One - Show Us the Father
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"One-Show us the Father" by Stephen Bennett
From: Awesome City Music - 31st July newsletter
www.awesomecitymusic.com
"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now
on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, "Lord show us
the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have
I not been with you so long, and yet you have not known me Philip? He who
has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say 'Show us the Father?"
John 14:7:9.
Philip asked Jesus a question that I believe the whole
world is being stirred to ask in this present day, "Show us the Father!"
Jesus Christ was God the Father manifest on earth: amazing! The Father was
actually alive in person with the first disciples, but they didn't truly understand,
or see this truth about the Lord. Jesus later prayed for them and said, "I
do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through
their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in
You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You
sent Me" John 17:20-21.
Through His prayer, Jesus proclaims that His disciples
were the pioneers in bringing forth the New Testament word of God: the reason?
Future believers, like us in this generation, may reveal to the world the
fullness of the true Father through oneness in Him. Why? To fulfill the desire
of God's heart for all in the world to believe in Him, the one true God.
Religion, and all of its shades and textures, old and new, can be the worst
enemy of the oneness Jesus prayed for. There is only supposed to be the concept
of one 'church', and that is in and through Jesus Christ. There are over 20,000
versions of church Christianity on earth, let alone all the other misdirected
faiths and creeds that advocate another way to God. For many unchurched people,
this global, pious soup of contradictions and confusion, often serves a diet
that results in repelling people rather than truly winning them to the Father.
It seems the Gothic rock musician Marilyn Manson is an
example of the fruit of this repellant. If Marilyn is rebelling against religion,
you can't blame him. But if the true Father were made known to the many in
the artistic world and beyond, by a people who were truly living at one with
the Father, then the world would flock to know the Lord. Why? Because the
real Father is absolutely amazing!
The band U2, have a wonderful simple song called One from
their 1991 album Achtung Baby, it was written at a time when they were reinventing
themselves as a group. The tune is considered their greatest song, and one
of the best ever recorded. Its birthing and message is attributed to the band
staying together and not breaking up at the time. One carries great prophetic
spirit and emotion, and eventually touched people all over the world. Like
the beautiful song Fragile written by Sting, it has been sung and recorded
by many other artists. Here are a few comments from the Internet of how One
affects people. 'The song is so powerful, after hearing it a few times I kind
of feel a deeper more powerful feeling each time.' 'U2 seem to have a beautiful
love for Jesus, and you can feel His wonderful love in their lives and see
Him working in this world, if only we could love each other as God loves us.'
'Fans have been reduced to tears when hearing it live.' 'There is so much
pain in this world, we are in a great position in life to do the right thing.
Bono and the group U2 have been excellent messengers.'
Why does a rock band like U2 have such great influence
on millions of people through a simple song? In the spirit and passion that
rides in One, the band touched the core of the cry of humanity: a desire for
oneness and completion. Bono's lyrics in the extended version of One says,
'Can you hear us coming Lord, Can you hear us call, feel us knocking, we're
knocking at your door.' Is that not a cry for the Father to show Himself?
A cry for heaven to open up, and make us the one that Jesus prayed for? Is
not God using their art to influence the children that He yearns for? Is their
audience, assembly, gathering, more than just a crowd coming to a rock concert?
I recently heard someone marveling at the size of Paul
Yongi Cho's church in South Korea. It has over a million members, which is
an amazing size for one formalized church group that has been going about
30 years. What influence and inspiration they have been to the Church. There
are also many influential big church congregations around the world doing
great things; thank God for the local church. However, in our modern media
drenched society, let's re-think spheres of influence for a moment in light
of God's heart for all the world to believe; influence on massive groups of
people, especially through the arts by believers.
The word church is universally understood in the world
almost exclusively with a religious connotation, often referring to a building
full of people, or part of a religious organization that conducts worship
services. Millions of people still think the church is a building down on
the corner of a street. The word church in the Bible is translated from the
original Greek word ekklesia; this means a called out-group of people. In
terms of Christianity and the one Church Jesus spoke of, it is simply people
who believe. They are the saved, the ekklesia: a universal group, a body of
millions of people called to be one in Christ on planet earth, just as Jesus
prayed for. The Church is not a building you go to, or an organization you
decide to join like a club, it is essentially an assembly of people being
added to one another by God all over the world (Acts2:47). It is a spiritual
building made of people, the living stones (1 Peter 2:5). In the New Testament,
the Greek word ekklesia also interestingly refers to a non-believing, rowdy
gathering of citizens in Ephesus as well as a political assembly (Acts 19:32,39,41).
Could we dare to think that this could also be like a gathering of 50,000
people at a rock concert?
We go to church on Sundays for many reasons, but most believers
want to experience the Father in some way. We lift our hands in worship and
sing loud and clear; we love the presence of God. Philip said to Jesus, "Show
us the Father and it is sufficient for us…" This is what the world
needs. In just a moment of time, the adulterous woman at the well (John 4)
saw sufficient enough in Jesus (the Father with us, Emmanuel), to believe.
He took it to her! She went on to start a revival in what was considered a
'worldly untouchable land' by religion. When the world connects with the true
Father, there will be no denying Him. It will be sufficient for them whether
in a concert, in a street, café, business, wherever.
U2, who have also been around for 30 years, are the biggest rock band in the
world. They have a far bigger direct platform of influence in today's world
through their music and the media, than even a group of a million churched
people that congregate in a building, as wonderful as they are in their calling.
Virtually everyone in the world knows U2. Why wouldn't God choose to also
use these guys for His purposes? U2 are believers in God, and they have a
massive assembly of millions of fans that follow them and love them. Jesus
said if you know Him, the Holy Spirit of truth will live with you and be in
you (John 14:17). He will undoubtedly also ride in songs, through sounds and
through your voice! U2's concerts, and their massive following, are an ekklesia
just like the rowdy citizens of Ephesus, an assembly where there is a huge
potential to influence people's lives (as we have read in the testimonies
of how people are touched by their music). It's not a 'church', as we traditionally
understand a church to be, but avoiding tradition, let's reshuffle the mosaic
and think a bit more out of the box. What really is a 'big church?'
God loves every rowdy football stadium size gathering of
people that come to connect with a band like U2. It's the band's 'church'
if you like, and from the depths of the band in their everyday experience,
a song comes called One that carries a measure of God's heart. People's hurts,
and desire for real love, are 'ministered' to, but it also offers to the world
a resolve of hope in the oneness of the higher law of love. The theme of the
prayer of Jesus is then etched very quickly into the spirit of millions of
people, "That they all may be one." Millions listen and resonate
with the spirit and heart of that tune. Why? Because the words of God are
written on the tablets of every human heart, and along comes a song of spirit
that sets it on fire and awakens the God desire. How many are inspired to
question, inquire, and reflect on spiritual things, after a band they trust,
carrying so much influence in the world, speaks to them? Yes, 'preached' a
musical message of virtue from the 'pulpit' of their stage, to their beautifully
noisy assembly? How many people eventually find the Lord because of their
art? I am sure countless thousands. If the band Black Sabbath can directly
influence people for satan in their concerts as they did in the seventies,
why couldn't a band like U2 influence millions for Jesus now? What else is
possible?
Artists have absolutely huge influence in this world, and
I believe now is your time. In the shifts and changes that are happening in
the Body of Christ today, we must challenge ourselves in what we define as
'church' and how God is speaking to people. Bono said in an interview in Canada,
in front of millions of people, that music is one of God's ways of speaking
to us. It's obvious that he knows and understands this prophetic principle
of sound. The American worship leader and prophet musician Kevin Prosch, prophesied
in the nineties in a song lyric, 'God is speaking through the music'. Everyone
in the world has inscribed in his or her heart, a desire to be shown the Father,
and to be at one with the artist called God. Artists today have an incredible
opportunity to have God speak through their art in whatever idiom. The arts
are increasingly carrying a spiritual edge in these days and people are being
drawn to spiritual things in droves.
In Las Vegas USA there is the Gothic looking, mystifier
and magician called Criss Angel who has a show called Mindfreak. He out performs
any magician that has gone before him. He literally walks on water, levitates
in the air from building to building, and does amazing street stunts and illusions.
He is so impressive people even call him the Second Coming of Christ (not),
they watch his totally convincing stunts, and ostensibly supernatural displays,
and fall in love with him instantly. Why is that? Through his art he touches
them in the core of their desire: to know and connect spiritually with something
bigger and more powerful than themselves. He wears a cross that has the word
Believe inscribed on it, he asks Jesus to hold him up when he levitates. Many
ask the question: Is he a believer or an emissary of satanic power that deceives
people? The point is that through his entertaining dark art of magic, he brings
a mixed, confusing, and undefined supernatural message that flirts with humanities
growing desire toward God. Many will be drawn away in the last days; it is
now time for the many in the One to clearly show the real Father.
U2 sing a song called 40, based on the Psalm from scripture.
The lyric cries, 'How long must we sing this song?' How long will it be before
the world truly sees the Father? How long! Are we sick and tired enough yet
of spiritual lies, confusion and deception? Where is the One that Jesus prayed
for? Now is the time to pierce the dark confusion in our world with the real
truth that Jesus prayed for to happen in His ekklesia. Artists rise up! There
is a 6 billion member church waiting to hear, and be painted with your artistic
song, sound and color, One - Show us the Father! 'One love, One blood, One
life, You got to do what you should. One life, with each other, Sisters, Brothers,
One life, But we're not the same, We get to, Carry each other, Carry each
other, One… One…Lyrics Bono U2 from the song One."
Great Commission Worship & Arts Center