Water
Finally, we come to our fourth element. In water we turn to Colossians 1:27, “what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” And in John 3:5 Jesus says “no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless He is born of water and The Spirit.” Thus those born of water and The Spirit ARE enabled to live in and from this Kingdom.
You have “substance” because Jesus is in you.
The word glory, in the Colossians passage, in its root meaning speaks of substance, weight. It speaks of the qualitative substance of something or someone. You have “substance” because Jesus is in you. Because you “have been born of water & The Spirit.” That is not all. You are more than a servant doing the master’s bidding. The Father has adopted you and you are now a Son, an Heir and a Co-heir with Christ under whose feet all the world shall be made to bow. (Rom 8:14-17) You are a new Creation. You have a new potential, a new calling, a new purpose and a new destiny. All because Jesus is now in You. HE is your Hope of Glory. Because He is in YOU.
This means that the idea that “everybody gets to play” is no mere theory. This is the whole architecture of “movement.” There are no “professionals.” We are all “substantial” because He is in You. Alan Hirsch goes so far as to say that “ordination is the doctrine of demons” and that actually you too were ordained the day you were baptised! Different roles? Sure. Different substance? Nope. Christ is the measure of glory in you, not you.
People I work with are geniuses at self-disqualifying.
If I were to choose the one greatest limiting factor in mission that I’ve encountered this one would be it hands down. I find that the people I work with are geniuses at self-disqualifying. They are incredibly skilled at seeing themselves as something less than what the Scriptures say they now are! The problem is, until you step out and test it, for awhile, you will never “get in touch” with what is actually inside of you. It requires testing to see it. This is why Paul said a life laid out in sacrificial obedience is the means of “proving” His will. (Romans 12:1-2)
Every Christian a church planter, every church a church planting church.
The Chinese underground church has a saying, “every Christian a church planter, every church a church planting church.” Scary? This is what this truth looks like with wheels on it. Neil Cole says that “if all the Christians on planet earth were removed and all that remains is a little 5 year old Christian girl, what lies in her is enough to reboot and rebirth the movement of Jesus on the planet.” This is not a small concept. Water means all are meant to engage with the darkness. All are meant to wield the resources of His Kingdom. All are gifted and are anointed to usher grace into real life thru those gifts. “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) Which means that if you are. You can.
We must apply this with the intent that the entire Body understands that because of this Hope, they have real authority now. I recently had a young man ask me what our programmes for outreach was at Canterbury Vineyard. I told him, “You!” He stepped back for a second and then smiled and nodded. Whether he truly understood or not is another question. They can learn to use this authority in the guidance of the Spirit because they are a Son, and co-heir. They can play at whatever level they are asked because He has made their potential a very different reality. So we aim our training at clocking this Truth and then practicing how that looks in the skill sets of using that authority in their real worlds as they seek to broker Kingdom into their contexts.
So, Fire, Earth, Air & Water. These are four key elements to seeing Mission begin to rise once again in The Movement of Jesus. If we can see it take shape just maybe we will begin to see the beautiful virus multiplying until it once again impact every street in the nation.
