Why our pursuit of ‘FIRE!’ can lead to weariness!
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Maybe you have heard people screaming FIRE in a church meeting? Maybe you have seen a Youtube video of someone screaming FIRE to a roaring multitude of people?
What is the point of shouting fire? Why is there such a focus on having FIRE in our lives?
Jesus said to the disciples that when the Holy Spirit came they would receive POWER. The reason why we seek fire is that we are after God’s power.
When Jesus talked about power, he was talking about the power to live a life of love. Power to love and lead people to trust in Jesus. Power to live a life of freedom. Power to find peace when the storms of life rage. Power to get out of bed and face the overwhelming stress of a normal day.
We have been taught from Acts 2, that it is the fire of God that brings the power of God. We have heard the stories of what happens when a man or woman lives a life on fire. So if we want to see revival, If we want to see city transformation, we have concluded that we need to pursue the fire of God.
For those of us that have studied Acts 2, we have seen the transformation that this fire brought about in the lives of the disciples.
Through the fire of God, they changed from a shrinking group hiding in obscurity to a growing force leading a city wide revival.
We know from the apostle Paul’s book to the Romans that when the fire of the Holy Spirit came into the upper room that the love of God was poured out into their hearts. In God’s love they found fresh power and hope. In God’s love they found fresh freedom from self and the fear of man.
The results of this FIRE were clearly transformational.
For many charismatic christians, we have therefore made the fire of God our holy grail. Our services are tailored to create space for the fire to fall. We make space for the fire to fall during the bridge in song 3 and then again whilst the music plays after the sermon.
If we are really going after the fire, then we go a step further and we go back to Acts 2 and we conclude that the fire falls when we get back to crying, laughing and shaking. We have worked out that the power of God is unleashed through screaming FIRE and rolling around on the ground.
In fact we often judge our level of spirituality by how much rolling around is going on. We have league stats on how much laughing and crying is happening in our sphere of churches.
We look down on those churches that have sold out to being seeker friendly or where they have made everything neat and tidy.
So if acting drunk and screaming FIRE is what it means to be a church full of power, why do we often see so little power in the people that are rolling around on the floor week after week?
For those charismatic churches that haven’t ‘sold out’, they live based on a concept know as ‘seasons’. They are either in a desert season, or a preparation season or a season where the rain is pouring and the fire is falling. In the ‘fire falling’ services, there is rolling around, screaming, shaking, laughing and crying. And then for some unknown reason that we can never figure out, the fire dies. The season has changed and no-one quite knows why?
Because faithful charismatics have made ‘fire’ the goal, we have developed a well worn path to get out of our desert season and back into the ‘falling fire’ season.
First we talk about unity. In the upper room there was unity. So we look at removing any person who isn’t in unity with us.
Next on our journey back to the upper room and the good old days is prayer and fasting. We talk about the power of prayer and fasting. We fast and we pray and we repent.
If that doesn’t work, we move on to step 3. The Evangelist. The crazy fire brands. In comes the man or woman on fire and they tell us that if we want the fire to burn, we need to be like the apostle Peter and get out of our comfort zones and onto the streets to love the lost.
Finally, we use testimonies as our secret weapon. If we just share enough stories of how the fire fell in some crazy meeting, then maybe the sparks will fly. On the surface our testimonies bring some excitement, but then they leave us in a place of shame as we are left with the nagging question - where did it all go wrong?
All of these actions can leave you feeling worn out. Weary. Disappointed and disillusioned.
There is hope. Hope that is not found in our methods. Hope that comes from a person. Jesus. Hope that is found by going back to the Bible and understanding what the Bible actually says.
Let’s step back and look at what happened before the fire of God fell in Acts 2.
Jesus had been with the disciples and he had been filling them with his words for 40 days. Jesus used the scriptures to teach the disciples about who he was and what he had done on the cross.
When they arrived in the upper room, they were full with the word of God and the message of Jesus and his kingdom. The fire then fell onto people who were filled with God’s word.
The power of God is unleashed through the word of God. Change happens when God’s fire falls in a place that is filled with the word of God.
We have placed our focus on receiving and giving each other ‘the fire’ and we have grown weary.
When Peter went out on the street, he didn’t make ‘fire’ his focus. He didn’t start a fire tunnel and invite people forward to receive FIRE.
Peter stood up and he makes it clear that there is a reason for their wild behaviour. Peter pointed to a person. Jesus. Peter spoke from Joel chapter 2 and he pointed people to the person and work of Jesus.
God’s power was unleashed as Peter used the word of God to bring the message of Jesus.
Peter explained in simple and plain language that Jesus was both God and man. Peter explained that Jesus came into our world and died on the cross for our sins and then he rose again.
Peter pleaded with the crowd to repent and put their trust in Jesus.
The crowd then responded. What did they respond to? They responded because the power of the Holy Spirit was working though the message that Peter proclaimed.
The power and fire of God work THROUGH the word of God.
What do I mean by the ‘word of God’.
I mean the process of systematically teaching the Bible verse by verse week by week. I mean learning to preach verse by verse through whole books of the Bible and allowing people to sit under the whole word of God. I mean the process of using the whole Bible to teach about the person and work of Jesus.
I mean the process of learning to meditate on the scriptures verse by verse as we read the Bible cover to cover.
In order for us to see a sustainable life long fire burning in our hearts, we need to return to the word of God.
What about the steps we see in Acts 2? Is there a place for hunger and expectation for the person of the Holy Spirit? Should we be in unity? Should we be praying? Should we be loving and leading people to Jesus on our streets? Should we be praying for the healing of the sick? Yes. Of course. These are good and biblical practises.
When we are in place of unity and prayer and expectation for Holy Spirit and our focus is faithfully teaching and preaching Jesus, using the whole word of God, then I believe that we can see real city transformation.
Let me be really clear - the Bible doesn’t speak against rolling around, or laughing or crying. Acts 2 clearly had some crazy behaviour going on. I believe that where the Word and Spirit collide we can expect moaning, crying and screaming, as people experience the love of God and find freedom through the person and work of Jesus.
Let me also say that we need to see prophecy and the laying on of hands and impartation in our meetings. The Bible makes it clear that Holy Spirit works in these ways.
The point I am making is that for many charismatic churches, we need to re-focus on the message of Jesus and the word of God.
Let me finish by noting that in Acts 2 there was NOTHING the disciples did to ‘make’ God’s fire come. God is sovereign. He is in control. The fire of God is God moving in our lives because he loves us and he wants to move in our lives.
God’s fire is not dependant on our effort. All we can do is trust in Jesus and live lives of loving God and loving others.
Let us make our goal the faithful teaching of the word of God, verse by verse. Let us point people to who Jesus is and what he has done.
Our weariness will leave, as we sit under the word of God and our trust in Jesus grows.
I pray that you would have a new hunger and expectation for the person and presence and fire of Holy Spirit that works in our life THROUGH the word of God.
