like dreams upon waking, quickly slipped back into our subconscious. Many of us may have ended up praying for "revival" and hoping that God will do all the work.
I am one of those people who agrees that you need to pray as if everything depends upon God, but then act as if everything depends upon us. As we return to our homes and ministries with nearly two years until the next extraordinary expenditure of resources known as General Assembly, we need to ask, "Who will hold us accountable?" Let us who follow this blog pray that God will place us back on the commitment "hook" and ask us daily, "What are you doing today to make my vision a reality in your corner of my creation?"
"If not now, tell me when."
