Page 16 - 2017 JFBNews - July

As Good As Dead • Pastor Justin Thomson

The pages of scripture are no stranger to the frustration To have a small, seemingly insignificant church in modern
that accompanies a failure to reproduce: Abraham & Sarah America is, in many ways, to bear the same scorn & suspicion as a
(Gen.15:3), Isaac & Rebekah (Gen.25:21), Jacob & Rachel childless woman in ancient Israel. In a culture that expected its
(Gen.30:1), Manoah (Jud.13:2), Hannah (I Sam.1:6), Michal (II women to provide their husbands with progeny, childlessness was
Sam.6:23), the Shunammite woman (II Kings 4:14), Zacharias & an embarrassment. And in a culture like ours that often expects its
Elizabeth (Luke 1:7) all suffered the shame and disappointment of churches to start fast, fill up, and successfully replicate, small
infertility. Along with numerous references to barrenness as a numbers can be similarly humiliating. Whether real or imagined, I
consequence of rebellion (Job 18:19, Jer.22:30, Ho.9:11), the am no stranger to these feelings. Outward fruitlessness is looked
scriptures acknowledge that the powerlessness to multiply is, in upon by many as a sign that something is wrong rather than right,
many cases, a cultural, if not biblical, disgrace. which triggers the impulse to make excuses for the obvious
sterility; “Well, it just takes a lot of time to do something like
Imagine that you hadn’t become a Christian until you were this...Well, we just live in a sketchy neighborhood…Well, people
in your mid 70’s, at which point God gives you a project to just don’t like hearing the truth...” Overlooking the fact that God is
accomplish with what little life you’ve got left. A decade passes, blessing us, they suspect that God has cursed us, so we try to
and still no progress has been made on fulfilling the mission He correct their misunderstanding by insisting that we indeed “feel
gave you 10 years ago. You’re now about 85 years old and you still truly blessed” (even if we don’t really feel that way). Life is hard
love the Lord like always, worship Him faithfully, and want to when you’re uncomfortable with where God has you along the
please Him more than ever. You’re worried that your life will be continuum of His Great Commission. Especially when that place
insignificant if something doesn’t transpire soon, but time is happens to be disappointingly barren.
running out, and still nothing is happening. Nothing. What do you
do? The Bible says that by the time Abraham finally saw the
promise of God take effect, he was “as good as dead” (Heb.11:12).
Well, if you’re Abraham, you decide to take matters into The Lord had promised that Abraham would become a nation, but
your own hands. You formulate a plan, you develop a strategy, He didn’t tell him when. The nation he was told to build consisted
and then you unfortunately destroy a lot of lives as a result. You of three people by the time he expired. Would you call that a
remember, God commanded Abraham in his old age to “Leave success? God does. We’d be fools to believe that the mission
(his) country” to go start a new one. Now, Abraham wasn’t stupid, we’re on will both start and finish within the tiny space of our own
and I can’t imagine he expected it to happen overnight. It would short lifetime (remember, this ‘church plant’ in Duluth didn’t begin
take some time, as indicated by God’s promise to make the whole in 2008 like you might believe. It began in 33A.D.), and we’d be
thing possible by giving him a son. Everybody knows that getting naïve to think that we’d have it any easier than Abraham did.
pregnant can take a while sometimes…especially when you’re in When our faith is tested, and our flesh wants to take over and
your late 70’s and your wife is well past menopause…but that “make this thing work”, let’s trust that God knows what He’s
didn’t seem to be working. For the first few years he remained doing, that His timing is crucial, and that our patience and faith
patient, but needless to say, this new “nation” that was supposed will be rewarded.
to be coming from his own loins wasn’t really taking off like he
would’ve hoped. Eleven years of waiting was enough, so Abraham We’re called to a daunting task, planting a church. I’m not
got started without God. Setting out to fulfill his commission in a sure that we all see it that way, but it is. Not always because of the
way that made sense to him might not have felt very wrong at the working required…but because of the waiting.
time, yet we’re still feeling the effects of it to this day. Called by
God to become a ‘father of nations’, he also became the reason
for conflict between many of them.

Abraham’s mission was not unlike our own. His task was to
“Get out of your country and start a new one”, whereas our charge
is to, “Leave your home church and plant a different one” ...hardly
any difference if you ask me. Included with our assignment is the
same despondency and discouragement that Abraham faced. I
think we are prone, as a small church, to feeling the same sense of
anxiety in waiting for our church to grow as Abraham did as he
waited for his nation to develop. And I wonder if we realize how
much damage could be done if we, like Abraham, in a fit of
impatience and frustration, began ‘doing church’ in a way that
would guarantee faster results? God help the next generation if
we do.

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