Jesus Goes Viral

"Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him" (Matthew 4:23-25).

One of the phenomena of modern social networking is called "going viral," that is, when some kind of online post, video or photo becomes re-posted so quickly that it obtains the holy grail of social networking: a million-plus views. However, it does not seem to matter whether something that goes viral is positive or negative. The goal seems simply to gain the most notoriety, no matter what the issue. Whether it is a recipe using Oreo cookies, a funny cat video, or an ad campaign to rename IHOP to IHOB--you have succeeded if people begin to share your post around the globe.

In Jesus' time, technology had not advanced very far in the area of communications. Word of mouth and the occasional public announcement were the way that news could travel throughout the Roman world. However, in Matthews Gospel, he tells us about the excitement that stirred throughout Palestine, from Syria, Galilee and the Decapolis in the North; all the way to Jerusalem, Judea and even Trans-Jordan in the South. News about Jesus spread quickly. In other words, Jesus went viral.

What made people get so excited about Jesus? What was it that they wanted to share with everyone around them? The answer is: His healing ministry.

Matthew tells us that Jesus was involved in doing three things: teaching, preaching and healing. But if Jesus had only done the first two things, teaching and preaching, and not the third thing, healing, it is very unlikely that news about Him would have spread so fast. Why do I say that? Because in verse 24, it does not tell us that "the curious, the theology students, and the intellectuals" were flocking to hear Jesus. Instead it says that "the people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed..."

In general, people do not flock to great teaching and preaching, they are drawn to great power. And they are drawn, not because they are merely curious, but because they are needy. People who are hurting and have the opportunity to receive a powerful touch from God are usually the ones who will push through barriers and difficulties to get it. Remember the shame and cultural obstacles that the woman with the issue of blood needed to overcome to simply touch the hem of Jesus garment? And what was in her mind? "She said to herself, 'If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed'" (Matt. 9:21).

Even a casual reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus did not just speak the message of the kingdom of God, but He demonstrated the reality of the presence of the kingdom as well. When the kingdom of God comes, it comes with power.

What happened when people began to bring their sick relatives and friends to see Jesus? "...and he healed them" (Matt. 4:24b).

Even Paul confirms that: "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (1 Cor. 2:4-5). And the writer of Hebrews tells us: "This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will" (Heb. 2:3-4).

So why does the church seem to settle for great teaching and preaching, but forget about power ministry? Because they can control the first two. Because they can learn to do the first two using human wisdom and clever marketing techniques. But power ministry is totally dependent on God. If God does not show up, we can feel pretty foolish. So we cling to what we know we can do and avoid what is out of our ability to control.

And yet, God's way of "going viral" is not through "wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power." That is how God penetrates to human hearts and brings conviction. That is how Jesus went from being an obscure Galilean carpenter to the greatest figure in human history with over 2.2 billion followers.

So, are you willing to believe in the power of God? Are you willing to look foolish in the eyes of the wise of this world in order to allow God's power to be manifest? This is God's divine marketing campaign and He has never revoked it. As John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard, used to say: "I'm a fool for Christ: who's fool are you?"

Gifted to be a Gift

"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms" (1 Pet. 4:10).

I've been studying about Spiritual Gifts ever since I was in college and started attending the Bible studies of Julianne Easton some 42 years ago. She not only taught material from Dr. Albert Grimes of Christian Training Center, but I learned very practically how to prophesy and pray for the sick. The Charismatic Movement was in full swing. And I received a dose of teaching about Spiritual Gifts that has stuck with me ever since.

When I arrived at the Anaheim Vineyard in 1985, I was persuaded to change some of my more Pentecostal paradigms for the Kingdom Theology of G. E. Ladd. Pastor John Wimber presented a compelling model for ministry that began to answer some of the problems I had encountered as I wrestled with what I had been taught.

Don't get me wrong, I still believed then and, indeed, still do believe now, in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit in and through the church today. But the Third Wave perspective that I began to embrace made so much more sense to me. (First wave was Pentecostalism, Second Wave was Charismatic Renewal, and the Third Wave was Vineyard and other Evangelical moves of the Spirit).

This verse from First Peter encapsulates so much that is important for us to understand about how God gifts believers in order for us to bless others. We are "gifted to be a gift."

The word for gift here is charisma which is the singular of charismata. It is based on the word for "grace, favor" which is charis with a neuter ending attached. Literally "gracious things" or what Russ Spittler, former Fuller Theological Seminary professor, called "gracelets." God's favor or blessing is given to us or imparted to us in a discreet and identifiable way.

But charismata is not used in the Bible with the kind of technical precision that we have tried to give it today. It is a very general term that is used for the grace to be married or single (1 Cor. 7); God's grace that delivers Paul from peril (2 Cor. 1:11); as well as the nine manifestation gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12-14), etc. Any unmerited favor of God--including natural talents or abilities, life experiences, training, social status, as well as supernatural endowments--can be seen as a charisma.

Any time God's unmerited favor is expressed to us, we become recipients of His grace. You see, it takes "various forms." Certainly we include in this the supernatural manifestations of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Cor. 12:7-11 and the Ministry Gifts mentioned in 1 Cor. 12:28, Rom. 12:6-8; and Eph. 4:11. One of the things we need to do is to "boil over with desire for Spiritual Things" (1 Cor. 14:1).

But Peter tells us that we have been appointed stewards of the gracelets that He has deposited in our lives. Like any good steward, we don't hoard these blessings as if they are our own stash, but we are simply entrusted with a resource to use on behalf of God Himself. We are supposed to be "Faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms."

I remember so well the teaching that "You have been given a gift. You need to find it and learn how to use it." But this sounds like I am the intended recipient of the gift. This actually results in a lot of wrong-headed thinking. The gift of God is not for me, but for others through me. I am Gifted, not for myself. I am Gifted to be a Gift.

How are you doing investing God's resources? Remember the parable of the Talents? Are you investing the resources of the Kingdom so that it produces more? That is what it means to be a "faithful steward of God's grace in its various forms."

(Oh. BTW: I ended up marrying my teacher, Julianne, over 39 years ago. Thanks God!)