Sleeping Giant on the Earth?

Could the Church possibly be the biggest sleeping giant the world has ever ‘not known’? As the representative of Almighty God on Earth, does it appear to us and to the un-churched that we are fully awake and up to or capable of significantly impacting for good the rampant challenges, moral decay and disillusionment facing mankind? Could the steady deterioration in moral and civil life on Earth simply be preparatory to world events foretold in the Book of Revelation -- the unstoppable winding down of this age, in preparation for the next millennium? Or might it be more related to our collective need to accomplish what God outlined to King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14, ‘..if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.’  Lord knows our land -- the whole planet, needs healing!

Perhaps such questions have been posed ever since Christ ascended to Heaven. Either way, it is beneficial to review the four pivotal personal and corporate disciplines that will ensure we are playing our God-intended roles in the Earth. Though they are all familiar, they warrant a succinct review.

Repentance and Forgiveness. These two Christian disciplines are fundamental and should be practiced daily or even more often, as needed. Have you ever noticed the so-called Lord’s Prayer is perfectly balanced on the two center petitions:

‘Give us this day …and forgive us …as we forgive.’

(Matthew 6:11 – 12)

The perceptive reader will see and understand how closely Jesus associated the practice of forgiveness to the frequency of our eating. Repentance signals our recognition that, though beneficiaries of salvation, our life in the flesh remains prone to sin and falling short of God’s requirements. It ensures the continued flow of God’s Grace of forgiveness to us, and it demands our onward forgiveness of those who offend and sin against us. ‘Grace received’ thus becomes ‘Grace extended’.

Thanksgiving. Regularly practicing this discipline radically shifts our magnifying focus away from our problems, to a laser-like focus on our Problem Solver. The highest expression of thanksgiving and love is giving – giving of our substance and ourselves to God and others. Only as we ‘see’ (perceive) our problems safely in the hands of our Chief Problem Solver, are we able to give ourselves more to God, and to help meet somebody else’s needs. In seeing our own problems like the faint mirror reflection of somebody else’s more intense, more immediate problems, we are enabled to respond selflessly.

Obedience. This is likely the most challenging and comprehensive of all Christian disciplines. It is the quintessential test of denial of self, faith-led trust in God, and Christ-motivated love for others. Much of what to obey is very clearly specified in The Bible for the ‘black and white’ areas of our walk. This is not so clear in the gray areas of life, where The Bible provides no clear, black and white guidance or instructions. Only by daily feeding (not just nibbling) on The Word, and being continually filled with The Spirit can we accumulate an adequate ‘stock’ of knowledge, understanding and wisdom of Kingdom laws and principles to cultivate the skill of hearing God’s still quiet voice saying, ‘This is the way. Walk in it.’  This is like being on the edge of a still, quiet and deep lake, where the whisper of someone on one side is easily echoed and heard by someone on the other side of the lake. Like me, have you learned how impossible it is to hear this voice clearly in the din of life’s challenges? These challenges are magnified by innumerable ungodly cultural choices that consume our time and energy, and that saturate our gluttonous, fleshy (carnal) desires. We can hear more easily in quiet, meditative solitude where we can muse the daily Word content downloaded into our spirit, and perceive the messages, guidance and instructions cloaked therein. 

Jesus did this regularly. In John 5:19, He gave us insight into the results He received. As He practiced this discipline, He ‘saw and heard’, in the imaginations of His heart, exactly what The Father was doing en avance, in the world of spirit, which things would soon manifest physically as Jesus spoke and acted on what He saw and heard. Read that again. This is because everything that happens physically is but the manifestation or after-birth of that which has already occurred (been born) spiritually. (For example, Ezekiel 9 occurred prior to 2 Chronicles 36:15-21! Check it out.) With this insight, it was easy for Him simply to step into the pictures (or videos) He saw, and to do what He saw/heard The Father doing.

Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you,

the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do;

for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.’

(John 5:19)

May this review be helpful in checking yourself against these pivotal disciplines, and in playing your personal role in awakening the corporate Church. Without a doubt, the world needs us to play our God-assigned role in this day and age. What awaits the many of us who will refuse to ‘step-up’, is very likely the same, exact fate of the Church at Laodicea, that The Lord promised in Revelation 3:14-22. (See: Laodicean Lackadaisicalness (Series) and Audacious Christians (Series))