by Marci
God is calling his church to wake up. Not only to wake up but to get up. Not only to get up but to get going. Too long have his children been asleep. Sure there have been some bad dreams during this slumber, but not nightmarish enough to wake us from our sleep and want to get out of bed. We groan, flop over, pull the casual Christian covers over our head and go back to happy dreams.
Of course like the human body needs sleep to renew itself and survive, so the church body needs this “sleep” so to speak. But do we as humans sleep constantly and never arise? Of course not. The church body has been hitting the snooze button far too long. I believe God is about to rip that clock out of the wall and flip the bed over to get the church up and active! Just as a loving mother does to get her child off to school.
Seriously though, we need to wake up and get out of our complacent lives. It has been pressed upon me pretty hard lately to revisit the ministry of my all time favorite musician and reason that I started playing piano, Keith Green. That man did not sit idle and compromise to the “times” or “political correctness.” He was not afraid to speak what God wanted people to hear even though he risked hatred and really ticking off the church folk.
God loves us so much. He is not a mean guy who is hoping we are miserable in our walk with him! But we are foolish to believe that it is okay to ho hum through this life he has given us awaiting our final hour to be taken to heaven to live forever. Praise God that IS what will happen as believers in Christ, but I can’t believe that is what we are called to do.
There has been a ridiculous fall in this world’s morals, tolerance of things that God abhors, and, I hate to say it, but I see it happening in large numbers of churchgoers who claim to be living for the Lord. My thoughts are not meant to be a huge guilt trip, and I personally am just as guilty as the rest. We are human and will of course fall short over and over. Praise unto the God of grace and mercy who takes us back over and over!
Where is the zeal? Where is the sold out fire for God? The devil is having a party right now because of the frozen state of God’s people. He has put fear in many not to speak out for what we KNOW is right because we don’t want to offend or make people uncomfortable. Friends, of course we must say all this in love and with compassion and only after we have prayed for God’s wisdom on how to approach such things, but we have to do something. Time is short whether you want to admit it or not. Too much of what we call “church” is manmade. Loving our heavenly father is a relationship that is personal and real.
I have never been one to possess the courage to say things I feel because of the worry of things getting uncomfortable or hurting someone’s feelings or whatever reason, but that is the problem. We have to stop apologizing for wanting to speak the truth. For wanting to call people out on things that are against what we know to be right. We cannot sit still any longer and let this corrupt world dictate what we “should” believe and what we are “supposed” to say and do. Society’s standards are not ours. God’s standards are. The alarm has sounded. Will you hit the snooze again or get out of that bed? People are dying all around us. Many of them sit next to you in church. We need to help them.
Just some thoughts…
Marci