we have become vulnerable. accustomed to the shade that our 'sunglasses' provide for us. even in our spiritual lives. we tackle the decoys that the devil has set for us: saving gospel music; the constitution of marriage; prayer in school; pro-life activism; religious holidays... the list goes on and on.
the Church holds on so dearly to these things. these social issues. they proclaim our pride to this great nation. all that we will stand for.
but our war is not that against flesh and blood. but in the intense; painful; and, in prolonged exposure, damaging effects of spiritual warfare (damaging to your complacency in your faith)
perhaps it is our freedom of speech that has been our biggest hinderance of all in this battle. meaning, the ability to fight for these 'rights'. i mean, by making all of our country's laws align with our biblical philosophy, will we see a country turn to God? i hope not. i would hate to attend a church that is programmed by government dictatorship.
i do not think this country will experience full-fledged revival until our freedoms have been stripped away from us. until the church is an underground movement. let them bulldoze our church buildings. let them persecute us for our world-view. let christianity become a rebellion again. then and only then will you see a true hunger. a true passion.
i'm not suggesting that we light matches to our church buildings. thank God for the freedom to build a place for gathering of christians. but i think we are afraid of the inevitable: north america as a third-world country. it is actually harder to live your faith in this westernized culture than anywhere else in the world. because our battle is not against oppression, it is against legalism. our battle is not against the social issues of our north american culture, but against the root of the problem: their world-view... largely, evolutionism. give a people no meaning for life, and you get a life with no meaning. no absolute truths. no values. no conscience. try and explain to them that the purpose for church is to make the world a better place to live... it's doomed to fail. because Jesus did not come to take over the world, but to save us from it!
let that be our mission also: to save people from the never-ending punshment for the wickedness of this world.
so true...when i was in Ethiopia and Somalia, i've never seen Christians more alive, more keen in sharing their faith with those around them, even if it meant death. i think one of the biggest reasons for this is because of the way the devil takes form. over there, its something physical, like voodoo, or 'bad parts' of town- it's direct oppression. in north america though, its something much more sinister....it's under the radar, its the complacency of the church. if people were all of a sudden to become demon-possessed in norht america, i think there would be a huge revival, because then, people are aware of the evil.
ReplyDeleteAnother topic...read the Cross-Centered Life. It's awesoem, and has a lot to do with your blog! sorry this was so long