Are You A Revolutionary? Part 1

(This message was inspired by George Barna and his book, Revolution. I also found Sermon Central contributor, J. Martin’s messages on this topic helpful.)

In 2005 George Barna, the founder and director of the Barna Group, a research and resource firm that provides valuable information to ministries and corporations, wrote a book titled Revolution. It is a book that discusses the paradigm shift that is happening in the church today.

To date, Barna has written over 35 books. Beside the Word of God he is the most quoted person in the church today.

In the book Revolution Barna gives an awesome definition of transformation.

He writes, “Spiritual transformation is any significant and lasting transition in your life wherein you switch from one substantial perspective or practice to something wholly different that genuinely alters you at a very basic level.”

For example, if you switched from a Catholic church to a Pentecostal church, that is not transformational. If you decide to attend Sunday School, that is not transformational, if you decide to take a leadership position in the church, that is not transformational.

What is transformational is if you change your world view to a Biblical perspective, or if you recognize the gifts that God has given you and use those gifts to further the Kingdom of God, or if you start seeing God in a whole new way and begin to worship Him every hour of every day. Those things are transformational.

He goes on to say, “Transformation, as I am using it, is a significant spiritual breakthrough in which you seize a new perspective or practice…” This breakthrough is related to seven passions that we are going to explore later in this series.

The result of the transformation is that you are never the same again.

That is what we are called to experience when it comes to our relationship with God. It is supposed to be life changing.

So many people have it wrong today; they think it is all about church. What church do you go to?

There is nothing wrong with going to church; as a matter of fact I highly recommend it. But going to church does not mean that you are saved. It does not mean that you are righteous; it does not mean that you are holy. If that were true then going to Wrigley Field would make you a professional baseball player.

What is important is being in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The most important thing in our lives needs to be our devotion to God. Serving Him with all that is within us.

That is what it is all about. It is not all about church.

It is all about The Church. What is The Church? We have gone over this before. You should know the answer.

We are The Church: the people who are actively in participation in the advancement of the Kingdom of God. This is the church and this is what it is all about.

The church today the way many people perceive it isn’t even described in the Bible. The church as we know it today was created centuries ago by mankind to help the believers become better at following Christ.

The closest description of a church that I can find in the Bible is in Acts 2:42-47. But it does not describe the church as we know it.

READ Acts 2:42-47

In order to get the right description of the church all you really need to do is understand that being the church means that you are going to live your life in a manner that reflects the life of Jesus.

When you do that, you are the church and you are a revolutionary.

PRAY

Father we ask for Your anointing on us today. Place Your anointing on me as Your messenger today. Make each of us revolutionist.

Open our eyes so that we may see Your Word. Open our ears so that we may hear Your Word. Open our minds so that we may understand Your Word. Open our hearts so that we may receive Your Word today. AMEN

Webster’s New World Dictionary has five definitions for the term revolution. Definitions 1, 2, & 3 are basically the same. And 4 and 5 are different. I am giving you definitions 1, 4, & 5.

Definition 1 – Movement of a body in an orbit or circle.

Definition 4 – A complete or radical change of any kind.

Definition 5 – Overthrow of a government or social system, with another taking its place.

Over the next few weeks we are going to take a look at these three definitions and how they relate to the body of Christ.

Each of these together gives us a good definition of what a Revolutionary Christian is supposed to be.