Episode 201: Relying on God's Power in Weakness During Church Renewal and Reformation
“I’m impatient…Even when I think I’m being patient…eventually I throw up my hands and [think,] it’s not happening quick enough…The temptation is to find shortcuts to the end goal…No, it never works that way. It’s always this long, slow, diligent, faithful, messy work.” -Jason Ruis
Summary of This Episode
Jason and Willy pick back up this week with an encouragement for their audience to do something, to get involved. Particularly for ministers, Jason encourages doing one thing in your classis and one thing in the denomination, which won’t spread you out to thin from your local call and work. As they look back on the last four years, both of them have not just been commentating, but they’ve been involved in the CRC and their classes in a variety of ways.
With those changes, they spend some time sharing what they have learned about themselves. Jason highlights the lesson of “Not trusting your own understanding of your own experience…[or] making yourself the ultimate ambassador of what’s true and real.” There’s a need to be humble and trust God because we do have weaknesses. He shares Paul’s message in 2 Corinthians 12 about receiving a thorn in the flesh and despite his pleading to have it removed, God left it and gave him the message, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” It’s not that we’re made powerful so much as God shows his power; we’re still weak and unable to do things on our own.
Willy also picks up on learning to trust God. “...I’ve had to force myself to be reminded…that Christ is building his church even if you can’t see it and it doesn’t look like it…’Do I trust in the promises of God or do I only trust in some of the promises of God?’...I’m a tool…a vessel…a pot in the hands of the potter, and it’s my duty and my job to be faithful to say, “Go ahead, mold me and make me. Here I am, send me.” Jason connects that to players and coaches–it’s easy for players to think everything depends on them, which often leads to freezing up. A good coach can remind their players, “It’s not up to you. You just do your job on the field, and let the rest…play out.” Willy comments how this is the covenantal aspect–it’s not just my hands that are working, it’s others, and God, too.
Looking to the future–what Jason calls, “a renewed era of the CRC,” what needs to happen? Willy strongly encourages the need to operate with integrity. That means certain people should not continue serving in certain capacities. It also means local churches getting healthy. “The local church is healthiest when her leaders are healthiest, and that’s only going to happen when you have a minister who is equipped to be proclaiming the Word of God regularly, who is actually training his elders alongside of him to be shepherds of the flock of God–exercising oversight, and equipping the deacons to be dispatched to be the mercy workers…” Jason agrees that when things are healthy in a local church as far as discipleship, that can naturally flow into being missional. “If we’re doing discipleship well, our people will be in the community, engaged with people, sharing the gospel…with the lost…[caring] for them…” Speaking of discipleship, Jason also gives a plug for his “The Little Heidelberg” (here’s your link to throw in: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Heidelberg-Childrens-Summary-Christian/dp/B0DGFGCD2C/ref=sr_1_1?), which is an updated version of the compendium and useful especially for children.
As the episode starts heading to a close, our hosts encourage continuing to be faithful to God. Willy shares, “Fruit will always follow faithfulness…He always promises…that his word will never return void and that he is making his elect as the sand of the sea and that he is working through the building of his church.” Jason clarifies that this doesn’t necessarily guarantee numeric growth, but there will be fruit of the Spirit and maturing of disciples. He shares a quote he got from someone, “‘A pastor needs to be someone who’s easily pleased, but never satisfied’...We need to hold that tension…with where we are as a denomination with what God’s doing here, but not just sit back and say, ‘Well, that’s good enough.’” They encourage listeners to continue serving in denominational positions to help the reformation there. Willy points out we need to be faithful, and sometimes that is in serving God outside of where we’re most comfortable.
They close the episode with a confession and a focused mindset. From Jason, “I’m impatient…Even when I think I’m being patient…eventually I throw up my hands and [think,] it’s not happening quick enough…The temptation is to find shortcuts to the end goal…No, it never works that way. It’s always this long, slow, diligent, faithful, messy work.” Willy builds on a quote from R.C. Sproul, “[God] gradually sanctifies us, and by that same token, he is gradually reforming this denomination.”