Resonance Cascades & the Cry of My Heart

Have you ever heard of a resonance cascade?  The idea of a resonance cascade is that waves of energy combine in a continual loop, or cascade, that eventually multiplies out of control. In the story of the 90's PC game Half Life, a resonance cascade rips open the fabric of reality making a portal to another dimension that the hero has to put an end to. Now, I'm not L. Ron Hubbard and creating my own religion from fiction (even fiction I didn't write!), so don't worry about that! But the idea of a resonance cascade has applications to our hearts and faith that I want to flesh out.

2000+ years ago at the cross, something happened that changed everything. Let's take a look at Mark 15.37-39:

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Many times we skip these details to move on as rapidly as possible to the good news of the resurrection, but there is great power in these verses I want to unpack. As Jesus breathed His last, we see the curtain in the temple being torn in two from top to bottom. We need to understand a couple things-  the curtain spoken of separated the holy of holies (where the Ark of the Covenant was and the place of God's presence among His people) and was around 60 feet high and 4 inches thick. The curtain was there to provide a separation between sinful people and a holy God, saving them from certain death from their sin in God's presence, and was only passed once a year on the day of atonement with very specific instructions. In fact, the priests tied a rope with bells on it around the priest who entered the holy of holies ankle to pull back their dead body if they died entering the presence of God unworthily. Makes a little more sense why Isaiah the prophet, a man who literally spoke with God, had the first reaction of, "I'm dead!" when he saw God in a dream in Isaiah 6! Can you imagine the Jewish religious leaders reactions and abject fear as this occurred? But it is also an amazing testimony to what Jesus did in His death- He literally ripped the fabric of reality apart and brought the Kingdom of God screaming to life as sin was once and for all defeated.

That metaphorical resonance cascade at the cross was followed by a massive change in people that has changed the world. Initially we see the early church as a tiny group of people cowering in locked rooms until the moment of Pentecost- at which everything changes. All of a sudden, this small group pf people begins to grow, and grow, and grow, sending people out to start new churches and meeting people where they are with the life changing gospel of Jesus. Their lives were worth nothing unless they completed the mission of taking Jesus out to everyone they possibly could If you're like me, you look at the church today and wonder where that went. I mean, it seems like nothing in today's church really even resembles the early church. Francis Chan has confronted that idea multiple times, most recently in his book Letters to the Church (highly recommend picking up a copy and reading it- and no, I don't get any kickback or benefit for you buying this!).

Some of the questions that bug me about the church are: What happened to a church that multiplied like mad and literally changed the course of human history? Why are most churches plateaued or declining with a healthy church generally growing by addition today? Why do churches insist on building bigger buildings instead of sending people out to plant another church? Why are most of our churches homogeneous groups instead of actually mirroring the makeup of their community? Why isn't every member of a church so sold out to Jesus they are willing to do everything short of sin to save some? How do we kickstart a serious awakening, in other words another spiritual resonance cascade in our time? I believe it starts with recapturing the desire to multiply the movement instead of building our own individual kingdoms. The idea of Kingdom first instead of me first is the key. As my good friend Daniel Dugas preached last Sunday:

"Personal preferences aren't bad, but if we make them a divider of Christ's body we are in sin. Our divisions are no more, Christ is all that matters & He lives in us."

It'd be easy to rail against the church or other people in the church and put all the blame there- but that does literally no good. Instead, I've been desperately seeking what God is calling me to and have been asking myself these questions that I believe we all need to be able to answer: Am I focused on the Kingdom of God breaking into this world or on building my own personal kingdom? Am I hung up on my preferences at the expense of God's church? Am I willing to lay down my life and everything else for the Kingdom of God? Am I willing to do whatever I possibly can to see God's Kingdom come in power where I am so that every person possible comes to a saving knowledge of Jesus? What can I do today to live into the Kingdom of God instead of myself? It starts with each of us as individuals and until we are willing to confront that in us, there will be no change in the church. My prayer is that God would revive us- may it be your prayer as well, "Let revival come and let it start with me!"

To make it stick better- take this song with you as you go.