Challenge #21: IGNITE

Life is a romantic business. It is painting a picture, not doing a sum.
But you have to make the romance, and it will come to the question of how much fire you have in your belly.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.


In the ridiculous 1981 sci-fi movie, Quest for Fire, cavemen tribes establish a rough tribal hierarchy based on a tribe’s ability to produce fire. Some tribes would be fortunate enough to find a natural fire and would then collect and transport burning coals with them everywhere they wandered, lugging the smoldering embers in a leather pouch. Other tribes discovered the formula of rubbing sticks together, with wads of dry grass ready to ignite. It’s a terrible movie (though critics liked it), but illustrates an interesting dilemma – one that we struggle with today:

How do you start a fire?

As a youth minister I experience this quandary all the time. I believe that most people want to be close to God – they want to feel His presence, see His providence, follow His calling. They want the fire. The passion. The conviction. The faith.

But… how do we get it? How do we ignite the flame within? It pains me to watch students walk through life, go to church, school, home… with nothing but a cold emptiness. It excites me when they find it, when somehow, somewhere, some way the Spirit has decided to rub the sticks together and ignite the long-absent flame. There is a noticeable increase in fervor, in the volume of praise, in courage renewed. And it’s contagious! Baptisms abound. Confessions are poured forth. A mosh pit of celebration is created for God’s Grace!

And then… after a while, it wanes. The flames die down, begin to sputter…

And eventually go out.

Why?

How? What happened? How can we get it back? Who has the formula? Should we travel to another tribe’s fire and take their flame? Would they share it?

Peter – the guy who denied Jesus three times – teaches a very bold, out-of-character sermon in Acts 2. He probably has no idea how the people he is speaking to will react, but Luke (the author of Acts) writes that the people were “pierced to the heart”. Immediately upon hearing the Gospel, they ask “What shall we do?” to which Peter replies, “Repent! And let each of you be baptized…”

They ignite. A flame is produced and a wildfire of conviction sweeps through the town. Luke writes that “everyone kept feeling a sense of awe” and that “day by day they continued with one mind… taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart."

It is my opinion that the kindling for a spiritual fire is repentance. It is my opinion that the Spirit reacts to a penitent heart, a sincere remorse for the evil we have chosen.

Jesus speaks to John in a Revelation about the judgment of various churches. His message to most of these churches is to repent, to turn from wicked paths. To the church in Ephesus He gives much praise, but also says, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first…”

Challenge #21: Rebuild the fire within. Remember your First Love, and repent of your wicked ways. Let your penitent heart be the kindling for future fire… Then pray that the Spirit will re-ignite the flame!

This is a difficult challenge. There are no guarantees, because so much depends on the human heart and the sovereignty of God. Realize, however, that God has always told us,

“…if My people humble themselves and pray,
and seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven,
will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land.”
(2 Chronicles 7:13-14)




Thursday’s Challenge #22: VANDALIZE