Need More Oil?

Is it me or does it seem to get more and more difficult to find a quiet place and be alone with God? There is noise everywhere and the messages from our society drown out the still small voice of our God. And yet, I know that we are living in the last days and that one day soon, Jesus (the bridegroom) will be coming back for his bride (the church). In Revelation 19:6-7, John states that he heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. It is that last part that seems to stick out to me. See, Jesus is coming back. That is a fact. However, scripture is clear that no one will know the time or the hour. In other words, I can’t control when God is going to come back. And yet, John says that his bride (the church) has made herself ready. I don’t think it is a coincidence that Jesus uses the parable of the ten virgins. Notice, the focus is on keeping the lamp lit. So, the real question is, How do I keep my lamp lit until the bridegroom arrives?
Clearly, our current strategies and models are failing. Like our society, we (the church) have become event driven. We put on events, such as a Sunday morning service, home groups, bible studies, men’s and women’s conferences, etc. These events are designed to keep people’s lamps lit. The problem is that these “events” aren’t keeping people’s lamps lit. Instead, they come to the events to get more oil and a match to relight their lamp. The exceptional churches, that others have modeled their programs after, aren’t any better at keeping their people’s lamps lit. Rather, they are really good at putting on good events and they seem to be better at moving their people from one event to the next. And yet, the problem still persists. In speaking to pastors, there seems to be a collective, “where is the voice of the Lord?” Perhaps, it isn’t that God isn’t speaking, but rather we don’t have ears to hear. See, there has been an undeniable trend lately. The “great” events are being humbled, numbers are dwindling. The next logical question is why? I believe it is because God desires to show up in the life of individuals, not in an event. He wants to transform lives and culture. He even gives us the key in Matthew 18:20. Where two or more believers are gathered together in my name, I am there with them. So, where does this fit in with our event mentality? Simple, the Kingdom of God is manifesting itself in Christian homes. Just like the early church met in homes, so God desires for us to have this mindset. The early church had no temple (church building) or priests (pastors). When the culture of their day asked about this, they stated that they are the priests and the temple. Could a church in America look like that today? Could it have no building and no pastors in the sense that people rely on them to get fresh oil and reignite their lamps? What would our culture say? They must be a cult. They have no regularly scheduled events and they meet in homes. I don’t know, maybe this isn’t the answer, but isn’t it time we re-evaluate how we do church? The current model isn’t transforming our culture, it has adapted to it and it isn’t transforming lives, people’s lamps keep going out. How many virgins were ready for the bridegroom?