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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
by Dr.
Terry Teykl I
have to ask myself that question as I
read about the events going on in our
world today and the struggles our
denomination is facing. I
believe one reasons for our dysfunction
is that we have become a church sold
out to people. We have bought into
consumerism and all the tenets
thereof. The
consumer-driven marketplace feeds on
such factors as ingenuity,
entertainment location, and
image. The
mottos are, "Make the customer happy.
Give 'em what they want and they will
come back for more. Make a profit at
all cost." The individual consumer is
the prize. While
consumerism has its place in the
marketplace, it is not difficult to see
why it becomes a toxic virus when it is
allowed to bleed over into the
church. When,
as a church, we buy into the
consumerism model, we begin to forfeit
our birthrights as part of Jesus'
earthly bride. Driven by marketing,
image control, and entertainment value,
we allow ourselves to be shaped by the
needs and desires of the
church-shopping masses. The
whole thing becomes a people-to-people
affair based on research and
statistics. We do religious things
based on careful assessment of human
behavior in the "church industry." Like
Martha in the kitchen, we get so busy
serving people that we neglect Jesus in
the living room! Being
"culturally relevant" is fine -- please
hear me -- but the church exists for
God's
pleasure, not the pleasure of
humankind. We are His bride, His love,
created to represent Him and worship
Him to His glory and honor. We
are not to be a consumer-based church,
but a Presence-based
church, sold out to inviting and
welcoming the Presence of
God. The
Presence-based church isn't defined by
procedures or specific worship styles.
A Presence-based church doesn't surface
by following a prescribed formula, such
as singing certain songs or ministering
to people in a certain way. A
church service is just the proverbial
tip of the iceberg. It is simply a
weekly expression of all that is going
on under the surface. Any
church can become more Presence-based
than it currently is. Any congregation,
regardless of size or affiliation, can
desire more of God and hunger for His
manifest Presence. The
issue is not so much about how we
worship, but why we worship, and the
heart attitude that we
embody. The
Presence-based church isn't interested
in the question, "Are we attracting
people?" but rather, "Are we attracting
the Presence of God," and, "Is He
welcome and honored above all
else?" To be
Presence-based, we must, like the
Israelites in the desert, put the new
Ark, which is Jesus, in the very center
of our camp and be led, governed,
taught, and sustained by Him alone. He
is to be our identity. Though
there are several characteristics of a
Presence-based church, the most
distinguishing mark is a passion and
hunger to know God as expressed through
worship and prayer. Presence-based
churches have the heart of Mary, who
loved nothing more than sitting at the
feet of Jesus. They
worship because they are drawn to the
Presence of God, and because being
created by God for that purpose, they
feel more alive and fulfilled during
worship than at any other time. It is
their passion and purpose. In
the Presence-based church, worship
isn't confined to a one hour service on
Sunday morning. It is an ongoing dance
that engages all that we are in loving
all that He is. Presence-based
worship is a response to a God who is
so terrifyingly magnificent, yet so
intimately known, that praise and
adoration burst forth naturally and
without effort. It cannot be
contained. Small
groups worship at the feet of Jesus.
The worship leaders usher the
congregation to the feet of Jesus
Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. Even
board meetings engage the business of
the church at the feet of
Jesus. Worship
leaders in Presence-based churches may
ask people to bow or kneel or worship
in a prolonged period of silence and
listening. They may introduce His
people to worship music from different
cultures. Occasionally, they may even
dismiss the visitors at the end of the
service and invite the regular members
to stay and continue worshiping past
noon. The
prayer life of the Presence-based
church follows a similar pattern.
Hungry to know God's ways, His glory,
His heart, His voice, His rest and His
thoughts, the people push past prayer
that meets human agendas to seek God
just for Himself. They pray to see His
face, not just move His
hand. It is
the prayer of healthy desperation, a
yearning prayer without crisis. It
longs to press against the veil of the
spiritual realm with such humility and
endurance that the breath of God can be
felt. The
Presence-based church goes beyond the
familiar to seek God. Just as Moses
went "outside the camp" to be with God
in the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 33:7),
the Presence-based church is always
pushing past the successes of yesterday
and going beyond the normal routine of
church life to pray and experience God
in new ways. Seeking
God, romancing with Him, deepens our
spiritual understanding and faith. It
greatly enhances God's ability to
transform lives and impact communities
through us. That is why we need to go
outside the camp to seek God for all
that He is. Vast
knowledge and profound experience
awaits the body of believers that can
shake free from the familiar long
enough to gaze at the heavens and
listen for the heartbeat of
God. Many
of our churches today are experiencing
"Presence starvation," and the
deficiency is crippling. They have
fasted the Presence for so long that
they have forgotten what it is like to
feast. All
the while, Jesus is in the living room,
beckoning anyone who will to come and
sit at His feet. Those who do will have
"chosen what is better, and it will not
be taken from [them]" (Luke
10:42). Dr.
Terry Teykl, formerly a United
Methodist pastor, is a member
of America's
National Prayer
Committee
and the founder of Texas-based
Renewal
Ministries. He
is the author Outside the
Camp and The
Presence-Based
Church
(Prayer Point Press).
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
Ministry
of the
Word:
Recent
sermons
Our quarterly e-magazine
Gateway
Today
For the Gateway family
Pastor
Jerry's Weekly
E-Mail
ON
RENEWAL
From
Gateway
Today
The
e-magazine of
Gateway Church
SPRING
2004
The
Presence-based church
Founder, Renewal
Ministries
I
will build my church, and the gates of
Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus in Matthew 16:18.
As the Church of Jesus Christ, are we
overcoming -- or are we being
overcome?
Hemorrhaging
and weak, we hardly seem like the
prevailing church that started in the
Upper Room and spread throughout an
entire continent within a
year-and-a-half.
The
Presence-Based
Church
A
conference with
Dr.
Terry
Teykl
of
America's
National
Prayer
Committee
New
Salem
United Methodist
Church -
Commerce
Details
here!
(Map
here.)
Becoming
Presence-based
Most importantly, a church is not
Presence-based because of what it does
or doesn't do on Sunday
morning.
The
'Mary' heart
Like
the Levites who waited in the temple,
lured by an intense fascination with
the Ark of the Covenant, the people of
the Presence-based church have tasted
the incomparable sweetness of God's
nearness and bear His divine
imprint.
The
Presence-based church lives on the
cutting edge of worship because its
people are constantly looking for ways
to press past any barriers that would
hinder their expression of love and
adoration.
Outside
the camp
This is
a realm of prayer that few ever
experience. It is the purist form of
prayer that teeters close to the edge
of worship -- that of praying to know
God for no other reason except that He
is worthy to be known.
