Exiled in America?
There are an increasing number of Christians who have a nagging sense that they are not at home in the world nor in the church as they know it. Not fitting in either one, they are exiles, people without a home. It has been suggested that believers need to imagine themselves as an exiled community where the values of the kingdom of God can be nurtured.
With the passing of Christendom, the religious culture that has dominated since the 4th century, the people of God find themselves in a foreign land, not unlike the Jews who were exiled in Babylon. Likewise, there is a striking parallel to the first century Jews who felt exiled in their own land under the Roman Empire and their own religious system. Christians who have come to the realization that the American empire and the present religious system are alien to their kingdom values also have a sense of being in exile in their own land.
It's in exile that the Jews were formed into a people with articulate theology and brilliant literature. Exile works into a people a substance and depth of character that a position of dominance never produces. Jesus, along with his followers lived in exile in their own land under Roman rule and the Jewish religious system. If we are going to be disciples of Jesus, we will also live in exile, going out to him "outside the camp", as the writer of Hebrews expresses it.
Here's the question: Is God taking his people into exile here in America where he will form and fashion them into his people in a way that wasn't possible in Christendom?
Is this God's agenda for his "church" in America?
With the passing of Christendom, the religious culture that has dominated since the 4th century, the people of God find themselves in a foreign land, not unlike the Jews who were exiled in Babylon. Likewise, there is a striking parallel to the first century Jews who felt exiled in their own land under the Roman Empire and their own religious system. Christians who have come to the realization that the American empire and the present religious system are alien to their kingdom values also have a sense of being in exile in their own land.
It's in exile that the Jews were formed into a people with articulate theology and brilliant literature. Exile works into a people a substance and depth of character that a position of dominance never produces. Jesus, along with his followers lived in exile in their own land under Roman rule and the Jewish religious system. If we are going to be disciples of Jesus, we will also live in exile, going out to him "outside the camp", as the writer of Hebrews expresses it.
Here's the question: Is God taking his people into exile here in America where he will form and fashion them into his people in a way that wasn't possible in Christendom?
Is this God's agenda for his "church" in America?
Well Carm,
Exile is for sure a possibility. How we will get to that point is what becomes interesting. A real separation has to begin from what now exists. That kind of movement will cause real anxiety in the institutional church because it is so tied together economically. The foundation of organized religion is financial and not spiritual. The financial cords are massive and binding. It would take nothing short of an all out revolution to bring it all down. Having said that, it still needs to happen and when it does happen the exile that you speak of will surely exist for those that are on the cutting edge of the revolt.
If I let my mind rest on this a bit, I genuinely get excited about a people of God being led by God to do the things of God. Right now, we are incapable of being led by the Lord because we are the masters of our own fate. The exile would necessitate a fervent dependence on Him. That would be life changing and counter culture to the present system. What you speak of here Carm is of great magnitude and it needs to be because of the magnitude of the problem.
We have run our course it appears and the sooner we come to the end of ourselves the sooner we can all start over with our Lord. What a day that will be as the old hymn used to sing.
Davey Buhl
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Davey, well said! I believe we are already in exile as far as the popular culture is concerned. But I believe we'll go into deeper exile as the Anti-Christ spirit from the government and the political correct crowd becomes more and more dominant.
The institutional church is a holdover from the Christendom era that has passed away. The hostility of a pluralistic culture that is hostile to Christianity will have a dramatic effect on the church. But just as Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon were instruments of the Lord, I believe this anti-Christian culture is the Lord's instrument to help shape and mold his people into what he intends them to be.
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Davey, Carman,
I couldn't add one sylable to anything either of you have said except that we were here many years ago - culturally exiled.
I'm going to point to some things that I think means a lot to Jesus in these times; Orphans, widows, the poor, the prisoners, the unborn, the family unit as in loving our spouses, children as He loves the Church and the fruit of the Spirit in our lives plus prayer and fellowship in our culture. Faith without works is dead.
Praying is meant to be done in a closet and fasting: no one knows that we are fasting or what we are fasting for. Also receiving the elements remembering Him that way and discerning His Body.
Being filled with the Spirit instead of being drunk with alcohol, keeping our eyes from gazing at evil.
I saw a painting I couldn't afford 10 years ago or now but if I saw it again, I'd start a savings account for it. It was a print of an original oil. I wasn't well at the time but it grabbed me like the TRUTH sometimes does.
It was about 3' long and 2' high or higher and on an easel, framed and $300.00.Mary was looking for a book in this Christian book store and I just stood there studying this incredible work and I didn't have a camera.
It was an Huge Ark painted blurry in the background of a society that couldn't see it being built. It was a painting depicting what Jesus said society was doing before the flood of Noah and what the people would be doing before He returns the second time.
Years ago, when we started our baby steps in Christ, we were building our new church building, getting married, started careers, paying tithes and we had for the most part shunned living like the world and we were intense about it.
Then the parable of the sower kicked in. The cares of this life and problems choked out what was started in the Spirit. Do you agree with me up to this point? Plus tares were planted in our congregation.
But this painting tried to illustrate the Lord is doing right now only you couldn't see Him in the blurry framework of the Ark but those working on it as blurry, you could only see clearly society people working oblivious to its being there.
I decided 2 days later I had to have it but it was sold. In my opinion, we are the blurry folks helping build that blurry ark. I know the end will come by fire and the painting loses its place in chronological order but the image of that blurry ark and us building it out of the sight of the pagan world, false church was magnificent. Maybe some autistic person painted it, I don't know. We just go about our Fathers business which must be read, taught ,done and talked about. Did that make any sense?
So we must be about our Father's business and that includes finances. Financing seems to be a real problem for those whose work is solely helping others. The trend seems now since money is wierd, that a man of God without a secular job must write a success
full book or DvD for money. Please help me. Finances for exiles.
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Mike,
Many of us who began in the Spirit were gradually consumed by the system that we today call church. We were vulnerable because we were full of life and the institutional church needs that life. Eventually many of us succumbed to the control of the system's heirarchy. The intentions were good but there was no life in the system and so it had to extract that life from those that had it. Once you have been used and possibly mis-used by religion then the heart begins to harden and the ears become closed and the eyes no longer see the things of God because of the weariness of religious dogma and repetition.
Where I see most of us that have experienced this kind of thing is at a place where many of us are not willing to jump into the fray anymore. That is a good thing but also can cause us to give up and not pursue the Lord.
I have found something recently that has begun to pry open my eyes, clean the wax out of my ears and make my heart merry. I am slowly building relationship with all the folks at St Barnabas Nursing Home in Gibsonia. My Mom is there now and I find my self wanting to give myself to the old folks there as well as the nurses and aides.
This happened only because my mom cannot stay at home anymore. It is life giving and refreshing to be around people who just need love and attention without having any religious discussion or thought.
I envision myself getting out my guitar in the near future and singing for those folks as well as share my testimony. I'm going very slow though because I don't want to mess it up with any self serving agenda. I just want to love people again and pray for them like the days of my "First Love" with Jesus.
I say all this Mike and Carm because the starting point for life changing renewal may be at places just like this. It doesn't have to be Nursing Home. The whole world is hurting.
It may be time for us to look at places where our life is currently planted and look for a place to sprout from there. Doing the stuff is a whole lot better than talking about it. We usually get stymied because the starting point always seems to have a religious agenda instead of something as simple as loving people.
I'm genuinely excited about the possibilities that exist at St Barnabas and I have to admit I would have never in a million years picked a Nursing Home as a place for ministry. God in all His mercy may be giving me another chance to honor and serve with an open heart toward Him.
I pray this happens for all of us that have been seeking a return to the days of their first love.
Davey Buhl
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Davey, GREAT comment!!! I love your analogy of the system sucking the life out of believers so as to sustain itself, but then leaving believers hardened because the life has been sucked out.
What you have discovered at St. Barnabas Nursing Home sounds like God to me. Returning to our first love will manifest itself in the simple loving of people also, something the system can never do.
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Davey, Carm, For nine years I found Davies words to be true. I added prison because I had a buddy: My Charles.
I couldn't play the guitar but we sang hymns and sang and prayed for the worst off in the nursing homes.I put headphones on a Jesus generation lady quadraplegic from our time and she couldn't move but she could cry.Just put a small amp to drive two to 3 sets of headphones.
She died 3 years ago. I took my notebook in on Christmas day and we watched Finding Nemo together.
great times.Renae was a lovley saint and suffered in a way that was indescribable. Sorry your Mom isn't still at home Davey.
Once the passing of my brother Charles passes from my emotion, I hope God sends me back.
But in the meantime, I answer every call for help from the most unexpected places. That's all.
Amen Davey and a good trying to describe at what happened to us. I doubt we will ever really know what happened exacly, but we did an awful lot of useless exercises.
I understand 2 paragraphs is proper etiquite on this blog. I was lit up with Carms asking for feed back in the last post and went bananas. So I just emptied my soul in my last posts as feedback. I appreciated your replies.
Sorry about that: going bananas.
I'll keep reading.
Mike
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