Asking the Wrong Questions

I was talking to a friend about the state of the Church and she mentioned an interesting converstaion she had recently with a pastor from Kenya. The comment that he made that stood out the most to me was something like "I love this country [speaking of the United States], but I do not let it become part of me." I thought this was a profound statement, full of truth. She believed this was very significant and was concerned that we were not doing enough in America to build the Kingdom. She also questioned why we do not see many [any] signs and wonders in America when there are reports of amazing things that God is doing in Africa and other parts of the world. When she related this to me, my response to her was "I wonder if we are asking the right questions." She looked a little puzzled, and so I clarified my response.

I believe that the Church in America has bought into the lie that our rights matter. We complain that our rights are being violated because we cannot pray in school or we have abortion on demand or whatever the new issue may be; but we do so very little to get to know God enough to know what He would have us do. We fight over musical styles in our churches, and try our hardest to think up new programs that will fill the seats, but we are devoid of the Spirit of God. I am afraid that when the Spirit makes an appearance in our churches we are so unprepared for Him that we miss our opportunities. In ministry we talk a lot about providing meaningful opportunities for people to experience God, but I wonder if we are fulfilling true needs in peoples' lives or only our perceptions of their needs. I feel that if we spent more time praying and more time doing the work of God, we would complain less about the ills of our society, a society that we built, and get about the Father's business of accomplishing His will on earth, just as it is in heaven. I am afraid that we need to beg for forgiveness of our well-meaning, but still completely oblivious missteps when it comes to meeting the needs of the world.

We are too busy believing that God cares about our rights. I think the idea of Christian rights is completely unscriptural. It seems that Jesus told us if we are to be his disciples we are to DENY ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Paul reiterates this idea when he says that he is crucified with Christ. If we truly are His disciples, we will not be able to tell the difference between His will and our own--it will be the same agenda. The early church was not concerned with political agendas because it was too concerned about getting the word out about Jesus. Because they truly believed Jesus would return anytime, there was no time to complain about the emperor's newest edict. I hear people concerned that there will be a great day of reckoning for the church in America and I am sure that it will happen someday. Some want to blame it on pluralism others on the rise of Muslim immigration to America, but I want to put the blame where it belongs. It starts with me and the rest of the church that has been too busy to notice the tares that have been sown all around us, the tares that are choking us to death, the tares that we planted when we decided to be worried about things that do not matter. Lord, open our eyes to see the world as you see it and not through our own very cloudy vision. Lord, help us to understand that just because we have been blessed it does not give us the right to lord it over others or to expect that we deserve it by divine right. Help us to be ready for that day of reckoning, and not be caught unawares doing the "work of the Lord" only to have You tell us "I never knew you."