Guy Duininck: Personal Christian Life
Personal Christian Life
I think that in some ways churches and ministers have not always promoted all the important aspects of true New Testament Christianity. By saying things like, "You need to be in this meeting to be refreshed," or, "You need to hear this minister and your life will be revolutionized," or, "If you don't attend to church this week, you won't make it," we have sometimes pulled the attention and focus of our lives away from God, the Person, and away from the Internally Powered life we are called to lived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, "Out of your bellies shall flow rivers of living water." Paul spoke of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Paul said, "He who began a good work in you will perform it." The writer of Hebrews spoke of Jesus as, “the Author and the Finisher of our faith." John said, "You have an anointing that abides in you and that teaches you all things." Jesus said, "The Holy Spirit shall be in you...He will teach you all things." Jesus said, "When you pray, go into your closet and shut your door."
I believe that sometimes our Christianity has been too corporate. The corporate model serves to support the various institutions and the ministries, but can tap the life, the energy, and the resources of God's people. When people begin to feel tapped out, what do they do? They either retreat from the institutions or they look for a new book, a better minister, or some special power meeting to revitalize their life. They often do these things rather than seeking God themselves and learning to live this New Testament life by the power of the Holy Spirit Who indwells them. Too often, then, the "system" self-perpetuates at the expense of true, powerful, joyful, and victorious Christian life lived in profound relationship with the Father, with Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Spirit.
Do we need one another? Yes. Does the body of Christ grow as it ministers to itself in love? Yes. Has God set spiritual leadership in the church for the growth of believers? Yes. All these things are true. But they are not the only truths.
We also need to seriously Consider and then Cultivate our Personal relationship with God, learn to live from the Word of God, and drink from our own Internal Well of Divine Help — the Holy Spirit Who lives in us!
