When Apparently Powerless
Let’s press into the issue of God’s power versus ours, especially in light of recent events in Asbury.
The believers Paul addressed in Romans 16 were mainly slaves or people so poor that you might compare them to sharecroppers in the American South.
However, there were people of means among them. Wealthier people would include Phoebe, one of Paul’s benefactors, probably helping fund his journeys. We meet Aquila and Priscilla in three cities at a time when only the wealthy traveled. So while discussing power among relatively powerless people, we cannot overlook the blessings of strength and influence.
It’s easy to jump on the microchurch bandwagon to the exclusion of those large churches that bless us in so many ways (YouVersion comes to mind). Nor can we overlook the generosity of the benevolent.
But it is inescapable that the earliest believers operated from a position of social weakness, even martyrdom.
A quick read of Foxes Book of Martyrs will immerse you into 2nd Century suffering. One story stands out to me. It is that of a Roman military officer charged with the deaths of a small group of saints. The proposition is to renounce Christ or die naked on an ice flow in Northern Europe. As whole families chose to go out singing a hymn, the officer stripped himself and joined them as a new convert impressed with their faith to the point of his own martyrdom.
So, with no large gatherings and not much financial prowess but being rich in faith, these people overcame an empire that mostly hated them.
How did they do it?
They operated in God’s power—answered prayer was paramount. They met in small groups—warmhearted fellowship was central to what we would call their strategy. And they preached the power found in the simple gospel story.
In light of modern views of revival, it would be good to remember that what we are trying to revive has always held an outward focus whenever it was effective. These people infected others with the power of God unto salvation.
That power described in Romans 1 influenced the behavior of those people depicted in Romans 16.
The more we emulate them the better off we’ll be. I’ve encountered atheists and agnostics who eventually bowed, not to my arguments, but to the simple message of the cross—somehow it cuts through arguments and antipathy when presented in love.
The power isn’t in our programs or even our faith—it is in the message, itself.
Sadly scripture tells us that “in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-4 ESV). That describes a church that has lost its way.
The good news is that Peter was able to quote the prophet, Joel, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days…And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:17-21 NIV).
The power isn’t in the strategies we invent, the programs we host. The power is in the Word as it penetrates human hearts. Our plans should be all about mobilizing our members to fellowship with the pre-Christians in their orbit—whatever their attitude toward us or our Lord.
When you feel powerless, reading chapters one and 16 of Romans in one sitting may challenge you to read the entire volume with different eyes.
Comments are greatly appreciated.