Absolute Confidence and Total Dependence
In the works that God is doing worldwide that are resulting in church planting movements, there are 2 characteristics that I think are very prominent. They comprise one of the critical elements of cpm, namely, the authority of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit are all that are needed to begin. I have called this the 1:8 factor and based it on Joshua 1:8 and Acts 1:8 which demonstrate the vital importance of the Word and the Spirit respectively.
The Word (Scripture) and the Spirit of God are the source of authority and power in every church planting movement (and according to a new video, The unreached: Did you know? that can be accessed on Youtube, there are 20 plus cpms in India, 20 plus cpms in China, and 16 plus cpms in Africa). By focusing on the Word and the Spirit we are looking at the principle from God's side: it's His Word and His Spirit.
But let's look at it from the human side. From our perspective, we need attitudes of Absolute Confidence and Total Dependence.
At first those 2 things look contradictory. If I talk about a person of Absolute Confidence I am thinking about someone who is bold and strong. A person who exudes absolute confidence is the kind of person we want to follow, the kind of person who takes charge in a crisis. It is the kind of person Rudyard Kipling wrote about in his poem called If:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
–Rudyard Kipling
On the other hand, there is the person of Total Dependence. Total dependence seems to bespeak weakness. Someone who can't stand on his own. Someone always needing help. In missions, we often hear of the curse of "dependency". This is when the indigenous church is never able to fully support itself and is always needing outside help to exist. None of us want to be needy or Co-dependent (we have a pop psychology title for everything).
But one of the counter intuitive things about the things of God is that in relation to God's work, those who remain Totally Dependent on Him are the ones who are actually Absolutely Confident in this world.
Let's start with Absolute Confidence. The Absolute Confidence that we must have is that The Bible is the Word of God, it is totally true in what it affirms and we are to hear it, understand it, and obey it. Faith is placed in God and His Word. That kind of confidence in the Word of God is fundamental to anything we do.
A few years ago I was reading a book by Paleontologist Kurt Wise. It is a tremendous book called "Faith, Form, and Time" and deals with the Creation/Evolution controversy. Wise is a Paleontologist with a Ph.D from Harvard, and who studied under the leading evolutionist of the 20th century, Stephen Jay Gould. And he is a born again Christian who believes that Genesis 1-3 is literally true. (I heartily recommend this book!). As I was reading it, it was forcing me back to the first chapter of Genesis. Probably no part of the Bible has been attacked with as much fury as the first chapter. As I was reading this once again, I thought I heard the Spirit's voice whisper to me, "If you can believe THIS, you can move mountains". I thought of the words of Jesus in Mark 11:22-26 and realized that the key to faith that moves mountains is to have Absolute Confidence in the Bible, the Word of God.
In the last few years, as I have become acquainted with some of the key leaders and catalysts of church planting movements, this is a characteristic I have noticed. Absolute confidence in the Word of God, not only in terms of belief, but also in terms of obedience.
In the second place, there is Total Dependence. Total Dependence is leaning completely on the Lord, especially the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Total Dependence leads us not to launch out on ventures on our own, but to be prayer saturated people who hear from God (via the Word and Spirit) before we move. The first critical element of cpm in every list I have ever seen is prayer. Prayer is the greatest sign of Total Dependence. It acknowledges that as Jesus said, without Him we can do nothing. To the degree that I act without praying, I am acting without dependence on Him.
These 2 responses, Absolute Confidence in the Word of God, and Total Dependence on God's Spirit through prayer and fellowship are critical to fulfilling our mission, whether it is overseas, at home, or merely living the life God desires for us.
I encourage my readers to join me in a commitment to Absolute Confidence and Total Dependence.
The Word (Scripture) and the Spirit of God are the source of authority and power in every church planting movement (and according to a new video, The unreached: Did you know? that can be accessed on Youtube, there are 20 plus cpms in India, 20 plus cpms in China, and 16 plus cpms in Africa). By focusing on the Word and the Spirit we are looking at the principle from God's side: it's His Word and His Spirit.
But let's look at it from the human side. From our perspective, we need attitudes of Absolute Confidence and Total Dependence.
At first those 2 things look contradictory. If I talk about a person of Absolute Confidence I am thinking about someone who is bold and strong. A person who exudes absolute confidence is the kind of person we want to follow, the kind of person who takes charge in a crisis. It is the kind of person Rudyard Kipling wrote about in his poem called If:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
–Rudyard Kipling
On the other hand, there is the person of Total Dependence. Total dependence seems to bespeak weakness. Someone who can't stand on his own. Someone always needing help. In missions, we often hear of the curse of "dependency". This is when the indigenous church is never able to fully support itself and is always needing outside help to exist. None of us want to be needy or Co-dependent (we have a pop psychology title for everything).
But one of the counter intuitive things about the things of God is that in relation to God's work, those who remain Totally Dependent on Him are the ones who are actually Absolutely Confident in this world.
Let's start with Absolute Confidence. The Absolute Confidence that we must have is that The Bible is the Word of God, it is totally true in what it affirms and we are to hear it, understand it, and obey it. Faith is placed in God and His Word. That kind of confidence in the Word of God is fundamental to anything we do.
A few years ago I was reading a book by Paleontologist Kurt Wise. It is a tremendous book called "Faith, Form, and Time" and deals with the Creation/Evolution controversy. Wise is a Paleontologist with a Ph.D from Harvard, and who studied under the leading evolutionist of the 20th century, Stephen Jay Gould. And he is a born again Christian who believes that Genesis 1-3 is literally true. (I heartily recommend this book!). As I was reading it, it was forcing me back to the first chapter of Genesis. Probably no part of the Bible has been attacked with as much fury as the first chapter. As I was reading this once again, I thought I heard the Spirit's voice whisper to me, "If you can believe THIS, you can move mountains". I thought of the words of Jesus in Mark 11:22-26 and realized that the key to faith that moves mountains is to have Absolute Confidence in the Bible, the Word of God.
In the last few years, as I have become acquainted with some of the key leaders and catalysts of church planting movements, this is a characteristic I have noticed. Absolute confidence in the Word of God, not only in terms of belief, but also in terms of obedience.
In the second place, there is Total Dependence. Total Dependence is leaning completely on the Lord, especially the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Total Dependence leads us not to launch out on ventures on our own, but to be prayer saturated people who hear from God (via the Word and Spirit) before we move. The first critical element of cpm in every list I have ever seen is prayer. Prayer is the greatest sign of Total Dependence. It acknowledges that as Jesus said, without Him we can do nothing. To the degree that I act without praying, I am acting without dependence on Him.
These 2 responses, Absolute Confidence in the Word of God, and Total Dependence on God's Spirit through prayer and fellowship are critical to fulfilling our mission, whether it is overseas, at home, or merely living the life God desires for us.
I encourage my readers to join me in a commitment to Absolute Confidence and Total Dependence.
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