THE AIM
DO NOT INVENT A VISION, DISCOVER IT
As Paul went on his missionary journeys, his enemies followed him everywhere pressurizing the emerging Ekklesias to adopt Jewish traditions. Paul spent much time and effort, including writing to the Ekklesias, fighting against traditions. It is said that Paul’s famous “thorn in the flesh” were these traditionalists who had vowed to kill him. Beelzebub means “lord of the flies”, one who goes around giving diarrhea of words from the pulpit. It is time we went around with fly swatters, systematically swatting the demons of tradition that give Delhi belly to the church after a hot spicy sermon (Luke 17:21; Matt. 12:24-25; 1 Tim. 4:1). The main obstacle to world evangelization is the multiplicity of extra-biblical traditions, which “make the gospel of no effect”. Yeshua said, “Why do you transgress the commandments of God with your traditions … and make the commandments of God of no effect by your traditions…teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:3-9). It is time to sweep out the rubbish of traditions into a trashcan and foil the plans of the enemy who keeps derailing the process of world evangelization.
CULTURAL OBSTACLES TO CHANGE
Although it has been two hundred years since William Carey came to North India, fewer than three percent have accepted Christianity. The Western lifestyle has been adopted in the parliament, judiciary, administration and even dress code, food habits and business but miserably failed to impact Indian multi-religious subculture. Having permeated so deep into all spheres of life, infusing Judeo-Christian spirituality should not be a big deal provided the church is willing to give up its western church culture and indigenize. Non-Christians have high regard for Yeshua, but they have rejected the modern church, a symbol of colonialism and slavery. Translating this high regard into commitment and conversion should be high on our agenda. Even the label “Christian” has problems as it carries negative vibes, as it did in the NT Ekklesia (Acts11:26).
If we remain embedded in the Western system, we will permanently impair the destiny of our nation. We are now politically independent. This could be our finest defining moment if we move into spiritual independence from the Western “religious culture”. Yeshua promised liberty to the captives, which is one step beyond independence. It is to stand in one’s God-given destiny and mission and be interdependent with other nations (ethné) doing likewise. We must find simple, culturally sensitive ways to communicate in local languages, employing cultural symbols that resonate with the target audience.
SWADESHI (INDIGENOUS) EKKLESIA IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR
There is an urgent need to push through reform processes in the church. The Japanese, having copied a Western model of church to the hilt, have hardly added a soul in years. Instead, we should be looking at the Chinese model, which has surged past all the others. The churches should cobble a common vision statement to act as a springboard and craft an effective delivery system that delivers the gospel to entire communities. Although some dub as syncretistic any attempt to indigenize, we have syncretized by embedding ourselves in Western individualistic culture. True Christianity is a community and a shared-life culture. Eastern cultures of clans and ethnic groups lends beautifully to impact all “ta ethné”. Christianity went from the East to the West and there is no valid reason for which the winds of reform should not blow again from here to there.
YESHUA WAS A MASTER STORYTELLER
The West belongs to a ‘book culture’, whereas in the East, vast majority belong to the “oral culture.” William Carey coming from a literate culture, prioritized putting a Bible in the hands of every tribe and tongue, even though most Indians were illiterate. Other missionaries who came opened seminaries and other centers of higher learning. For two hundred years nobody bothered to evaluate the outcome which was a paltry 2.3 percent Christianity. The need was to come up with a strategy for engaging the non-literates. If God could speak to nonliterates like Noah, Abraham, Peter and other fishermen, then there is no good reason why He could not have spoken (Rhema=direct communication) to non-literate Indians.
Over time these seminaries have proved to be a great disaster. God still chooses “Brothers, consider your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast in His presence.” (1Cor. 1:26-29).
Fortunately, 75 percent of the Bible consists of stories and with poetry and Proverbs added only 10 percent of the Bible is abstract, intellectual stuff. Most of the people that Yeshua dealt with were semiliterate or illiterate. He took twelve of them, turning them into world changers. The Western communication model can cater only to the elite ten percent, whereas Yeshua taught all the foundational as well as the profound theological principles through stories, testimonies and parables using simple items used in daily parlance like, bread, wine, leaven, fruit, harvest, trees, fish, rooster, hen, eggs, dogs, donkeys, sheep, laborers, disciples, even Ekklesia (Matt. 13:34).
GLORIFY GOD THROUGH DISCIPLE-MAKING
The Hindu fundamentalists have 75,000 shakhas (branches) where they make disciples by the thousands. There are 300,000 Madrasas (Islamic schools), producing “Taliban clones” to conduct Jihad or the holy war. From their perspective, the West is decadent and immoral, ready to be purified by Islam. Fundamentalists in other faiths are breeding a huge army of militants, even in the liberal West, ready to die to reap a harvest of hatred. However, identifying other faiths only with militancy, fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism would be wrong as there are many good people in them. The modern church, however, suffers from profound amnesia that having a disciple multiplying hub in every human habitation is her mission and mandate. It is her raison d’être, the reason for her existence.
WHAT IS AN OFFENCE?
An obstacle or an offence in the Bible means digging a trench and setting a trap for someone to fall in, just as hunters trap animals. The punishment for this deliberate act of being an offence is so awesome that it would be better to have a millstone hung around one’s neck and be drowned in the deep sea. Yeshua came “to seek and save that which was lost.” Our most urgent task is to remove all obstacles that prevent a fast, free flow of lost people into the Kingdom. The local Ekklesia should serve as a hospice where hurting people find both solace and salvation (Matt. 18:6-11).
IN SEARCH OF HOLY GRAILS
In circa 325, Emperor Constantine’s mother, Queen Helena, went to Jerusalem in search of the Grail (cup) from which Yeshua and His disciples drank during the last supper. Fortunately, she did not find it, as she was hoping to make it an iconic object of worship. In this book, we search out the origins of other sacred grails such as buildings, Sunday church services, authority to baptize and to serve the Eucharist, the role of women, the place of hierarchy, the one-man show that sidelines the fivefold ministry gifts, speaking in tongues, Christian festivals, tithing and many other controversial subjects. All the statements in this book either have a Biblical basis or were gleaned from reliable sources.
DISMANTLE THE EXISTING STRUCTURES TO MOVE FORWARD
Moses met God face to face in a portable tent called the Tabernacle of Meeting (Exod. 33:7-11). It was dismantled and pitched again and again as they moved from place to place. Thus, the Most High God moved and dwelt among His people in a make-shift tent for over four hundred years. A paradigm shift or radical restructuring can prove traumatic. Thus, the changes that are sweeping the planet require maximizing transitioning processes for dismantling existing structures, as we pitch our tents where Christ has not been named, so that the Great Commission will not remain a great omission.
A Messianic Jew went through agonizing transition. He had to abandon the temple, the Sabbath, circumcision, sacrifices, the feasts, the Levitical priesthood, kosher meat, his dress code and even his hairstyle. Worse still, he had to stop hating the Gentiles, stoning sinners to death and instead love them. For this, he was persecuted by his own people. Millions of Gentiles who followed suit also went through brutal persecution, to inherit the eternal kingdom (John 15:18-19; Acts 14:19-22). Of late, there has been a sharp spike in the persecution of new believers around the globe, a sure sign that the Ekklesia is growing, multiplying and filling the earth as never before.
RETURN TO THE SIMPLICITY OF THE NT EKKLESIA
Our sacred buildings must shift from monologue to debating halls of Tyrannus where seekers can reason all day long, so that all the world can hear the gospel (Acts 19:8-10). Secondly, we must replace or retrain the clergy and others as apostles, prophets, skilled fishers of men, seed sowers, harvesters and fruit-bearers etc. They must become self-supporting tentmakers that empower everyone to become truly royal priests. The religious cacophony of Sunday church services must be replaced with daily informal gatherings for a rapid disciple-making of the nations.
THE STAKES ARE HIGH
The spiritual epicenter is rapidly shifting from the traditional visible church to the exploding house Ekklesia movements, where the process of massive nuclear fission has already gone critical, beyond the point of no return. Yeshua is pouring out His Spirit on all flesh, as never before by daily adding nuclear fuel to the fire. The church does not need sporadic, tame renewal or revival but a transition from “sounding brass” to inaudible, below-the-radar gatherings. The stakes are high with no soft options for world evangelization. Therefore, the church’s agenda must include the discarding of old wineskins, replacing them with new wineskins for the new wine (Jer. 1:10; Matt. 9:17).
RELOCATING THE EKKLESIA
Menorah the golden lampstand provided light in the Holy of Holies. Everything in the room was fashioned according to the pattern God had given to Moses (Exo. 25:31-40; 40:24). Gold is precious and speaks of value. We are now the precious possession of God (1 Pet.2:9). The oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Without oil, there will be no fire in the lamp. Without the Holy Spirit, the church will have no fire and no light. The seven branches coming out, all equal in height, represent the unity in plurality. The church has members with multiple charismata (gifts), all of whom should be allowed to function as equals. Yeshua is the light of the world and He made us the sons of the light so that we may transmit his light into the world (John 1:4,5; Matt. 5:14-16; 1 Thess. 5:5).
We, the little lights, have the potential not only to light our homes but also light thousands of homes of the people who live in spiritual darkness (Matt. 4:16). Not the cross, which is a symbol of death, but the lamp is the symbol of the Ekklesia. After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70 by General Titus of Rome, Menorah relocated itself as the symbol of the Ekklesia (Rev. 1:20).
YOU SAY FOUR MONTHS, BUT THE HARVEST IS READY NOW
One day, when Yeshua’s disciples were hungry, their eyes were glued to the food they had just bought from the market. Yeshua said to them, “My food is to do the will of the Father.” He then told them to look up, and what they saw amazed them. A sinful Samaritan woman was bringing her whole village to sit at Yeshua’s feet. Nobody in his right mind would have thought that Samaria was ready for harvest. Yeshua proved that every nation on earth is ripe for harvest. Yeshua did not ask us to pray for the lost, He said pray for the laborers. All you must do is to find the “persons of peace”, then equip, empower and launch them (Luke 10:1-8; John 4:32-35).
THE SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE IS AN ABERRATION
Scripture clearly exhorts us, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, but exhort each other daily, while it is called today (Heb 3:7,8,13). Yeshua said, “I was daily with you in the temple teaching” (Mark 14:49). Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 5:42). The Bereans were more noble than Thessalonians and searched the scriptures daily (Acts 17:11). Paul reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with his clients daily (Acts 17:17). And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47).
So, the Ekklesias were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers (Acts 16:5). And He said unto all, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Heb.10:25).
READ THE SCRIPTURES, MEDITATE AND DO IT
There are many Christians in the world, but few who read the Scriptures and even fewer that meditate upon it and apply what they read. Bereans did not believe everything Paul was teaching them, hence they checked it out from the Scriptures for themselves (Acts 17:11). Most Christians believe hook, line and sinker whatever their pastor teaches. Many unquestioningly idolize their celebrity teachers on the internet, some of whom are false prophets. God told Joshua, “This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it by day and by night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall act wisely (Joshua 1:8). Paul said, “The things which came to you by my teaching and preaching, and which you saw in me, do these things, and the God of peace will be with you (Phil 4:9).
The time for reaping the largest harvest ever, before the Rapture takes place, is now staring us in the face. Yeshua Messiah set up a highly cost-effective, resource-efficient, and people-centric soul saving model which can be replicated anywhere by anybody. Stick to it and you will prove to be a channel of blessing to many. (Acts 26:18)
Finding ‘Persons of Peace’ and imparting them culture specific training and then fitting them in that cultural slot is important lest you try to fit wrong pieces in a jig-saw puzzle and get the wrong picture. Trying to fit Muslims for Hindus and Buddhists for atheists would be an exercise in futility, at least initially. Initially Yeshua told his rooky Jewish disciples, “Go not among Gentiles and Samaritans” (Matt. 10:5).
GEMS:
- The Lord is now radically restructuring his church to gather the greatest harvest of souls of all times, so He can take them with Him into His millennial Kingdom.
- New birth gives new vision and a strategy to run with it. If you are still sitting in the same religious house instead of running with the vision, many will perish. (Hab. 2:1-3)
- A vision that is not being implemented remains a hallucination.
- Religion does not save. Yeshua came not to start a religion but to plant God’s kingdom on earth.
- The contemporary church is governed by a flawed hierarchical command structure. The NT Ekklesia was called a “Household of God” because it was mentored by spiritual fathers such as apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:19-20).
- God wants the earth to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. It starts with our “oikos” becoming His house of prayer, where nations can be discipled, one at a time. (Hab. 2:14; Mark 11:17)
- Yeshua came to seek and save the lost. Angels go into ecstatic dancing and singing over one saved soul than over ninety-nine in the happy-clappy crowd rejoicing in the church. (Luke 15:7,10)
- Do not go outside looking for the enemies or the traitors of the Kingdom, for they are sitting in the pews and some are even standing behind the pulpit.
- We went around looking for the enemy and found that it is us.
Copyright © 2023 Victor Choudhrie
All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the publisher.
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