18
Isaiah 43:18-21
do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
19
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
20
The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.
Many churches get excited when they read and hear a sermon on Isaiah 43:18-19: "Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing."
Those same churches often follow with a prayer something like this: "Dear God, show your mighty hand - do your new thing - but please! For the love of all things sacred, keep everything the same HERE!"
If you don't believe me look at the very first church in Acts 11. God gives a vision to Peter where the message is, "What I [God] have made, do not say it is unclean!" This was different from the Jewish dietary laws and laws dealing with the Gentiles. But still it was what God said to Peter. The Jewish Believers had a difficult time believing that the Gentiles could be a part of God's People. And yet, God created the Gentiles.
Why do we fear change? Answer these questions -
- Are you a pack rat? Do you keep some unnecessary stuff that doesn't even hold sentimental value?
- Do you have a morning wake up ritual that it would cause your day to be ruined (or at least uncomfortable) if it were changed?
-Does your bed have to be "just so" in order for you to sleep (for non health reasons)?
-Do you have "your chair" or "your place to sit" in your house?
Granted, those are not spiritual questions, but they show our dislike of change!
There may be some humor here, but when it comes to the Church, this is Life or Death for people - Heaven or Hell!
As God says to Isaiah, "I'm going to do a new thing." We can no longer act as if that "new thing" isn't happening here!
Isaiah goes on to quote God saying, "The wild animals will honor me!" Look at who is becoming the Church. We in the church were once wild animals! It's pure and plane SIN to continue calling the wild animals, wild animals. They are Potential Saints! They need to be called what God Calls them!
The church is scraping and grasping to hold onto what was. Peter is clear in Acts that God is leading us to what WILL BE! Look where the spirit is falling! Look around the world and see where the church is bursting with life!
Now - Let me be clear: in Peter's time, the church was politically divided. There were more political/religious parties than we can even think of. We have Republican and Democrat (with some smaller parties thrown in). They chose to have Christ as their primary focus and politics took a much later position. God and Neighbor mattered much more!
I have a diverse group of Facebook friends, and the majority are confessing Christians. But I'm afraid I wouldn't know that by seeing their posts. American Christians seem obsessed with earthly politics and blame others for the state of the church. Sorry people, but God tells us it's OUR job with his power!
American Christians seem more obsessed about "getting our nation back" than getting people back in our pews. It doesn't take a mathematical genius to see we have a problem! Look around! Again, this is a life or death issue for people.
American Christians seem more concerned with who is attacking our beliefs (verbally) than who we are winning to Christ. Again - we bear the burden and responsibility of love. Jesus commanded US - not THEM. They hit us, we turn the cheek. Don't like it? Well, I'm uncomfortable with it too, but Jesus said it, so we need to work on that!
And if you're still reading, if you're not too angry with me yet - What if we were more concerned with lifting the cross in people's lives than a Confederate Flag - or American Flag - or any flag? Our heritage is Christian! Before we were Christians we fooled ourselves by saying we had a heritage. The world is a hotel - Christianity is a home. Think about that.
And think about this - We would never go to a hospital that isn't fully committed to health because our lives would be in danger. BUT Christians often go to churches that aren't committed to Christ without doing anything about it because Christians don't really think our souls are in danger. So, do we believe what we say we believe?
This isn't all bad news - It's a call to see God's Vision! God let's us back on the train! God lets us take our faith seriously again. God gives us second chances.
Nothing stays the same! Watch out your window and you'll see the world change in an hour. But that's the way God designed it. Now - Pray and Act - What is God calling you to do?
No comments:
Post a Comment