This week we continue our Made to Run study, with a twist. Rather than looking at what it means to run as individual followers of Christ, we’ll look at what it means for us to run together as a Church.
Read Ezekiel 47.1–12.
Here we find a vision that God gave Ezekiel of what He planned to do in the world. In this vision, Ezekiel sees a trickle of water that grows as it flows out from the temple. First the water becomes ankle deep, then knee deep, waist deep, and finally it becomes a river deep enough to swim in. And note where the flow of this river ends—the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea was given its name because it’s so salty that nothing can live in it—no plants, no fish, nothing grows in its salty waters. The Dead Sea is used throughout the Bible as an illustration of spiritual barrenness. It represents the places where spiritual life is not present.
There are many of these places in our world today. Places where sin, oppression, and injustice work to prevent spiritual growth and life. For example, in Nepal, young women are targeted and forced to marry men from neighboring villages. If they refuse, they are pursued, threatened, and even kidnapped. Like the salty waters of the Dead Sea, this type of environment can destroy life.
These areas of spiritual death are everywhere. Sixty percent of the world’s population is unreached with the good news of Jesus, and yet American churches only invest one percent of their missions resources to reach these unreached regions of the world. And the barrenness of spiritual life isn’t limited to those places far away from us. Today, nearly one out of every three people under the age of 30 in the U.S. says he or she has no spiritual affiliation. This is the highest it’s ever been.
Question: In what ways have you observed the spiritually dead areas in your own community?
Re-read Ezekiel 47.8–9.
The river flowing from the temple enters the Dead Sea and makes the saltwater fresh. In fact, we read that “where the river flows everything will live.” In John 4, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that He is the source of living water. And later in John 7, Jesus says that out of those who believe in Him would flow “rivers of living water.” As the church shares the good news and builds more churches that share the good news, the ankle deep water becomes knee deep, which becomes waist deep, and soon it’s a river flowing into the “Dead Seas” of the world and bringing life. Those who had no hope are given hope, marriages that were dead spring to life, the sick are healed, and the spiritually dead find life in Him.
In fact, sociologist Robert Woodberry, in a study to determine why some countries are more developed than others, found that “areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy and higher educational attainment (especially for women).” The living water of Christ brings life.
So why is there still so much deadness in our world? What keeps the church from bringing this life-giving water to the Dead Seas around us? Here are a few possibilities:
- Inward-focused churches. Sometimes churches become more focused on building their ministry, protecting their flock, and avoiding risks than multiplying themselves locally and around the world.
- “Country-club Christians.” Too often we come to church to see what we can get out of it, rather than asking why God has placed us where we are and how we can be used to impact the world.
- Aging churches. Throughout history it is the younger generations that bring change to the world. Those in their late teens and early twenties are the catalysts for cultural change. Yet this is the generation most absent from today’s churches.
Question: What other challenges do you think keep the church from bringing the life-giving water to the places of need in our world?
In Ezekiel 47.10, we read that fishermen will stand along the shore in En Gedi, casting their nets and finding fish of many kinds. En Gedi is an oasis along the shore of the Dead Sea. And that is what we desire to be as a church. As the river of life flows through us, we want to be used by the Source to bring life to the Dead Seas of our world. From the beginning we have sought to:
- Be missional focused. From kids ministries to adults, we want to be sure that it isn’t about us. We’re called to help those in need, to address the injustices we see in the world, and to take risks. This is why we do things like host the Unfinished conference, prioritize Tread, and seek to plant churches and campuses.
- Be diverse. A diverse church is best equipped to reach a diverse city, nation, and world.
- Retain our youth. After eleven years of ministry, the twenty-something age group is still the largest age group at Engedi. God has called us to be good stewards of this rare opportunity among today’s churches. We have a responsibility to equip this next generation to impact our world, which is one reason we’re starting a leadership school to train up a new generation of church leaders.
The very challenges that often prevent the church from being a conduit of the living water to the world is what God is using at Engedi to make an impact. If we’re willing to step into God’s vision for His Church, He will accomplish through us all He has promised.
Re-read Ezekiel 47.12.
As a church we can bear much fruit, not because of our abilities or our strengths, but because the water from the sanctuary flows to and through us. It is in Jesus, the River of Life, that we can accomplish all He has called us to do—to provide food for life and leaves for healing.
Recent Comments