After the completion of a recent course following Ed Silvoso’s book Ekklesia, Adam, a marketplace minister and research analyst, wrote this reflection on his personal application of Ed’s teaching. Read on to discover how understanding Jesus’ Ekklesia as the vehicle for transforming nations affects our whole life as his followers.
Jesus did things differently, so should I.
When Jesus set out the heart and purpose of His ministry vehicle, the Ekklesia, it deeply challenged the social norm. The Ekklesia challenged the traditional religious structure of the synagogue as the place or worship, sacrifice and teaching by taking a familiar concept and turning it on its head. Jesus demonstrated throughout his earthly ministry that he would constantly challenge mind-sets in order to bring people back to the Father’s heart. In his book, ‘Ekklesia’, Ed Silvoso summarises it like this: ‘Tradition must be a propeller, and not an anchor, in order to enable us to successfully transition from the old to the new’.
As I reflect on reading ‘Ekklesia’, the key theme for me is ‘making disciples of all the nations’, by adopting a person, a place or an institution in prayer. In order to bring the kingdom of God to the places God has called us to be, we have to be invested in it, to understand and feel the needs of that place. Passivity helps advance nothing.
To supplement this idea of making disciples, I have six points, prompted by ideas that developed as I read the book.
1. Hear the voice of God and act on it
There are times in life when there is a great sense that God is on the move in a particular direction, in this case it can be fantastic to be a bit spontaneous, pro-active and just jump in to whatever God is doing. Other situations may call for a longer-term perspective, to take things slow, and wait for the right timing. There is a balance between these two things. I rest assured in the knowledge that God qualifies the unqualified, he works with what we have (which is what he has given, so it’s absolutely enough!)
2. Go on the journey and stay the course
In chapter 2, Ed talks about the idea that prayer evangelism is a journey and we have to be consistent in prayer. The challenge comes at times when it may seem fruitless, and takes commitment to the cause and faith to believe the promise of God that ‘He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it’. But seeing someone so content in their choice to ignore Jesus that, with my own human glasses on, it seems like there is no way back, is heart-breaking. In this situation, it’s important to dive into your faith bank, to think back to God’s faithfulness and remember that he is good. Faith compels works and works increase faith as we see God move. Faith develops faith.
3. Fight for your rights
Spiritual warfare presents another dimension of the idea of discipling a place through prayer, or winning people for Christ through prayer. It is all very well saying, ‘God bless this person, or that person’, but as the Ekklesia, he has given us authority to change the spiritual atmosphere. I love going to a client site and being able to pray over it. It’s such as a declaration that that the Ekklesia is here and we’re going to see the kingdom of God take hold.
4. Allow yourself to be distracted by those in need
In a society that’s very ‘busy’, it is all too easy to be so set to a structure, or dictated to by an agenda that we miss what is going on right in front of our eyes. Sometimes God wants us to go out of our way to meet a need.
5. The Great Partnership
In Matthew 28, when preparing his disciples for his departure, Jesus issued ‘The Great Commission’ as it is commonly known. The great commission statement ends with the words ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ and we know that Jesus says he will leave his Spirit with us. This opens up a new dimension because it changes the instruction from ‘you go and do that’, to ‘come, let’s do this together’, and all of sudden the ‘The Great Commission’ starts to look like ‘The Great Partnership’. Alone I know I cannot change anything, but with God everything can change.
6. Set the social agenda
In order to interact with people appropriately, as a Church, we have to be relevant to the culture, however, this can sometimes be misconstrued to mean conforming to the current culture or social agenda. Societies change, but the Kingdom of God lasts forever, so the people of God, the Ekklesia, should bring the Kingdom of God to earth by setting the social agenda, not submitting to the one installed by man. In an age where infinite possibilities of online social interactions have led to a depravity in real-life connection and an increase in loneliness and depression, particularly amongst young people, the Ekklesia should set the agenda by demonstrating that we are a people who will fellowship, love and respect one another. Where there are areas of violence, excessive drinking or homelessness, the Ekklesia should come in the opposite spirit, setting the social agenda by allowing God’s peace to take hold of the city.
Jesus did things differently and taught His Ekklesia to follow His example so that we would be a more effective instrument through which the Kingdom of God comes to earth. By following Jesus’ mandate for us, we will be a people who disciple nations and see God’s Ekklesia grow.