Fire in Your Bones:
Jeremiah was a Prophet - to Today's Church
By E. Glenn Wagner
O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak,
I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. 1
Can you imagine the prophet Jeremiah preaching this message from the pulpit of one of
Jeremiah certainly was politically incorrect, long before that term ever entered our vocabulary. Although he may seem out of step with modern Christianity, I would argue that his timeless message has never been more relevant.
I've been intrigued by Jeremiah and the Old Testament book that bears his name since I first read through it as a young Christian. Jeremiah comes across much as a modern-day Rocky Balboa (I mean that as a compliment) in that he kept getting knocked down but always bounced back up.
Why would the Lord call and appoint him to this life and ministry if it were going to be so tough?2 Jeremiah decides enough is enough! If this were reality TV, he'd be stuck in a situation of being insulted and reproached "all day long" 3. So he decides to keep his mouth shut:
· No more talking about God.
· No more speaking what the Lord has told him.
· No more being humiliated, because people don't like the message and have decided to take it out on the messenger.
But there is one small problem. As hard as Jeremiah tries, he can't stifle
the message of God inside. Whether a word of judgment or grace, he can't keep silent. We don't know how long Jeremiah remained silent, but he gets exhausted trying to hold in God's Word, because truth is residing in the very fabric and soul of his being. Suddenly, he surrenders to God's call to deliver the truth he believes and begins to spread it throughout the land.
This is exactly what is lacking today. Let me ask the critical question: Where is the power in your life to live and speak like Jeremiah? "Oh," you murmur, "but I'm not called."
As gracefully as I can, please allow me to blast this sick sacred cow out from under you. Let me make you as uncomfortable as I can, because here's the truth: If you have given your heart to the Lord, which means you have been bought, purchased and relocated into His family, guess what? You have been called into the family business of God the Father - to tell others of what He has done! When we were given the Great Commission to "GO", Jesus wasn't talking about only a few select individuals.
God desires a new generation of Jeremiahs - men and women who can't keep quiet, no matter where they go. How can we unleash that fire in our culture? Or even in our churches?
Many recognize that although the message doesn't change, the process to help a person understand it so they can make an informed decision has changed dramatically. In short, the ways I was taught to preach and share my faith with people just aren't as effective today. That leaves me with two choices: I can either fight or switch. While many are in fact fighting, a growing number are switching.
I find it very hard to comprehend how we can casually sit back and believe Jesus left the glory of heaven, took on the humiliation of human flesh, lived, died, rose from the grave and ascended into heaven just so we could have "good" - good preaching, good ministries, good worship services, good programs and a few good moments when someone professes to become a follower of Christ. Most of all, He came that I can personally enjoy a good life with as few inconveniences, difficulties and struggles as possible.
The good can be the enemy of the great. Why are we so content with goodness when we can experience greatness? To paraphrase best-selling business author Jim Collins and his book "Good to Great," the reason we don't have great churches is because we have good churches. The reason we don't have great ministries is because we have so many good ministries. And the reason we don't have great Christians is because we have so many good Christians.
Why are Christians in other nations experiencing a greater moving of God than we are? Especially when they have fewer resources, less technology to utilize, fewer buildings to occupy and less training? Never before in the history of the church in
One reason is that we have professionalized preaching. When we professionalize preaching:
- It becomes something only a select few are to do.
- It becomes an event rather than a lifestyle.
- It becomes a spectator sport rather than a Spirit-infused process.
Preaching boils down to the telling of God's story and how it connects with our story. The way the Word of God first spread, and the way thousands became followers of Christ, was because everyone who was a Jesus follower had it in their heads they also were proclaimers (or preachers, if you will). This spreading of the Gospel, like an out-of-control wildfire, started back in Acts 1 and 2. There was first a waiting with understanding and then a moving out with fire and passion. There wasn't enough water of persecution and threats to quench this flame.
They first waited for the promise of the Holy Spirit, Who was being sent not to make their lives easy or to help them pay off the debt of a new church building or enable to them put two "camelac's" in their garage instead of a lowly broken-down, used jackass! The Holy Spirit was being sent to fill them with power so that they might live and proclaim Christ - starting in
This is exactly what transpires today: God moving, shaking and using ordinary people, on fire with the knowledge and presence of the Holy Spirit who,
wherever they went, proclaimed and lived Christ.
So what kindles this fire in your bones? If you want to move beyond mere goodness, keep reading.
E. Glenn Wagner is a best-selling author and the founder and president of FutureLead (www.futurelead.org), an organization committed to equipping people to live and lead with purpose and passion. He has served as a pastor and was on the founding board of Promise Keepers and served as Vice President. He has authored numerous books including, God: An Honest Conversation for the Undecided (Waterbrook Press) and his latest book, Fire In Your Bones (NOTES
1Jeremiah 20:7-9 (NIV)
2Jeremiah 1:4-10
3 Jeremiah 20:8
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