Prayer for Holy Rebels … [Do I Really Want to Do This?]

I’m beginning to pray for something that just might be filed under the category, “be careful what you ask for!”

As you know, if you’ve been following my blog, the church where I serve as pastor is entering into a major transition.  We’re taking the step of purchasing a building.  And while it is our deep desire to prevent facilities from becoming the focus, I’m cognizant of the danger that we could become “just like every other church;” that is to say, losing what makes us unique, inattentive to our great (co)mission, and spiritually myopic.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “there exists in every church something that sooner or later works against the very purpose for which it came into existence.  So we must strive very hard, by the grace of God, to keep the church focused on the mission that Christ originally gave to it.”

This leads me to think we are going to need a few “holy rebels!”  We may come to a point where it is essential to receive loving critique in the tradition of the ancient Hebrew prophets and the first century apostles.  This would be firmly within the biblical tradition of what is sometimes called, critique-from-within.  It’s what Alan Hirsch calls, “holy rebellion.”

Of course, I hope we never need it; but if we do, it will most likely come from someone outside the leadership team.  My sense is that if we lose our way, even slightly, God may need to raise up others in the community with a spirit-led prophetic voice.  So, I’m asking God to always keep us attentive to the Spirit’s guidance, even if it comes in the form of critique!

Here’s my prayer:

Kind Father, if, in the life of this church, we create or allow structures, systems, unwritten “rules,” or anything that hinders your kingdom purposes, please bless us with holy rebels, empowered by your Spirit, to challenge the status quo and lead us to an even greater experience of life in your Son, Jesus.  Amen.

Related posts:

1. Meditative Prayer
2. Authenticity and Hypocrisy from the “Pulpit”
3. Evangelism & Social Activism: On Eliminating the ‘&’