HOUSTON, TX (ANS) – On a return trip to West Africa it was encouraging to hear reports and testimonies from those who had received Orality Training three years earlier. Those trained were now training others and seeing many come to faith in Christ. It was a confirmation of the reproducibility of the Orality methods and strategies and how ordinary followers of Jesus can experience and share His life with others. What a joy to know that we all can be containers of the very life of the Living Christ and communicate Him to the world around us. Orality concepts, methods and practices really do level the playing field and give ordinary followers of Jesus confidence that the Holy Spirit will work through each of us.
Fairness and Equality from God’s Perspective
While we observe unfairness and inequality in the world today, it is comforting to realize that God is an equal opportunity employer. He is no respecter of persons, and He uses any and all of those who come to Him and believe on Him. In fact, Jesus has promised that when we do so, out of our hearts, (innermost beings) will flow rivers of Living Water. Of course, He is referring to the work of the Holy Spirit and His redemptive activity. It is wonderful to know that our true value and worth, from God’s perspective, is not based on who we are or what we have. Our true value and worth is based on the price paid for us. That is, the very life of Christ, which means we are all VIPs (very important persons) in His sight.
The Kind of Person God Uses
Throughout biblical and church history, we see how God often uses weak and flawed and human beings. Samuel Chadwick, late principal of Cliff College in England, has said, “It is this mystery that has filled the history of the Church with anomalies. Inadequate men (and women) are always doing impossible things, and ordinary men achieve extraordinary results. God’s biggest things seem to be done by the most unlikely people.”
Keep the Faith, Just don’t Keep it to Yourself
In our experience with Living Water International and the Orality Movement, we’ve observed significant impact in advancing the Kingdom by ordinary people. When individuals of all ages hear, understand and respond to the Gospel, they become new creations and often have great passion to share Him with others. The Gospel of Jesus really is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe, when it is delivered in the form that people can comprehend. Someone has said that the Gospel came to us on the way to someone else. We often remind ourselves that we should keep the faith, just keep it to ourselves.
God’s Hall of Faith
While getting as much education as we can is important, it is liberating to realize that God often uses common people with little formal education in great ways. One of my former pastors, the late Dr. Adrian Rogers, used to preach a message titled, “God’s Hall of Faith.” He pointed out that throughout history, those who were greatly used of God were not necessarily the most educated, but were quite ordinary, and sometimes seemingly disadvantaged.
Relationship and Availability
Another important lesson I learned from Adrian Rogers was that, “God is not as concerned about our scholarship, as He is about our relationship. And, it’s not so much about our ability, as it is about our availability.” One of the amazing benefits we are seeing in the Orality Movement is a demonstration of the power of simplicity and reproducibility. It’s getting back to the roots of the Early Church and the Kingdom principles we learn from the life, Spirit and teachings of Jesus. When we think of movements that have had significant impact throughout history, we realize the power of small, simple, reproducible systems and structures. These features have been part of revolutionary change and transformational movements.
Agents of Transformation
Value and worth are some of the important topics we address in our Orality Training. When learning a set of stories from the Word of God, we observe how Jesus reached out and related to all classes of people. In our training sessions, we discuss questions like, “Are women important to God?”, “Do children have value to Him?”, “Are demon possessed people important?”, “Are blind or crippled people important?”, and “Who has value in the Kingdom of God?” Of course, the fact is that all people have value and worth to God, There is great joy in knowing that we all have the capacity to be agents of change and transformation, because we are indwelt by Christ Himself and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
