Proverbs 1:32 For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
Winston Churchill said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
A good thing that has come out of this pandemic is the way it has revealed the incredible generosity and courage of some people and this is to be commended. On the other hand, it has shown the shallowness of character within a lot of souls and the fear that is hidden in so many individuals. It has also revealed a lot of the corruption that our infrastructure runs on and has been built upon. This buried garbage has made its way to the surface in all of the different segments and departments of life. Luke 8:17 For nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and brought to light.
This time of testing has been aggressively burning the dross and the old garbage that has been well lodged in our souls for a long time. We are either dealing with what God is showing us, or we are burying it deeper. The problem with burying the rubbish deeper is that the fear of facing the truth of who we really are within our deepest parts will only allow the personal lies and deceptions to continue. Prov. 1:32 For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
My backyard reveals interesting things when digging to plant a new fruit tree, grapevine, or garden bed. I have found old rusty nuts and bolts, big pieces of corroded chain, basic farm tools, and oxidized steel paraphernalia from times past. Before the development of this area, it was an old farming community, so who knows what debris is buried. The surface of the surrounding neighbourhood has a lot of cultured shrubs, ornamental trees and manicured lawns arranged by landscape companies. However, because I have one of the oldest lots in the area and have been here for a long time, I know what is underneath all of the pretentious appearances the neighbourhood is trying to project.
In a similar way, we think we can bury or hide the hurts and angry inner arguments from our workmates, friends, and loved ones. Eventually, the garbage starts to work its way to the surface and no amounts of false smiles, disingenuous laughter, or loud bravado can stop the old rusty nail from poking through causing a noticeable infection of the heart. You cannot serve the Lord and your hurt at the same time. You will have to give one of them up!
King David had buried the sin of murder and adultery and it took a visit from Nathan the prophet to dig it out. In God’s eyes, the sin was always in plain sight but to David, he thought it was hidden. 2 Sam 12:7a Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! 9 Why then have you despised the LORD’s command by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife — you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.” During this time of isolation, God is giving us many ways to repent and be set free.
We are in an amazing time of history. We are in a position to be able to get rid of a lot of stuff that has accumulated over the years that has no value to man or the kingdom of God. The trials and testing of our faith are in full swing right now and we can either come forth as mature Christians or remain babies needing milk. By faith, we have a chance to put a lot of bible scripture into real and practical use – like counting our tests as joy because we know we are growing in Christ. James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
What these trials and tests are revealing to a lot of people, is that they do not know what is written in their bible or understand their covenantal righteousness with their heavenly Father. Repeating pithy, cutesy, and clever sayings that have been heard from some sloganeers standing in a pulpit is not giving them the fortitude they need to step up and shout a declaration of faith. The word of God has to been burned into their soul so they can live. Many have not taken personal ownership of God’s living word and lived within the power of it. Matt.15;8 This people honors Me with the lips, but their heart is kept far away from Me.
This time in history is unprecedented in that we are in a unique position to be matured by the Holy Spirit because our feelings are raw and some of our empty values are being exposed as useless. We have an opportunity to allow God to do some digging within our souls and unearth some real treasure, but He will have to remove the garbage so that His treasure within us can take center stage. Rev. 1:3 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
Don’t say, “I can’t wait for things to get back to normal.” Normal in a lot of Christian circles is starting to show itself as pretty bad, and a lot of buried garbage is showing up. I for one do not want to return to so-called normal. I want to make the body of Christ relevant during my time left on earth. I don’t want the church family to return and simply rejoin their old club membership. I want the church family to be authentic. I want the body of Christ to be the pearl of great price and treasure God says it is, and I want to be one of the jewels that makes it so. Yes. Lord, let it be so!
Thank you Clay. Good questions. I hope we have the jam in our hearts and church to make the church as relevant as Christ intended. We will need God’s direction and hopefully we can fallow His instructions to get it done. Blessings.
Making church relevant. What a great statement. Solomon was blessed and showed his thankfulness with an impressive house that he built for God. After Constantine Christians made impressive church buildings that I, 1000 years or so later, personally want to see and admire in the real world. While those church buildings still are relevant for many reasons, as I ponder this post of yours, I'm wondering what are we Christians doing that is relevant and meaningful for the Kingdom. Then I think outside North America, the persecuted church is growing and incredibly relevant to those whom the call brings so much hope to. Is it possible for the relatively rich North American church to be relevant, on a large scale (as opposed to a personal relevancy)? Do we have to be humbled first? What will a relevant North American church look like? What does a North American revival look like? Or is revival something different?
Thank you Don
It is as you say "Keep our faith exclusively fixed on Jesus and what he did at Calvary." Thank you for your righteous thoughts. Blessings to you and Helen.
"We have an opportunity to allow God to do some digging within our souls "
Unless we keep our faith exclusively fixed on Jesus and what he did at Calvary to continually cleanse us from all unrighteousness, we will fail at any attempt to make ourselves a better person because only the Holy Spirit can change us according to our faith in the finished work of Christ.
Being cleaned up by God is part of being saved.
Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his.