Dear LT,
Posted on June 27th, 2005 by Reformed Pope into the Pastoral Staff, Favorites categoryHere @ City Business Church it only takes one comment to make you a member of the family and so I am wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me clear up a few things.
On Sunday I had a conversation with my mother about Christian prayer lingo. For those of you who don’t know my mom, I would describer her as a Moaner-Groaner with a touch of Quaker-Shaker. To say the least she knows how to make a scene in church. Her latest craze is 24 hour prayer and worship which she experienced on a recent trip to Kansas City. On her return she ran right out bought a new stereo system and filled it with cd’s from whatever church in Kansas City she was at. Her plan is to have praise and worship music piping through the house 24 hours a day; I’m not sure how that’s going to go over with the fam, but she’s gonna try it.
Anyway, my brother Jesse and his should-be fiancé Andrea were listening to the cd’s and they noticed that the person praying was asking for God to “turn hearts like channels of water”. This sparked our conversation in which we had to ask, what does it mean to “turn hearts like channels of water”?
Discussing this quickly led to “gap standing”, “bridge building”, and “hedges of protection”. And, let’s not forget about the “river”. You can wade, jump, step into, and drink from “the river” which appears to have something to do with “ocean’s of love”, but we’re not sure how they’re connected.
It seems to me that all to often people just go with the flow (apparently down the river), and rarely stop to ask the all important question: “WHAT???”.
I’m going to give that a try:
1.What is the “gap” and why are we standing in it?
2.How many “rivers” does it take to make “oceans of love”?
3.Is the “bridge” for crossing the “gap” or the “river”?
4.Are we really supposed to “drink” from the same “river” that we just jumped in?
After about 30 minutes of discussion with my mother here’s what I understand. The gap is the space between sin and righteousness (man and God). The bridge crosses that very gap; and no one knows where the river flows, but if you see it, be sure to jump in. I actually think it helps explain the Trinity. Jesus is the ultimate “gap stander” (her words, not mine), the Holy Spirit is in the “river”, and that leaves God to tend to the “hedges”. Which leads me to my next question:
How much protection does a hedge really offer?
Can you picture Satan gathering an army of demons, preparing for an attack on an unsuspecting Christian, when suddenly he hears:
Demon: “Um Lucifer, I think we’ve got a problem”.
Satan: “Yes Rage, what’s the matter”
Demon: “We couldn’t get him”
Satan: “What do you mean ‘you couldn’t get him’?”
Demon: “Well, Lust, Envy and I were right on his tale when suddenly… he ran across the bridge, jumped into this river, swam right past your gap, and then dove behind that hedge for protection.”
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June 27th, 2005 at 1:22 pm
Just for the record, I love my mother very much and would be proud to go to church with her (except she doesn’t go to church anymore).
June 27th, 2005 at 1:28 pm
kee hee hee….
Gottta love renewal’s mixed metaphors/buzzwords, brought to you by the book of Ezekiel and other sources…
Have you read the Screwtape Letters? Sounds like you must’ve…
June 27th, 2005 at 2:49 pm
Would someone be willing to tackle “the gap”?
1. Where did it come from?
2. Instead of “standing” in it shouldn’t we ask people to bring their backhoe’s and bulldozers, and fill the gap?
3. If there is still a gap, what was Jesus doing on the cross?
4. Can you stand in and shop at the gap at the same time?
I’m really curious about this. Come on all you PBC grads, show LT your stuff; let’s get a Biblical exegesis of “the Gap”.
June 27th, 2005 at 9:32 pm
Since I have a concordance, I can look this up. Here is the text of the Scripture: Ezekiel 22. In context, the Lord is speaking about wickedness in Israel, and describes the offenses. Then He says, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore, I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds upon their own heads,” says the Lord God.
What’s interesting is that there is a similar Scripture in Isaiah 59 that provides more understanding: Same scenario, but this time the Lord says, “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him, and His own righteousness, it sustained Him.” (That’s where your mom got the idea that Jesus is the ultimate “gap-stander.”)
Ok, “gap” comes from a Hebrew word ‘parats’ which means ‘break’. In Ezekiel there’s a wall, and a break in it, and destruction coming. What wall? What break? Protection from what?
From Genesis to Revelation it is clear that sin subjects the sinner to the wrath of God. His nature reacts to it. Since He loves people and does not want to see them destroyed by His reaction to their sin, He created a wall of protection from His own wrath. It’s a wall of blood covenant. Stay in the covenant, stay protected. Go outside the covenant, get destroyed.
But even then, He still loves and looks for someone to say, “Mercy instead of judgment!” That’s what Moses did when God threatened to wipe out all of Israel. That’s what Ezekiel 9 is all about, and Daniel 9, and Ezra 9. These men brought repentance to God and asked Him to restore the people to covenant.
That’s all Old Testament, but Paul says that the OT is a picture of what’s happening now. That’s why it says in John 3, “he who believes in the Son has everlasting life, but he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Come into the covenant of protection through the blood of Jesus. Come into relationship with a God who is a consuming fire — the fire of love and the fire of reaction to that which separates the ones He loves from Him (sin). That’s the gospel.
Eventually, however, the Lord will complete the judgment of wrath against sin. And when He does, the 24 elders will be saying, “We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty…” (Rev. 11:17-18).
So when we “stand in the gap,” we ask for an extension of mercy for a person, a city, a nation — until they can come into covenant on their own. And since God does not want anyone to perish, He often grants it.
ps, RP: I would be proud to go to church with your mother, too. After all, I went to Kansas City with her!
June 27th, 2005 at 10:28 pm
RP, you just got whooped by a girl!
June 28th, 2005 at 9:09 am
I’ve always wondered if the river forged the gap and if I stood in the gap, should I roll my pants up?
June 28th, 2005 at 1:19 pm
I think I like the standing in the gap/shopping at the Gap business better.
Are we saying that God is a personal force that intervenes in our lives
or
that God acts like a force of nature that can’t control its temper?
You can’t have it both ways, I don’t think. This business of OT vs. NT and the intervention of the covenant is all well and good, but it seems excessively extrapolated and complex. God is Love…still. And God seems to be able to count to ten before destroying the universe or even a single being in a temper tantrum. And if God wasn’t, do we really think that we could change it with the help of praise and worship music?
It’s an interesting thing to think through for sure: is it possible to truly take accountability for another person on a temporary or permanent basis through “intercessory” prayer or some other medium? Or, if Christ is truly the great intercessor, then was Christ’s intercession once and for all?
I’m torn about the principle, myself. Radical compassion is definitely on my personal to-do list. However, empathic accountability (literally taking on the accountability of another, i.e., “standing in the gap”) is dangerous at the outset….and leads down an even more dangerous path (heavy potential for psychological and sometimes psychosomatic damage…even Cindy Jacobs talks about that business). Speaking as a person who has had “empathic” experiences (in and out of the context of “intercessory prayer”), I feel it’s not a good idea to seek them out. If they’re necessary, they will appear. Let’s remember that this gap-standing business for regular people is all OT…and while there are examples of its occurrence, there aren’t any real mandates for us to practice it ourselves.
Perhaps that’s why this intercessory prayer culture we’re talking about so strongly resembles, say, Star Trek conventions…lots of dressing up, lots of gimmicks, lots of jargon, lots of hero-worship. Maybe people just looked at something and decided it was cool and wanted to imitate it.
I’m not saying I categorically think it’s bad or stupid or anything like that. I’m just saying it all looks and sounds a little screwy to me. And, as a person who had many very close friends and family members who were on the front edge of the intercessors’ movement long before CBC even heard about it (let alone sanctioned it), I haven’t been too thrilled with the fruit I’ve personally seen.
June 28th, 2005 at 8:28 pm
Oh my! I actually agree with Jiminy for once!
/looks outside for signs of the Apocalypse…
Anywho, I also think there is a hyperculture of Christians who find their own little niche in “intercessory prayer”, the same way some people have clubs for things like breeding Corgis or knitting sweaters. But like any hobby you can get carried away and suddenly find yourself obsessing about which sweater your Corgi will wear today. I think prayer is an essential part of a Christians life, but I can’t help but cringe when I hear some of the so-called doctrine of prayer that comes out of these prayer hobbyist clubs. A lot of pseudo-spiritual babble is passed around without any Biblical basis. FD dotes on these people and it’s that very thing that led to infamous service where rocks were prayed over. (Oh, and don’t forget the wooden stakes! Buffy would have been proud!) I can remember thinking things like, “God, I’d much rather just spend time talking with you than asking you to somehow bless me through these rocks.” or “Wouldn’t it be great if people prayed for their unbelieving friends/relatives with the same fervor?”
What does yelling and moaning accomplish? Does the Devil really get scared when we shout at the walls and demand things from him? How do I metaphorically “stand in the gap” - do I simply say that I am?
Last time I checked, the Bible says that Jesus is the be-all-end-all intercessor (Heb. 7:25) God reprimanded the Jews in Isaiah 58 for focusing on the religious aspects of prayer and fasting, and told them the best way to “stand in the gap” was to provide social justice, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and support your own family.
I think what irks me the most, is those people that think that they have somehow cornered the market on prayer. That they know it better than anyone and that makes them a better Christian than you are. It’s just another way for people to gauge their spiritual performance and compare themselves with others.
In Ephesians 6, we are strongly encouraged to pray constantly and to pray for each other. Personally, I think it means we’re supposed to be in constant contact with a loving God who has our best interests in mind. If we all did that, we wouldn’t need stakes and rocks.
June 28th, 2005 at 10:55 pm
What happens if I used to work at the gap, but am there no longer? Does God still love me, or do I have to spend time in the river to be washed and cleansed of my rebellion? And if I have to use the river, could you guys just stay out of it while I’m in there? It makes me nervous.
June 29th, 2005 at 10:37 am
The stream waters the fishes who then turn into food which inturn nourishes the spirit with the strength necessary to endure the lack of parking in order to shop at the gap.
June 29th, 2005 at 2:52 pm
To everyone:
My apologies in advance
To FICM:
Hope this reference means something to you, given the stake comment:
“Apocalypse….we’ve all been there.”
Anyone who likes Joss is ok by me…
“….except for bunnies….”
June 30th, 2005 at 4:28 pm
1.What is the “gap” and why are we standing in it?
It’s possibly the same “thing” “Britons” are told to “mind” at the tube “station”. It is a very “dangerous” place to be, in accordance with much of “born-again” Christianity, which, from my p.o.v., started out as a “dare” game and is moreso every day.
2.How many “rivers” does it take to make “oceans of love”?
“One”. But is has to be a very big “one”.
3.Is the “bridge” for crossing the “gap” or the “river”?
Neither. It’s for “steering” the “Enterprise”, though “graphic”"designers” will tell you it’s for integrating “Photoshop”, “InDesign”, and “Illustrator”. Or so I’ve been “told”.
4.Are we really supposed to “drink” from the same “river” that we just jumped in?
Well, you did bring your “chlorine” “bleach” “tablets”, dintja?
July 1st, 2005 at 1:06 pm
Ahh, the “wonders” of “quotes” for “emphasis”…..
July 2nd, 2005 at 9:41 am
jiminycricket81:
Ahh, the “wonders” of “quotes” for “emphasis”…..
You know it. When I was a small one I broke both my arms in a fall. Couldn’t use figures of speech for about a month and a half, what with my quote-fingers in casts and all.
Sorry, “quote fingers”.