At the genesis of the Christian church, Jesus gave an unusual instruction to His followers. He told them to wait. Imagine how tough it was for them to follow that instruction, particularly if you are still trusting God for patience. Fortunately, Jesus did not want them to wait just for the sake of hanging around. They were to wait for power so that they would not go out into the world just doing church.
Jesus knew that the disciples were excited by the truth of His resurrection. On at least twelve occasions, He had told them He would die and rise again. But you cannot blame the disciples for failing to grasp it. If, for example, you have never witnessed fish raining from the sky, anyone who says so will appear a talebearer.
But when they witnessed the resurrection, these men were rearing to go and tell the good news to the world. Nonetheless, He needed them not to be doing church but to be the church; Jesus wanted them to be people who were indwelt by Jesus and also filled with the Holy Spirit. 
Jesus knew they would struggle unless they got divine power. At best, they would be doing church, going through the empty motions of having a worship service.
Jesus recognized that if they went without power, they were likely to fail and that would not augur well for the church. Since these were the very people He was depending on to build His church. So, he asked them to do the difficult now so that they would not have to do the impossible later. He wanted them to wait for power so that they would be the church and not merely be doing church.
It Also Happened In The Past
God knows that going into any venture without His backing and power is sure to fail; it did before. The people of God considered the city of Ai too tiny to warrant a full army. Walking by sight, they sent a small segment of their army to capture Ai. Their rationale? “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.”
They were doing battle the same way we are doing church. Walking by sight and not waiting for the power of God to back us up. And the result of such a presumption was not good; indeed, it can never be good. The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men. For they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent. Therefore, the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
Of course, their hearts were discouraged, as can happen to anyone who tries doing church without God’s power. Mercifully, defeat is not the end of the story and neither is it ours. After they received word (and power) from God, they were able to defeat Ai. But only after God spoke. “It will be when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the Lord, you shall do. See, I have commanded you.”
Are We Doing Church Today?
What about you and me? Are we merely doing church today or do we have the power to be the church? There are simple ways of knowing those who are doing church apart from those who are the church. God knows those who are His and He helps us to identify them as those who continually depart from evil. But He tends to ignore those who are merely doing church. Why is that so?
Well, you recall He asked His servants to allow the tares and the wheat to grow up together. He only exposes their emptiness and hypocrisy at the harvest. That is what makes this post and others like it so critical. It helps to check you so you do not waste time until it becomes too late. But there are some pointers by which you can judge if you (not someone you know) are just doing church.
When you preach, nobody receives salvation unless and until you coerce them. I once heard that a preacher used to physically sweep peoples’ feet from underneath them. Whenever he failed to see people falling under the anointing, he took matters into his own hands. He kicked them. This is an extreme case but it is pitiable that most of us are like this preacher, doing church. It would have been better for him to wait for the gift of the father, that is, the Holy Spirit.
Stop Faking Power
A lot of us are like this preacher, faking it until we make it. God will open our eyes to see our need for the Holy Spirit today. Then we can be the church, with power, instead of merely doing church. A so-called successful ministry may just be taking a large crowd to hell. Whereas, there could be a small church where power abounds and they are all on their way to heaven. Because with the Holy Spirit there, there will be power. Power for salvation, power for deliverance, and all the other good stuff in heaven will be there.
It is a question of quantity versus quality. The one who has the spirit of God has quality with or without quantity. But the one who does not have the Holy Spirit is merely doing church even in the face of quantity. The choice is yours. Wait for the gift of the Father, aka, the Holy Spirit, and stop going through the motions of doing church without power.
Maranatha!
