Rule #1 on the battlefield - find out who's firing at you.I've been doing some thinking lately about what/who the chief opponents of the church truly are. There's a lot of rhetoric around this issue and a lot of comforting answers that don't have that much truth to them. And so while the church would like to think the cause of its problems are some combination of gays, MTV, and the democratic party, I think the root cause hits a lot closer to home.
Taking a long term view of church history over the last 2000 years it would seem that the church is a victim of its own success. The church was a tiny mustard seed that grew into a 300 lb. gorilla which then in turn became a 90 year-old women in a walker. As a church, we wonder what we can do to fight those that oppose us but I propose that our greatest enemy is oftentimes, ourselves.
The church suffers from a self-imposed sickness that has perhaps more severely hindered its health and growth than Satan’s opposition ever did. Or, to think about it another way, perhaps apathy has been Satan’s most effective tool over the millennia.
In short, apathy has led to lethargy which has, in turn, led to atrophy.
At the risk of nostalgia, a summary reading of Acts picks up on something very fresh about the Christ followers before they had even begun to be called Christians. There was an urgency to their mission; a sense of sacrifice and excitement that has since largely abated. Somewhere along the way, Christians ceased to be the ones being thrown in the lion's den anymore, they were the lions. For centuries, the midevil and catholic churches could sit back and tell the world that it should come to them - effectively reversing the Great Commission that Jesus had left his followers when he returned to heaven.
Had the church really heard from Jesus to change his command to them or, having achieved a certain level of power and comfort, thought it had accomplished its goal of conquering the world and welcomed anyone that wished to relish that victory to join in doing so?Before the church had even effectively begun, Jesus stated the problem and the solution in very clear terms. Staring out over a valley of hurting and lost people, he said, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Jesus is saying that the problem is not the harvest but the workers!
The modern day church is in urgent need of a sense of urgency about its mission. Is the church still filled with men and women willing to sacrifice anything to glorify Christ in the world? Are we even excited about our faith anymore?! Thankfully, I do believe that the answer is yes. As with every generation, the Lord preserves out of it a remnant that has stayed true to his calling. There exists in this remnant a passion that can still save the world.
And, as it most always is, that remnant is led by its young people.
I see a certain sense of irony in the fact that the generations (X and Y) accosted and chided for their relative lack of motivation and apathy would be the generation whom, by its passion for God, could save the church - and thereby, the world.
In Isaiah 6, God calls out, “Who will I send and who will go.” In the story, Isaiah responds that he will go but, notice carefully, God wasn’t speaking directly to anyone – there is no referent in God’s statement. What I’m led to believe about this call is that its an open invitation as valid today as it was when Isaiah heard. God’s voice is echoing out of heaven calling to each of us and demanding a response. I believe that our generation will respond but let us state very clearly to those that hestitate that no response is effectively a ‘no’.
The time for inaction in God's church has passed. Echoing the words of many a biblical author, love for God will not merely be shown by sentiment but truly by action. I believe that this valley of dry bones can once again rise to be - "a vast army".