Trumpity, trump, trump & the normacles

This one goes out to the radical visionaries, the spiritual dreamers, the charismatic warriors - If that is not you, then this may make little sense. You may want to pass on this one and go look at recipes for pumpkins or check the baseball score. If you continue, well, you may still want to read up on pumpkin recipes. It's a highly versatile fru-vega-squash.

As a believer, I agree that God has the right and ability to demonstrate his love or power over creation any way He chooses. I believe and have witnessed a handful of events that I can only attribute to supernatural intervention.

Thus, my belief in this would squarely place me in the Spirit-filled, Charismatic, Pentecostal camp. As I have seen, there seems to be a core strategy of many also in this group:

1) Pray and ask God what He wants to do with ________ (insert applicable, i.e. my life, my future, my city, my country, my family, etc).

2) Wait/continue praying until you have an answer.

3) When you get an answer, begin casting vision for it.

4) Develop a cycle/strategy of prayer to reinforce the answer.

5) Continue praying until the thing God revealed to you is miraculously answered.

6) Recast the vision as necessary, specifically if you are discouraged about the lack of visible progress.

7) Rinse and repeat.

I am not in any way against prayer or doubt that God speaks to people (personally, through the Bible, through experience, etc). The struggle I have with this strategy is the utter dependence on the miraculous. Isn't that why they're called miracles, not normacles? Personally, I have attended vision conferences and massive prayer meetings devoted to pushing forth some redeemable vision (i.e. rehabilitating the addicted, alleviating poverty, mentoring youth, improving the city, etc.). Frequently, I have heard vision cast, observed the swell of zeal, and watched as the result is the creation of more prayer meetings and conferences. Though, far too infrequently, I have struggled to observe the same people who are pumped up from the vision casting, then go out and devote their lives to getting a teaching certificate and working in the school system, or running for city council, or volunteering for a local food pantry, or learning how to train up entrepreneurs in the urban core, or what have you. It appears that we have one really good trump card to play, "Pray for Supernatural Intervention".

On a purely financial level, religious institutions in America have more money flowing into them as a group than any other kind of nonprofit. I know churches cannot provide an answer for everything. But shouldn't churches try to provide a few practical answers for their community's needs? I know many do, but the sheer volume of money ($96.8 Billion in 2006 in America - 32.8% of all nonprofit donations) and potential volunteer hours that could be funneled through a church to a community is staggering.

Here is what I would love to see.If people feel personally challenged by a vision to help in some way, do not stop at prayer for that vision. Be willing to devote time to equip and educate yourself to do the thing that you are zealous enough to pray over. Take steps toward making that vision a reality, even if it is a multi-year, multi-decade vision. If you get a miraculous answer, then celebrate, but if not, then you will be much further down the road to making that vision a reality. Be willing to sacrifice to flesh out your God-given passion. A miraculous answer may happen instantaneously, but the other normacle answers may require significant time, devotion, and responsibility. For some, continuing a cycle of prayer may be a hyper-religious substitute for actually sacrificing to attain the goal. It's not my place to judge which is which, but it is worth asking yourself the question. What if this generation decided that they would have a dual-focus of prayer matched with devotion to living out their goals? What if we understood that there was always the opportunity for miracles, but that there was also the 20-year plan we were working towards?

On a personal level, I do not need more vision casting. I do not need to hear more people talking about reaching out to abandoned youth, the poor, or impoverished nations. I need to actually take steps to do the things I am passionate for, to skillfully use resources and time toward reaching the goals I hold dear. My piece in things may not be overly glamorous, but I want to find where I can contribute with my life and start the process. It's my hope that I am not a lone voice, but that many of my peers are wrestling with the same decisions and coming to the same conclusion. We cannot stop at being excellent visionaries and prayer warriors. We need to be doers, and not hearers only.

"But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." (James 1:22-25)