Miss part one of this? Click HERE to read it. And, should you want to follow the fascinating story of the real Lion Whisperer—you can see it here.
So, in order to have a happy ending regarding lions re-released into the African plains—both the rescue and raising need to be spot on. Unfortunately, there are far more sad endings than happy ones. Humans, it would seem–will always try to raise lions the way we think they should be raised instead of the way that is best for returning them to their home in the wild.
It’s similar with the Christ follower. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come..” So, once we are saved, we are given a new nature—it’s as though we are back on track to being made into the image of Christ.
Imagine taking a third generation, zoo lion and releasing him into the wilds of the African Congo. Guess what? He wouldn’t last a week. Why not? Several reasons:
- He wouldn’t know how to assimilate into a pride.
- He wouldn’t know how to hunt.
- He would simply wait for someone to come along and feed him.
- He might approach the first group of humans he saw and get shot, or try to take food from them.
No matter how you slice it, the outcome wouldn’t be good for all concerned.
Now, reverse the scenario. Imagine having the magical ability to take that third generation, zoo lion and implant the untamed nature and experiences of the African wild into his very being…
And then releasing him on to the streets of Los Angeles. There would be more carnage than a typical AMC, Walking Dead episode, only the victims wouldn’t be zombies.
Either way, that’s what churches are doing with hundreds of thousands of new believers each and every year inside the highly bizarre world of American evangelicalism. They either domesticate the new believer by introducing them to a Christian sub-culture complete with Christian music, Christian schools, Christian books, Christian food, Christian movies, Christian small groups, a Christian church that tries very hard to keep non Christians out, and even a Christian language!
Question? Is this even remotely a good idea?
No! It’s a guaranteed train wreck!
God’s Word tells us how the whole ecosystem is supposed to work.
First, Jesus came to rescue us (and then commissioned us for the same rescue work see Matthew 28:18-20). Then He charged us with training up the newly rescued believers (Matthew 28: 19). And finally, we are to release them back out into the world to join in the mission of rescuing the lost.
Too many churches today follow the “misplaced zoo animal philosophy” above, and, as a result are seeing very little missional fruit.
Could it be that we are only able to regurgitate the basic biblical mission from having it pounded into us throughout Sunday school and denominational training, but that we’ve never truly understood it, taken it to heart, or even witnessed it successfully applied? How many of us can even think of a single dynamic example of a rescued believer, properly raised up in Christ and released for His service?
Seriously. Take a few minutes and see how many you come up with. Oh, before you get started, I should probably mention that writing books, heading up a multimillion dollar ‘Christian’ ministry, or having tons of followers on Twitter isn’t at all what I am referring to. Those things are more and more looking like ‘red flags’ than great examples of Christ. No, I’m talking about modern day apostle Paul types, or Daniel, Ruth, or Moses.
Those ground rules slow you down a bit?
Okay, I’ll help you get started—but once I give you the first few names, you can’t reuse them. Hey, it’s my exercise—I make the rules. Ready?
- Billy Graham
- Mother Teresa
- Keith Green
- Francis Chan
Ok, now it’s your turn…
Not too easy is it?
Know why? It’s because we are not executing on the great commission or the great commandment the way Jesus intended.
But that can change. 🙂
The final part of our mission and vision at Impact Church is, “Release.” Throughout the New Testament Jesus teaches the idea of being out there in the world, but not of it. What does this mean?
Stay tuned for the final part of this series in the days ahead!