Revivalists and Reformers

May 26th, 2022

By : David Hoskins

Beware of a Political Spirit

The neo charismatic movement has been tapping into new streams of revival and reformation for quite a while now. Apostle and prophet types are leading the charge in their respective camps. It seems that momentum is being gained on both fronts which is a huge blessing to the body of Christ.

Within some arenas we see these two camps beginning to converge which is giving hope to many of the reality that we really are one body.

In some cases these camps are so polarized that they seem more like opposites than counterparts, as if they are in opposing parties maneuvering for territorial control.

It is clear to the average observer that these camps have been polarized for the last two decades. Certainly there are exceptions to this rule but they are few in comparison. God is forcing the issue in this season of the importance of these two camps learning how to work together.

The desire of all involved is to see regions come together to make way for a display of the glory of God and an increasing habitation of his presence sustained within territories. We are all looking for the day when apostles and prophets gain better traction with laying accurate regional foundations for kingdom advancement.

Apostles and prophets must learn how to remove themselves as the stumbling block to our progress corporately. Egos and crowns must give way to the king of glory. Apostles and prophets are both the key and the hindrance to a sustainable move of God.

When apostles and prophets work together and align accurately as a team then we see foundations for advancement but when they fail to align then the Body of Christ is relegated to the ambition driven bantering that is so prevalent in our disfunction.

The challenge is that the approach to each grace (apostolic and prophetic) within the body of Christ has gained its stance without leaning upon the other grace. What I mean to say is they have learned how to excel independently, therefore learning processes that are limited and not God’s best.

Apostles have learned to do things without prophets and prophets have learned to do the same. It is unfortunate but for a season it was probably necessary. All of the skill and the wisdom that’s been gained by building separately has been built upon a faulty premise that building separately is plan A when it actually is simply a fruit of our insecurity and impatience.

In this season God is forcing the issue between these camps to discover that revival fuels reformation which then sparks revival which well you get the picture. These camps along with their respective prophets and apostles really need one another.

The fruit of building separately from one another ultimately means there will need to be ample deconstruction taking place in order for us to gain traction moving forward.

In this season, I believe God is asking many to lay down their crowns at His feet. We must learn to lay down our present identities if we are to lay hold of the new identity that the Father has for us as a corporate people. This is not to say we need to stop operating in the grace we have been given. The point I am making is that many of our ministries and assignments are driven out of independence rather than interdependence. We must be intentional about convergence moving forward.

Now is the season for prototypes to be birthed within the earth, apostolic prophetic prototypes. Prototypes will likely start small and work their way out because of the obvious challenges of bringing pieces together and walking in unity. It’s difficult to walk in one heart, one mind, one spirit and purpose when everyone is an expert.

We have prophetic experts and we have apostolic experts. Paul described himself as an expert builder which is to say that experts are truly needed in this season. However Paul also understood the importance of connecting with Titus and Agabus prophetic types to move as he should.

We need experts in this season who are strong in Godly character and humble enough to realize that apostles and prophets absolutely need one another. This is not a day for novices. This is a time for mature leaders to get out of the way enough to dialogue about the new of what God desires to do within the earth.

One of the most challenging things to do is to bring experts together and attempt to do anything. It is easy to bring them together for a conference or even a roundtable discussion but the moment we talk about engaging an assignment together then an administration of the kingdom is required. An administration requires relational commitment and alignment at a minimum, for the assignment at hand. This is the place where the rubber meets the road and where the crowns have to be laid down. Sometimes we have to let go of an old thing before we can lay hold of a new thing.

The reason these issues are so challenging is because a political spirit associated with pride and the leviathan structure tends to keep us focused upon the wrong things. One upmanship and out doing one another is the typical jockeying of immature experts. It is very easy to get lost in the emotions and frustration of offense and disappointment with the immature. The self seeking ones get in the way of progress and often times provoke those who are mature to abdicate the process all together. What a tragedy. It is so easy to say I will just wait for a better spiritual atmosphere and spend my energy where the ground is easier but the truth is there is a war to fight and now is the time. This season is not about taking the easy path. It is about breaking and forging a new path, One where we have never been before.

Apostles and prophets are called to build together and yet they have no chance of working well together in a mutually fruitful way within a hierarchical, Gentile driven, lording over one another structure.

God is doing a new thing and it will look very different from the old structures of the past. The church, the ecclesia, is at the precipice of entering into it’s finest hour.

We need a new breed of leaders who are humble and kind hearted.

Ones who value each and every grace.

Ones who see the importance of alignment and have a grace to explain how the many pieces work together.

We need leaders in regions who understand that revival and presence are equally important as reformation and alignment.

Things that get in our way:

1. Selfish Ambition

2. Hierarchical thinking

3. Hyper-Organizational thinking

4. Independent thinking

5. Impatience with the process

6. Offense from previous seasons

7. Wimpy, complacent leaders

8. Pacifism