Don't look now...

Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

We've lost our way.

We've lost our way and persecution is building, and we whine and complain, but we don't really pay attention to what's happening because we have allowed distractions to lull us into a false sense of our own "rights."

In Egypt, Syria, Sudan, China, North Korea, Nigeria, and any number of other countries, disciples of Jesus Christ are tortured, beaten, bereft of their possessions, and/or killed. The very area of the world where the Apostles first spread the Good News of Jesus Christ is once again a place where that name cannot be spoken aloud without risking severe persecution.

But here we are, in the United States, upset because a very visible individual professing faith in Christ (whose faith I do not doubt based upon his charitable contributions and other considerations), has been suspended from filming a television show because he stated his beliefs. Yes, it's persecution, but this is a small can of beans compared to what the rest of the world suffers.

Know and understand that "...our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12) The devil's been at this a long time, and he knows that the religious freedoms so dear to those of us in the United States are only there so long as a few pieces of velum, made and written upon by men, remain the law of the land. So long as enough people stand firm upon the principles in those founding documents, those freedoms will stand; however, those very same freedoms have made us soft and complacent. We have reveled for so long in our prosperity. Even the poorest American has more to his/her name than many in third world countries.

Sure, we wring our hands and say the necessary platitudes, and put a few pennies in the jar when the missionary stops in for a visit every several years. When we hear about the atrocities in other parts of the world, we may shed a tear, but then we go back to business as usual. As soon as we leave the church building (or even as soon as the final hymn is sung), our smart phones come out and we're discussing the current gossip. We get home and the TV goes on, filling our minds with more of the insidious brainwashing we've become addicted to.

 

We have become the church of Laodicea who were rich and pampered, but inside were sick and dying. They'd become lazy about their faith. They said they believed, but there was no feeling. The things they clung to, thinking they would be happy, turned on them and became a bloated monster of apathy and indolence.

We're in trouble folks.

But there is good news!

"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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV)

Father God, forgive us our apathy. Open our hearts to be a true people after yours. Turn us away from our laziness toward our faith. Make us a fire that will burn away the dust and tarnish that have lain too long upon those of us who claim to be the Body of Christ. In the name of your blessed Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.