The Words of the Prophets are Written on the Subway Walls...and Tenement Halls

I have been preaching repentance for the twenty first century church for well over a decade.

It's not gone well...to say the least. 

One of my old friends from the CGGC used to write to me, from time to time, to advise me that people with my ministry need to measure success by how faithful they are in bringing the message, not by how many people act on it, and I know that.

The truth is that, throughout most of the history of the people of God,  in both Testaments, the mainstream of the organized, visible nation/church has isolated, often castigated dissenting, counterculture...prophetic...voices. Think of Elijah's exile. Think of the forerunner of Jesus preaching in the wilderness. 

Paul Simon was not thinking about the Kingdom of God when he punctuated his Sounds of Silence lyrics with, "and the Words of the prophets are written on the subway walls." But his description of the institutionalized American church of the past 70 years is apt with laser like accuracy. 

Today's American church is losing the culture. One dominant characteristic of the institution of Christianity is that it has exiled dissonant voices as throughly, though not as violently, as mainstream religion ever has.

In my recent posts, I've been noting that my history in the ERC and CGGC extends to the 1970s. I've been reflecting on how little things have changed during those years.

Of course, the overarching story of those decades has been decline. Yet, there are subplots connected to that theme. 

One subplot that drives the story of decline is the way the body has treated the people of its counterculture. 

Since the 1970s, there have been quite a few people who have challenged the direction that Conference and denominational leaders have mapped out.

Two truths about those people:

1. Looking back, they were correct. Not one of the programs or plans devised by decades of our church leaders have succeeded. 

2. All of those voices have been silenced. Either they gave up and left our body in frustration or they have been sent away, in one way or another, by the leaders of the institution. 

In the CGGC, as Paul Simon sang, the words of the prophets?, well, they are not written in Conference or denominational reports. They are not at the core of new programs or Strategic Plans. The words of the prophets in the CGGC these days aren't even found in dishonored places such as subway walls, or tenement halls. 

We must repent. Nearly all of us agree.

But, repent, specifically, of what? How?

Over the centuries, in the wisdom and plan of God, certain people, they were both men and women, have been called to set themselves apart from the Kings and High Priests to speak for the Lord. Almost without exception, they performed two tasks. 

First, they called for the act of repentance. 

Second, they defined the particular acts of repentance that would please the Lord and restore relationship with Him. (For people primarily familiar with the New Testament, this second task is most vividly portrayed in Revelation 2 and 3.)

In our first days, we were a prophic people who expected counterculture voices  to speak. We empowered those voices. We obeyed them.

We must change. Yet, the truth is that, in the CGGC, we have been changing almost continuously for decades. But, change for the sake of change is not what we have ever needed. We need the Lord's change.  I'm convinced we need to empower the people to whom the Lord speaks...

...and, we must listen. 

The only acts of change that matter are the acts of change the Lord demands.

For years, we have responded to dissonant, counterculture messengers in the way of Pharaoh and of the most hard hearted Kings and High Priests.

We must repent.