Big Tent - Mountain Movers

“From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.”

(Psalm 113:3 NIV)

[Please join me in praying for the Church on Sundays this year.]

As I write this I am remembering our “Camp Band” rehearsal last night. The arts camp I direct begins in less than two weeks. This year we are adding a “praise & worship band” that consists of adults and high school students from four different churches in four different denominations. The campers registered come from 27 different area churches, brought together by faith and interest in the various arts areas. To me, having this many churches represented in our camper population is a good thing because it shows the variety of places in which God can speak. Those 27 churches may or may not agree on every little detail of theological discussion, but they can each agree that “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11 NIV). The Lordship of our Savior Jesus Christ, the love of God our Heavenly Father, and the fellowship, comfort, encouragement, and empowerment of Holy Spirit are what hold us together. I believe that our unity in Christ matters.

“Unity” is one of those words that has been so overused and abused it’s hard to shake the bad connotations. Unity doesn’t mean “you have to become who I am.” I view unity in the Church as being more like – to borrow an image from the political realm – a Big Tent. Under that Big Tent can be people who may not agree on whether infant or believer baptism is the way to go, whether the communion can only be blessed and served by a pastor/priest or can be served by anyone, or whether worship services should have only hymns, only band-led music, or only voices singing praise. Under that Big Tent are people who have been created by God, called into relationship under the lordship of Jesus and, under the leadership of Holy Spirit, are trying to “work out our salvation” in order to fulfill God’s purposes.

While I do agree that theology matters, I also believe that God is big enough to be able to include many ideas. (Not every idea, mind you. God will not be mocked or made into something he is not.) This Big Tent in the Old Testament included not only God’s chosen people the Israelites, but also “foreigners and strangers” who he included and used, like Rahab, Ruth, and even King Xerxes. The Big Tent in the New Testament included fishermen, tax collectors, prostitutes, Pharisees, turncoats, and persecutors of Christians. And the Big Tent today includes men and women, old and young, of every ethnic background, nation, tribe, language, location, and socio-economic class. In Galatians 3:26-29 the Apostle Paul wrote “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” If we are each IN CHRIST we are each a part of Christ’s Kingdom Family, the Church. So, let us pray today for Jesus’ people – his Church.

Father God,

Jesus revealed to us who you really are and we thank you that we have been fastened to your Son by your Spirit. Thank you for everything you have taught us through them and for the many gifts you give us. Thank you for the Words you speak that are passed on to and carried by the hearts of your people. Today we come to you to follow Jesus’s example and pray for those who belong to you. We pray that your glory will be revealed in our surrendered lives. We pray that you will keep us united in your name and your love, guarding us so none is lost to the enemy of our souls. We pray that your children will experience and enter into your joyous delight, so that it is fulfilled in us and it overflows to bless the world. Give your children strength of conviction and courage to stand against the unbelieving world and guard our hearts from evil. Make those you have commissioned as representatives of you holy by the truth of your Word. May we live fully dedicated to you, living as a holy sacrifice. May we be joined together as one, showing the world your unity, grace, love, and glory. May we live in the full abundance of your perfect unity, loving each other and seeing your full glory. Make yourself more and more real to your people so we may experience the same endless love you have for each other, so your love will live in us, and so your love will be made known to the world. Unite those who are called into relationship with you under the “Big Tent” of your love, we pray in Jesus’s name. AMEN.

And all those who believe in me

also know that you have sent me!

26I have revealed to them who you are

and I will continue to make you even more real to them,

so that they may experience the same endless love

that you have for me,

for your love will now live in them, even as I live in them!”

“…Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13 NIV)

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7 NIV)

“After this I looked, and behold, right in front of me I saw a vast multitude of people—an enormous multitude so huge that no one could count—made up of victorious ones from every nation, tribe, people group, and language. They were all in glistening white robes, standing before the throne and before the Lamb with palm branches in their hands. And they shouted out with a passionate voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God seated on the throne and to the Lamb!”

All the angels were standing in a circle around the throne with the elders and the four living creatures, and they all fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing:

“Amen! Praise and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!” (Revelation 7:9-12 TPT)

“Father, I have manifested who you really are

and I have revealed you to the men and women

that you gave to me.

They were yours, and you gave them to me,

and they have fastened your Word firmly to their hearts.

7And now at last they know that everything I have is a gift from you,

8And the very words you gave to me to speak

I have passed on to them.

They have received your words

and carry them in their hearts.

They are convinced that I have come from your presence,

and they have fully believed that you sent me to represent you.

9So with deep love, I pray for my disciples.

I’m not asking on behalf of the unbelieving world,

but for those who belong to you,

those you have given me.

10For all who belong to me now belong to you.

And all who belong to you now belong to me as well,

and my glory is revealed through their surrendered lives.

11“Holy Father, I am about to leave this world

to return and be with you,

but my disciples will remain here.

Holy Father, each one that you have given me,

keep them in your name so that they will be united

as one, even as we are one.

12While I was with these that you have given me,

I was guarding them and keeping them in your name.

Not one of them is lost,

except the one that was destined to be lost,

so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

13“But now I am returning to you so Father,

I pray that they will experience

and enter into my joyous delight in you

so that it is fulfilled in them and overflows.

14I have given them your message

and that is why the unbelieving world hates them.

For their allegiance is no longer to this world

because I am not of this world.

15I am not asking that you remove them from the world,

but I ask that you guard their hearts from evil,

16For they no longer belong to this world any more than I do.

17“Your Word is truth! So make them holy by the truth.

18I have commissioned them to represent me

just as you commissioned me to represent you.

19And now I dedicate myself to them as a holy sacrifice

so that they will live as fully dedicated to God

and be made holy by your truth.”

Jesus Prays for You

20“And I ask not only for these disciples,

but also for all those who will one day

believe in me through their message.

21I pray for them all to be joined together as one

even as you and I, Father, are joined together as one.

I pray for them to become one with us

so that the world will recognize that you sent me.

22For the very glory you have given to me I have given them

so that they will be joined together as one

and experience the same unity that we enjoy.

23You live fully in me and now I live fully in them

so that they will experience perfect unity,

and the world will be convinced that you have sent me,

for they will see that you love each one of them

with the same passionate love that you have for me.

24“Father, I ask that you allow everyone that you have given to me

to be with me where I am!

Then they will see my full glory—

the very splendor you have placed upon me

because you have loved me even before the beginning of time.

25“You are my righteous Father,

but the unbelieving world has never known you

in the perfect way that I know you!