If you have heard me teach much, you may have noticed that I reuse certain phrases from time to time. In student ministry, my former students would make fun of me because I would say “watch me” a lot. One of the phrases that I have picked up somehow is this: when God gives a powerful word, I will often say, “I want to tattoo that on my body!” Well . . . I was soul shook a few weeks ago. I’m talking about an internal spiritual earthquake with following tsunami and aftershocks. It may sound silly to you to hear where all of this came from. (If I were reading this blog a few weeks ago, I would likely discredit this source as just an emotional moment.) But it was a documentary - a soul-shaking documentary straight out of the heart of God. This spirit-filled documentary is about the fastest growing church in the world.

Wait! Don’t click away! It is not about church growth strategies.

This documentary is about the underground church in Iran.

Wait! Don’t click away. It is not about politics.

Think about it. Where would God pour the fullest amount His favor out on the earth? Do we really think it is a church with multiple campuses filled with converts who could care less about intimate moments with the Father but has a 24 million annual operating budget? Wouldn’t God pour out the fullest amount of His favor on those who are pursuing Him in the midst of the hardest persecution?

Well, that is exactly what is happening in Iran. The Mosques are emptying. The everyday Iranian is seeing Islam as the demonic following of a false god that it is and they are finding Jesus as Lord and Savior in both pretty normal and pretty miraculous ways. It is just like the early church. Signs and wonders, love is the label, disciple-making isn’t something that is done but rather it is the method, leadership is decentralized, and it is all beautifully messy. All the while, the most vile of persecution is staring at them in the face.

Back to the tattoo… Paul writes at the closing of his first letter to the Corinthian church these words:

1 Corinthians 16

21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!

First, he is ending the letter in verse 21 encouraging them “by his own hand”. Then, in the first part of verse 22, he uses the word “anathema” which really means “if anyone chooses not to love the Lord, let him be cursed on a divine level.” This doesn’t feel like encouragement, does it? Maybe not, but Paul is setting us up for the final word that ends the verse. There is a pun/play on words here because of this one word; Paul uses in a very unclear way but I believe it had a deep purpose. He says, “anathema, maranatha”. You can say it out loud and hear how similar the two words are. But the highly intentional purpose of Paul doesn’t stop there. “Maranatha” pronounced one way means “our Lord has come”; pronounced another way it means “Our Lord, come”. We even have seen in early church traditions the word being used to mean “Our Lord is coming”.

Church, let’s think about this for a second. In a time of great persecution, the early followers of Jesus chose this word as a greeting. Jewish custom had been to greet one another with “shalom”, but with the massive influx of gentiles who wouldn’t relate to that term, a new greeting had to be adopted. That greeting was maranatha. Imagine it…”Hey Bob I know your wife was killed last week, and your brother is in jail, but don’t forget . . . MARANATHA”. He is coming back!!! The Greek word “Maranatha” is now tattooed on my left forearm. I need the reminder. I want to live this way - remembering He has come and waiting expectantly for the return of the King.

This is the greeting in Iran for the underground church.

To a persecuted people, the incarnation of their Savior many centuries ago and his imminent return are vital realities informing their everyday lives. They are forever changed because He came, because He is the One true God, and because He was slain to justify and free them. But their daily lives are radically altered by the fact of His coming return. Imagine the value of this knowledge in believers facing abuse, violence, and death daily because of Christ. It is everything to them to know He is returning as King. Their eyes look to the skies expectantly as they press on toward the finish line of their faith, however it may come.

Their lives are radically different from ours. In broad generalities, our lives are easy and comfortable. We are well-fed and well-educated. We are unlikely, at this moment in time, to face violence because of our faith in Christ. And yet some part of us is tempted toward skepticism when we talk about Christians in the Muslim world.

Why might that be?

As an American living in freedom in the Bible belt, should I be above from learning from the underground church in Iran?

Should I believe that I have somehow cornered the market on church life and church planting?

With the church growing like wildfire in Iran because of the favor of the Lord, might they have something to teach me about love, intimacy, and church?

If we have millions of nonprofits, churches, and ministries in the West, why are we in the state we are in?

Yesterday my wife and I celebrated a weird anniversary. 20 years ago yesterday, she broke up with me. It was brutal. It’s along story but you know how it ends. But I was getting her flowers when this idea came to me: we love dead flowers in our houses. They smell incredible and are a delight but their end is terminal. We put them in highly visible places and everyone around them enjoys them because they make us feel good, but only for a brief time. There are signs of life that once were dependent on the vital nutrients from the vine. When removed from the vine, they look continue pretty for a time and are much more convenient because we can place them in our homes on terms wherever we want. When removed from the vine all flowers have a limited time left and while they are very convenient, death has already started.

!!!!!URGENT MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH!!!!!!

ANY SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE CHURCH IN AMERICA BASED IN CONVENIENCE, FEELING, AND VISIBILITY POINT TO OUR BEING CUT OFF FROM THE VITAL NUTRIENTS FOUND ONLY IN INTIMACY WITH GOD!

The heartbeat of maranatha isn’t “this world sucks and I can’t wait for Jesus to return”. The heartbeat of maranatha is “I know Him”. It’s “I long to be with Him, unhindered. In total, forever intimacy.”

Western church, it is time to call it like it is. The flower has been cut off too long; it is now time to replant!