With all the different things that have been happening in the news over the past few weeks, the church has become virtually silent. It is almost as if it is afraid to make a stand. Even on issues that directly fly in the face of scriptural precedents and precepts they are still quiet. Why? Is it easier to stay silent and say nothing. Sure it is. Is that what we are supposed to be doing? Nope. Please don't misunderstand me. I am not saying use the pulpit for a propaganda machine. I am simply saying, the world needs the message of hope that is contained in scripture.
Sticking your head in the sand is easier.
This may be true, but do you know what happens when you stick your head in the sand? The waves come up and takes your feet out from under you. We experienced this as a nation a few decades ago. We laughed as churches when someone took a case to the US Supreme Court and said we should not have directed prayer in school. Then the ruling happened and almost instantly we saw a pillar of the founding of education removed.
Just ignoring a problem is easier and for a while you will not even be effected by it. Many years ago, I had a vehicle that shuttered when I started it and shifted it into gear. I drove it for several years with the same thing happening. I would tell myself I gotta get that checked and still never do it. Then one day I could not drive forward anymore. I could drive backwards but not forward. My laziness to deal with an issue cost me a transmission. It also put my family at risk and caused extreme hardship on us for several months.
Looking the other way is easier but we have to remember that there is someone that is being hurt because of our inactivity. Loves response is not apathy. Loves response is action. Just because I choose to ignore domestic violence does not change the fact that daily it happens and the countless victims of it are increasing in number. We must unbury ourselves.
It is time we shake off the sand
We have fallen asleep standing up. The United States is still a Christian nation, but now more than ever before it is in name only. Christians have never been children of inaction. We serve a God of action that responds to the calls of his children. We are supposed to have his nature in us, so that means that sitting idly by is NOT EVER and option.
The church has to dig out but how.
1. Realize that Christianity is bigger than you are.
Our message is a global one. We cannot stop and just be concerned about ourself. Church has became about the consumer rather than the prospective consumer. We got to have the lights right, the sound right, the look right, and the coffee has got to be just so or the church people with get upset and leave. Doesn't that seem backwards. Why do we set the lights and have the coffee just so? It is for them not you. I know that flies in the face of common practice but the sick need the physician. The message of Christ needs to be preached. The delivery can vary and that is good but when I realize that the guy off the street needs to hear this message and it is my responsibility to get him there. My place becomes obvious. "I AM SECOND"
2. We cannot compete with the world and assume we will not become like it.
You must have protocols in place to keep the message of Christ the center of the ministry to the lost. Many churches have tried their best to make their Sunday worship encounter/experience/conclave/gathering/lifegroup/community/collective be like a U2 concert with a little Jesus and a lot of bass. Don't get me wrong I love bass. The more the better but I will take live change over experience any day. I have never been to a concert and walked away and said that concert changed my life. I have been inspired by what I have heard. The first time I ever heard the bass player for a heavy metal band that will remain nameless rip a bass solo for 2 minutes it made we want to go home and grab my guitar. There are some churches that you cannot tell where the world ends and the church begins. You see leadership of the ultra mega churches dilute the message to make it tolerable to the lost but in the dilution the conviction is diluted as well. A light design will not save anyone from hell. A 100,000 sound array will not draw anyone to Christ. It is what is coming out of it that does. The message of Christ must be forefront in all we do.
Am I against theatrical lighting and sound. Absolutely not! If you can provide the quality go for it. Just don't allow your quest for the bells and whistles overshadow you desire for the sinners hung the thorn bushes and thistles. The world desperately needs the message of Christ because they are toiling in the thorn bushes of life and it is gripping them so tight they are getting choked out.
3. Prayer cannot be a part-time activity.
The church must be in communication with God. It is not just about leadership praying. If the church is not agreeing in prayer with the leadership, the church will spin it's wheels and eventually blow out it's engine. A frightening statistic has emerged in the realm of evangelical Christian leaders. It was asked how many minutes a day do you spend in prayer. The common answer was 15 minutes a day. Do we really expect to hit the throne room of God and truly connect through 15 minutes a day? What if you talked to your wife 15 minutes a day? How strong would your marriage be? You more than likely would not have a marriage. We have to be quick to pray. We also have to be intensive when we pray. Put away the distractions. Leave your cell phone or iPad somewhere else and just pray and talk to God and ask for direction and how to speak.
The church has lost credibility because we have stopped getting results. The lack of prayer and connection to God is the reason we have stopped getting the results the world is looking for. We have what the world is seeking. We have a real supernatural God who is in control and still wants a relationship that is intimate and lasting with us. Unless we put the time we will still only get sporadic results.
I have always heard the church called the sleeping giant. It is time for the giant to get up, wipe the sleep from it's eyes and strengthen what remains.
