Lately, I have done a fair bit of travelling, doing talks,
and the thing about travel is you get a nice long space to do some reading.
This is good because I am trawling my way through
Dostoyevsky’s classic script, Crime and Punishment.
Travelling to London on the train today, I read a line in
the book which struck a chord with me, and it had me reflecting for pretty much
most of the journey.
Raskolnikov, the books main character, is reflecting on a
question that an old guy, who had lost his job and had been sleeping rough for
five days, who he had met in a drinking den in St Petersburg had posed him in a
drunken conversation.
“Do you understand, dear sir, what it means to have nowhere
left to go? For every man must have at least somewhere to go.”
I stopped at this sentence and began to think about where my
life was heading right at that moment.
I found myself thinking about a conversation I had with a
desperately unhappy minister of a church, which by all accounts is in dire need
of some kind of miracle. He has a critically low congregation, a desperate lack
of funds and a vacancy for a vision.
He said to me, “We have nowhere to go, we are going nowhere
fast.”
I could see a connection with the question Raskolnikov was
dealing with, “Do you understand, dear sir, what it means to have nowhere left
to go?”
I guess this poor minister did understand that question.
I asked him a simple question as I tried compassionately to
help him through this issue a little.
I asked, “Have you taken this to God?”
His answer kind of astonished me, but didn’t at the same
time. (If you know what I mean?)
He said, “What’s the point?
What’s the point!
I guess he had personally lost connection with the only
reason the church will ever exist, so I guess that explains the lack of vision
then.
I guess Christian leadership is going to be pretty difficult
if a person can’t see the point in including God in it.
And if the church can’t see the point in including God in absolutely
everything, then I guess it will understand that question too, (“Do you
understand, dear sir, what it means to have nowhere left to go?”)
It’s funny because God has been giving me words lately to
share with various gatherings, the main thrust of which has been imploring the
church back to the spiritual.
It’s funny how we can get drawn into fixing our gaze on how
we look, how we sound, whether or not we are holding up the traditions of the
past (The really sinister traditions im talking about, you know the ones? The ones
that really aren’t Godly at all?) or how cool our church is, the wackier the
better? Hours are spent in pointless meetings trying to sort out the church. Trying
to pamper to peoples egos, trying to please everyone?
Well here is a simple truth.
There are people in desperate need of a saviour.
Everywhere!
In my simple thinking unless we take everything to God? Mission
isn’t happening guys, no matter how cool we are, no matter how many people
attend our service. No matter what amazing strategies we come up with, and
believe me, I’ve seen some pretty amazing strategies come a tumbling down
because God isn’t really included.
This is where prayer is so vital.
I know we hear that and think we understand that and I think
we actually do, but do we really work hard it?
Prayer I mean?
I mean it’s our connection apparatus in our relationship
with Jesus.
So
If we don’t pray, or place it low in the pecking order of
life, then we are not really honouring our side and our input to a relationship
with God.
Are we?
I guess the guy I have been talking to about his dilemma
with the church he leads has lost the basic need to pray.
He says, “What’s the point?
Here is the point.
Without prayer we are nothing, in terms of spiritual.
Without prayer we will never liberate a trapped world.
Without prayer the church or indeed our individual Christian
journeys will have nowhere to go.
Nowhere.
Dostoyevsky says, “For every man must have at least
somewhere to go.”
The Holy Spirit ensures we will always have somewhere to go.
Forever.
Prayer is the avenue we need to walk down when we feel we have
nowhere to go.
So today ask ourselves a straight question.
Are we praying?
Hard?
Is God allowed into every aspect of our being?
Commit to pray more.
I promise you (More importantly the bible promises you) it
will change everything.
It can change a family.
It can change a church.
It can change a Nation.
It can change you.
