Proclaiming Jesus clearly is what churches are for

• Church becoming unviable? The remedy may be obvious to all except those in charge! This is a word to weigh from Hab. 2:2 and I Cor. 14:8

EVERY hundred years or so God brings a spiritual revival–always marked by the centrality of Jesus, the clarity of the message, and the ’good’ in this Good News.

It’s as if we need a reminder of who God is, and what He is doing.

Sometimes the increase in joy and spiritual signs  comes as encouragement for those who have already tasted it — and that’s needed.

But I’m hearing God remind us, to grasp the good news of who Jesus is, and to find better ways to make Him real, to people already overloaded with information and too much going on in their lives.

The prophet Habakkuk appealed to God about the spiritual apathy and injustice that he saw all around, and this is what he heard:

Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. Habakkuk 2:2 NIV

There seems to be a separating-out of those whose message has become muddled with ecological and gender issues and establishment concerns — and those with a clear message about Jesus being central to what we believe, and how He is present with us.

It’s the Jesus-centred churches which are growing strongly with young people and families. On the other hand, all the more formal traditions are seeing a long-time trend of attendance halving within a generation, church buildings closing, and parishes amalgamated — and there’s a lot of controversy about that right now.

Paul, writing to Christians in Corinth and warning them of the danger of ‘majoring on the minors’, spoke of the need for sounding clear notes that everyone can recognise:

If the bugle makes a garbled sound, who will recognise the signal to show up for the battle?  1 Corinthians 14:8 TPT

It’s not a complicated problem — it’s just that, humanly, we feel the need for complicated solutions.

Putting the spotlight on who Jesus is, what He has done, and how He can be known, is belittled by traditionalists as simplistic.

Turning from that human pride, to express humility about our spiritual need, is how we hear the guiding voice of the One who has already met that need.

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