As I began to prepare to speak at a conference on the subject of reformation, the Lord took me to Acts 17. In that section of Scripture, Paul was traveling through the city of Athens, Greece. Athens was known as the city of 10,000 gods. Just to be safe and cover all their bases, the city officials erected an idol titled, To An Unknown God. When Paul spoke to the leaders of the city he said he was there to introduce them to the God who was unknown to them.
Paul's ministry in Athens reminds me of what God wants to do through the ministry of reformers in the Church in our present day. In every season of transformation within the Church, we will encounter aspects of God either forgotten or not yet experienced in this generation. God has not become unknown from the point of our salvation, but unknown to us in the new and miraculous expressions of His Majesty that a reformation will bring.
Introducing the Church to unknown aspects of God is the essence of reformation. Don't live in fear when change invites you to consider a greater understanding of God than you currently possess. Faith is not about settling in or becoming so comfortable with what you know of God and the Church that you shut yourself off from something new and unfamiliar. A living faith will release fresh revelation and with that fresh revelation will come a greater understanding of God and the mission of the Church in ways we have not yet considered. In a reformation what was unknown will become known and that will change everything.
Paul's ministry in Athens reminds me of what God wants to do through the ministry of reformers in the Church in our present day. In every season of transformation within the Church, we will encounter aspects of God either forgotten or not yet experienced in this generation. God has not become unknown from the point of our salvation, but unknown to us in the new and miraculous expressions of His Majesty that a reformation will bring.
Introducing the Church to unknown aspects of God is the essence of reformation. Don't live in fear when change invites you to consider a greater understanding of God than you currently possess. Faith is not about settling in or becoming so comfortable with what you know of God and the Church that you shut yourself off from something new and unfamiliar. A living faith will release fresh revelation and with that fresh revelation will come a greater understanding of God and the mission of the Church in ways we have not yet considered. In a reformation what was unknown will become known and that will change everything.
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