So, what do we do now?
What do we do in this world, in this day, in this time, in this era?
In this climate of increasing hostility toward Christians?
How do we glorify God and do people good in an environment where we’re colossally unpopular?
Bailing is not an option unless we really weren’t in it to start with. If an issue causes an exit, we were around Christ but not in Christ. (1 John 2:19) Hiding is ridiculously counterproductive since the reason we’re here is to be lights in the darkness.
So, what now?
My Scripture memory over the last month has had me in the fourth chapter of Ephesians so, for the process to work, I have to read the verses again and again, asking God to peel them from the page and stick them in my head and bind them to my heart. They speak to me in very personal ways but I can’t shake the thought of their relevance to us corporately in a culture growing, in these hot days of summer, icy cold to Christianity. Sometime soon I hope you’ll steal away a moment to read the whole chapter. It is seed for the soil of our time under the sun as surely as it was when God first gave it to Paul. With your patience, I’ll pick out a few segments that might land on some ground firm enough to stand on when we’re shaken. The chapter opens with this:
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
This is the world you and I have been called to serve. This exact world. This exact era. It is not a mistake. It is a mission. Isaiah 41:4 says, “Who acts and carries out decrees? Who summons the successive generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning and at the very end – I am the one.” (NET) 1 Peter 2:9 calls us a “chosen generation.” Ephesians 2:10 says that we were created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared for us beforehand. Acts 17:26 says that God “made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times.” (NET) God is sovereign in all things. Never unprepared. Never caught off guard. Nothing happening presently is inconsistent with what Jesus said prophetically in places like Matthew 24.
So, this stage is set for us. We’re on.
Bemoaning will not help us. Believing will. We here in the west have, generally speaking, gotten away with living out our Christianity selfishly, carnally, politically, lazily, and, forgive me and include me, sloppily. We’ve left it for the professionals to do for us while we’ve tried to stay buffered on neutral ground. That’s not going to work now. Christianity has grown too inconvenient. These are days for sanctification. These are days to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we each have been called. Let’s clear out the cultural camouflage from our closets and go ahead and be willing to look different from the world and love different than the world…
Or looking different is nothing but masquerading. There are people I dearly love on the other side of many of our issues. Wonderful people. My own flesh and blood. I want those relationships. To lose them from my life would break my heart. I’ve got no stones to throw. No condemnation to scream. I breathe by the grace of Jesus alone. My very colorful extended family doesn’t leave me the convenience of discussing cold concepts. These are warm-hearted fellow human beings welcome and wanted in my home. I need Jesus to teach me how to love them well in the midst of believing differently.
(V.2) with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
What’s not going to serve us well in this era is arrogance. We have to be willing to stare ourselves in the mirror and ask an honest question: does anybody out there in the unbelieving world want what I have? If we have the love and hope of Jesus and the joy of those who know they are forgiven and the security of those who know they are loved unconditionally, and the certainty of those who know where they are headed when this life is over, the answer to that question will be yes. If we’re grossly self-righteous and condemning and lack humility and gentleness and grace and genuine love, we can’t blame their resistance on being put off by Jesus. They’ll be put off by us. We serve this world. That’s what we’re here to do. And we do it with humility and gentleness and patience and love.
(Vv.11-16) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
This is a huge part of what provoked me to write this post:
It’s time for us to go forward to church. Not back. Forward. I mean to a local church. It has never been easier to be a believer in Christ and not be invested in a local body of believers. We can sit right in front of a screen every week and watch a church service. We can hear an endless stream of podcasts by our favorite preachers and teachers. We can do Bible studies at home – thank God – and have praise and worship in our cars on the way to work – I love that, too. And those things are fabulous and edifying but they cannot supplant the local church and us fulfill our missions and follow Christ’s way. I’m asking you to hear me out here. The days we have coming are days that will necessitate – if we’re to live them well and effectively and in the will of Christ Jesus – congregating regularly and being in an intentional community with Bible-learning believers.
I’m not talking about going “back” to church the way we used to do church when Christianity was culturally and politically correct. I’m talking about going forward to church.
My maternal grandmother lived with us until she passed away when I was in early high school. She was born in rural Arkansas in the mid 1880s and died in the sprawling city of Houston, Texas in 1973. During her earthly tenure, life in these United States moved from horseback to automobiles and from jets to spacecrafts. She sat in front of a television screen utterly transfixed as Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and, with words thickly accentuated, made a statement anyone in that generation knew by heart until the day they died: “One small step for man, a giant leap for mankind.” Perhaps no word characterized the era my grandmother occupied like “leap.” Progress didn’t meander along. It long-jumped. It was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. The west wore a big S on its chest and a red cape fluttering in the wind.
Never one to believe in keeping an opinion to herself, she scoffed openly every time she heard a person long for the good old days. “You can have them,” she’d say. Then she’d commence into a diatribe like this:
“Go right ahead and swelter in the heat. I’ll stay in the air conditioning.
Go right ahead and huddle in front of a small fireplace when it’s freezing outside and grab your pillows and sleep in there, all of you, because your rooms feel like they’re 20 degrees below zero. I’ll take a heater.
Go ahead and scrub your clothes then put them through the ringer one by one and hang them on a clothes line. I’ll put mine in the washer and dryer.
Go ahead and milk that cow early every morning. I’ll go to Piggly Wiggly. Just go right ahead. The good old days are yours for the taking. Cut your electricity off and have at it. As for me, I’ll keep the days we’re living in.”
The moment Pillsbury put out the first canned biscuits, my grandmother never rolled out another batch of homemade dough. She cracked open a can of biscuits on the counter in the gladdest defiance of the good old days.
I guess in some ways that’s how I feel about church and the general climate of Christianity in my upbringing. I loved church passionately. It was a lifeguard throwing out a buoy to me, flailing in waters way over my head. It meant more to me than I have breath and words to articulate. I walked through those doors three times a week minimum. But I do not wish for the good old days of church. I’ll take today. In my upbringing, practically everybody went to church whether or not they believed in God. It was America. And, in my part of the country, it’s what Americans did because American, by and large, meant Christian. But we didn’t speak much about Jesus outside those walls. Salvation was something you received around eight or nine years old instead of every day for the rest of your life from the moment you called Jesus Lord. My family growing up wouldn’t have known to get down on the floor together on all our knees and cry out with one unified heart for God to come and rescue us from our destruction, our bitterness, our despair, our unforgiveness, our addictions and our hypocrisies. We’d never been taught or shown such a thing. Issues like rampant prejudice and sexual abuse never came up. Church didn’t sort through the trash. Collectively, church was mostly about being proper. Respectable. And, where I came from, American. I don’t have anything against being proper, respectable, or American. I want to be all those things. But it’s a new America and one the cross of Christ foresaw. The tide of Christ’s blood reached these banks way back then. He hasn’t moved off shore. This is the new America we who live here are called to inhabit on purpose and serve well.
I was raised in a thick Christian atmosphere. I have not been out of church for a single month in my entire life. In all those years I never heard anyone pray like I hear people pray today. That doesn’t mean plenty of people weren’t praying the roof down somewhere. I just didn’t happen to be where they were. I heard sweet prayers and meaningful prayers and reverent prayers and, all of them, genuine prayers. And they were heard by God, bless His Name. I cannot fathom where I’d be without them. They mattered greatly. But I never heard anybody pray under such an unction of the Holy Spirit that I had to open my eyes to see if they were lit up like a torch. I didn’t hear prayers like that at church until the last few decades. I don’t mean screaming and yelling. That doesn’t move me. I’m just talking about an atmosphere filled by the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit where the Word of God is not just taught, it is walked and stalked and pounded out on the pavement of our workplaces and social environments and under the roofs of our very own homes. An atmosphere not of convenience but of desperation where the Word of God has the power to break addictions and mend factions. When I was growing up, the only people who studied their Bibles were clergy. Good Lord, we’ve come a long way.
My experiences may not be yours. Maybe for you, days of the past really were the good old days. But whether we’d have them back or not, they are gone. Yesterday’s gone. LONG gone. Jesus longs to work here and now and among us in this world.
A gift has come to us if we’ll receive it. Our old way of doing things won’t work anymore. We won’t get away with being lazy in our faith and in our spiritual disciplines, not if we’re going to join that great cloud of witnesses one day who did their jobs well in their generations and did not shrink back in the face of hostility. We won’t get away with sharing the good news in a bad mood. Nobody will buy it. We won’t get away with virtual church. We can’t be equipped that way. We can’t fulfill our callings autonomously and self-contained. We won’t get away with all our fracturing and infighting over secondary issues. We’ll need each other too badly. The padding on the Body of Christ in America has been stripped away with the last threads of nominal Christianity. We’re lean these days. Just listen to the statistics. But make no mistake. Lean can be strong. Lean can run fast and hard with the gospel around the globe.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
We won’t get away with all our carnality. It’s cheating us of the Spirit. And, boy, do we need the Spirit.
22 put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
We won’t get away with these things if we’re to walk worthy of our callings in a culture increasingly unwelcoming to Christians. Not if we’re going to love people who hate us. Bless people who curse us. Help people who hurt us.
And that is a gift.
Our lives will be over before we know it. And we will stand before Jesus and look at His glorious face and marvel over His worthiness of every ounce of our devotion. And we won’t be able to do this over. We’ll have only had this one chance to do this thing with all our hearts. Let’s not go back to church. Let’s go forward to it. Let’s not go back to the Bible. Let’s go forward to it. Let’s not go back to prayer. Let’s go forward to it. Let’s not go back to the way the Holy Spirit worked yesterday. The pipe is breaking. The Spirit pouring. He’s doing something wildly significant today. Let’s congregate, Church, under the nearest spout, so we can spread out and splash on a dry and thirsty land.
for we are members one of another. (V.25)
And the devil’s not playing out there.
Beth, as usual you hit the nail on the head. I too spent my life in church. And it was, as you said, a wonderful experience and central to my being the person I am today. But there was no passion for The Lord, no crying out to him. I praise Him for letting me live in this time and to seek Him in such a wonderful way. As believers our future is decided and this life is “but a breath”. May we be found faithful for “such a time as this”.
Very poignant.
Your writings always hit home with me.
Lots for me to ponder, study, and pray about.
Thank you, sweet child of God.
AMEN!! God bless you Beth! I so needed to hear this. It’s a wake up call to our faith and Who we truly believe in…JESUS!
“There are people I dearly love on the other side of many of our issues. Wonderful people. My own flesh and blood. I want those relationships. To lose them from my life would break my heart. I’ve got no stones to throw. No condemnation to scream. I breathe by the grace of Jesus alone. My very colorful extended family doesn’t leave me the convenience of discussing cold concepts. These are warm-hearted fellow human beings welcome and wanted in my home. I need Jesus to teach me how to love them well in the midst of believing differently.
(V.2) with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
What’s not going to serve us well in this era is arrogance. We have to be willing to stare ourselves in the mirror and ask an honest question: does anybody out there in the unbelieving world want what I have? If we have the love and hope of Jesus and the joy of those who know they are forgiven and the security of those who know they are loved unconditionally, and the certainty of those who know where they are headed when this life is over, the answer to that question will be yes. If we’re grossly self-righteous and condemning and lack humility and gentleness and grace and genuine love, we can’t blame their resistance on being put off by Jesus. They’ll be put off by us. We serve this world. That’s what we’re here to do. And we do it with humility and gentleness and patience and love.”
THANK YOU! Well said. Love wins bc JESUS DIED FOR MY SINS! May this be my life’s message to show forth CHRIST AND HIS TRUE LOVE! May all Christ’s disciples show WE HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN AND CHANGED and want CHRIST to do same for all! True Gospel: True Freedom! May we be living proof of the forgiveness and transformation of GOD’s GRACE through CHRIST JESUS!
I still do not fit in at “the church”. I understand why the world says “love wins” when anything goes because in the church where we have the key to THE DOOR we often do not use it AND we block others from entering! THE KEY IS THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST and focus on what HE DID AT THE CROSS! Rev 12:11 life. Been trying to live this and have been left almost dead. I wonder if anyone wanted what Paul had when he suffered so greatly to live what he believed? It was not pretty or comfortable but it was beautiful and intimately real, full of love for His personal Savior and for all people. I think people did come to want what he had… Committed people who saw JESUS as the ALL IN ALL HE is! Choosing to make JESUS my greatest treasure is hard but is is a beautiful life. One I want more than anything for myself and others. Jesus try is the greatest treasure. May our lives display this reality then others will want what we have!
Thanks again. Thanks for living proof JESUS IS ABUNDANT LIFE!
Amen and Amen!!! Thank you.
Jesus truly is the greatest treasure. (Typo above)
Oh Beth, thank you so much! I dearly do love you.
Bless you, mama Beth! Your words were like a balm to this discouraged preacher’s wife. Wondering where we go from here. To Jesus of course. Thanks for the reminder of the high calling and that we are strong, even though we are lean. I love huh and esteem you. Thanks for speaking the truth this morning. God used you mightily during my quiet time today…what a beautiful chapter to study!
Thank you! Praying blessings on your day!
Crystal
Amen and Amen again! While my church upbringing was nothing like yours (mine – nearly non existent), I can really relate to the diversity of belief in the people I love. I so appreciate your message on not shrinking back, but in pulling together, doing a personal inventory, loving stronger, serving more, believing in the Lord to provide all we need. See you in Boise!!!
I hear you Beth! This resonated so strongly in my Spirit….This is an OPPORTUNITY. And He is READY! All he needs is for us to need him as we never have before.
But you say it as no one else can. You present it as a banner flying before us. This is our new mission. Well said sweet friend.
Heidi
YES and AMEN, Beth!
Thank you! A word I really needed to hear!
Great word Beth…spoke to me greatly!
This was beautifully written Beth and oh so true.
Wow.Just Wow.
Lord hear my cry and show me how to live in You in the here and now. Help me to find my place in Your great creation that we call the world. I am listening Lord….
Thank you thank you thank you!!! It’s been a tough few weeks here on the east coast. Politics and religion. Watching friends and family filled with so much hate towards each other when they disagree. Watching myself get sucked in, I had to shut the tv, computer, and phone down and this week, when I get riled up, I open my Bible app on my phone. I’ve been so embarrassed by so many “Christians” who are not acting like the name they bear. You’ve summed up every emotion and jumbled thought I’ve had recently and have done so lovingly and eloquently. I really really needed to read this today.
Siesta Mama, Thank you for following the prompting of the Spirit to write this post! This falls right in line with what the Spirit has been laying on my heart in recent months. I desperately pray that the Bride will be unified & purified during these times in which we live. Unity is impossible unless we are working together, in the same direction, toward the same goal. May it begin with us and spread like wildfire.
We are lifting you and the team for this weekend in Greenville. Counting down the days. Mom and I are expecting God to show up, show out, & do exceedingly more abundantly than we can ask or imagine. May He alone be glorified.
~Elaine
Powerful truth – such an encouragement in this moment and going forward in the amazing moments ahead. I love the line . . . we can’t give good news with a bad mood!
Yes! Come, Lord Jesus! May we cling fast to Him and learn how to live in these days. Lord, make us a light to those we interact with every day.
Thanks. For such a word at such a time. I do wish I could meet you Beth, but it would just be to say thanks face to face. You have so encouraged me and taught me. But this will do. Thank you. Really. Really.
This is so true……AMEN dear Sister!
Thanks so much Beth! I needed to hear that today! You have said it so well. I was down today and could feel the Evil One working on me. You lifted me up to walk forward! Loved this message and will share it with others including my husband! Bless you!
Wow! and AMEN!!! This needs to be shared and proclaimed to all Christians everywhere. May God do a work through this word.
AMEN SISTER! Very well written! I’m so blessed that our church has preached this same message in the last few days! Time to walk it out, all of us!
Word!
lI love this message so much!! I have struggled with how to handle a certain situation with one of my family members and this confirms that I just need to stand strong and keep believing and praying for him! AND I think I should also give him some of God’s promises because he may NOT hear it anywhere else! I have not wanted to “annoy” him (that’s what I think he would feel) with God’s Word BUT this is a spiritual battle and he NEEDS to hear it NOW more than ever! Thank you for encouraging me! God is in control of every situation and I will continue to trust Him!! 🙂
Thank you for every.word.on.this.post. 🙂 Agree 100% Thanks for this!
Thank you, Beth. As a deacon and Sunday school teacher I have been struggling lately to be encouraged and to be an encourager. Today I am putting the novel I was reading aside and turning to the 4th chapter of Ephesians instead.
Oh Beth you hit the nail on the head with this one. This past week has been a struggle for Christians & non believers as well. You spoke words that I have tried to put together but I just couldn’t. This is a powerful message about the love of Christ. Christ died for ALL sinners and we should love others as Christ does. I’m going to share this devotional with family and friends and hope that it will bring encouragement and healing to many who need to hear about the love of God. Thank you for speaking the truth of God’s Word. May God give us all a renewed sense of urgency to go forward as the body of Christ.
POWERFUL! Praise God for your boldness to help empower the Church with Truth and boldness in these final days. My husband and I serve through prayer with a couple of local churches. One of these churches in Omaha has prayer meetings 6 days a week~ 3 times each day (18 times per week), praying bold prayers for God’s Kingdom and His glory. The LORD is doing amazing things through prayer worldwide in the Body of Christ. Thanking God for your ministry and how your ministry has helped me and others fall in love with Jesus.
Lord, thank You that as the darkness gets darker the light gets so much brighter! Thank You that we are not alone. You go before us, You are with us, the Church is growing closer and stronger. Thank You that what the enemy meant for evil in these days, You are using for good and the saving of millions (or possibly billions) of lives. The enemy will regret what He did and what He is doing, when He sees how You LORD are using it for good in these final days. Thank You Heavenly Father for sanctifying each member of the Body of Christ! Lord, help me (help us!) not be lazy in doing all You call us to do. Empower us each day. Speak through us, move through us, Your Kingdom come, and Your will be done. We love You, Father. Please hear all of our cries to You, in Jesus’ name.
Thank you Beth, for being a beacon of God’s light in the darkness of our world. I pray that God will use each of us to be his shining light to those around us. May all of us who are walking with Christ unite to spread the word, to draw others near him. May the Lord encourage and empower us to stand united and strong against the persecution of others. Beth, you have inspired me in such a mighty way…and for that I thank God everyday. You are a mighty servant of the Lord and I pray God will use me to touch the lives of others also. May God continue to bless you and your staff.
Amen, Beth! Such a timely and powerful word… I’m IN!
Thank-you for this timely and convicting post.
Adrienne
Thank you from TX. This post reminds me of your amazing workbook studies.
God has much to do. His Plan will be accomplished by His power.
We each decide to either scoff, ignore, sit & watch, or leap into the circle to forward
His kingdom. I am excited and moved by His Spirit that is gently shaking many.
Together with Him we are one. “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.” Psalm 51:12
With our joy in Him we richly reach others.
Thank you Beth. I find myself not knowing what to do…sometimes I feel best to not voice my opinions or respond. May I be more encouraged to do so but with love in my heart. To stand “firm” as you said.
Thank you sooo much for your precious insight to Scripture that I’m sure is familiar to so many. I can’t help but be amazed at how God uses you to be such a blessing to others. To God be the glory! We love you Beth! Keep on being God’s vessel and sharing your love for Him with us. If others can’t see our Lord in you, then they’re plain blind. (winking)
Praise The Lord! He answer my prayer through you today because ” I need Jesus to teach me how to love them well in the midst of believing differently”!!!!!
Our Ladies Bible Study is currently studying Priscilla’s book ‘One in a Million ‘ and I WANT to be 1 in a million and your post helps me see more clearly HOW to be 1 in a Million like Joshua was.
I’m going to church with a new attitude.
Thank you, Beth. : )
Oh Beth. I needed this post so badly!! My heart has been so heavy and I have felt so burdened for the past couple of weeks….and fearful….so fearful! I have been reading His Word and clinging to every bit of it! While the times that we live in continue to surprise me, I am so thankful that I have a God who is not surprised at all!!! Your words feel like a healing balm….they always do that for me!! Thank you so very much!!
Yes, Kathy! Continue to cling to His Word! Much love to you!
Sherry
Wow….thank you for sharing those words. We were meant to be living right here in this generation.
Can’t wait to see you Friday in Greenville
Thank you. I was encouraged so much by this.
I’ve been waiting for this post from you Mama Warrior 🙂 You make me want to march forward with you. You’ve spurred me on once again. My Christian background is much like yours and while I was reading I felt myself sitting beside you in those pews.
I could feel the prophecy in your words about us Believers stopping the infighting and division and get back to the business of Jesus. We can’t cover that stuff anymore; non-belivers can sniff that out and be turned off calling it hypocracy. We need to be transparent but also showing that when we mess up or need help we always turn to the Bible and to each other.
Something struck me the other week while flipping thru the channels. A lady on a popular daytime women’s talk show said she knew that Christianity is struggling because the world doesn’t see the love that Jesus preached..in other words: we look just like the world.
That comment she made threw me into the Word and I found John 13:35 that says ‘the world will know you are my followers by your love for EACH OTHER.’ Those two words caused me to pause and remember how often I’m sitting in a leader meeting and sensing pride…envy..offense..hurt. Then we walk into the foyer and put on our happy face and do our best job (and it’s genuine and good) of loving the new guests. Those secondary issues we’re feeling are because we’re HUMAN! It’s alright! The disciples were the same way with each other. BUT…the difference is that they would know it needed to be RESOLVED like Jesus taught them; so as a result of having a clean heart and not holding unforgiveness, the Spirit could move through them to be able to show others what God’s love looks like, so people would want what they had…JESUS.
[Have you been watching “A.D. The Bible Continues”? It has been such a motivator for me to get busy being about the work of Jesus in this broken, broken culture we live in.]
Love you!
Beth, Please do not let this be the only posting like this. Family on the side of the enemy, and they don’t even realize it. The body of Christ needs instruction in this area. I’ve been studying and praying. Jesus never condemned or shunned. I’m old enough to have grandchildren and every day school, TV, their entire world, tells them wrong is right and right is wrong. May the Holy Spirit lead us on. Stand firm in love.
Wow Sister Beth!!! YES! I yell YES!!! PRAISE JESUS!!!
I for one long for the “good old days.” When people were kind to one another and neighbors knew each other. When people dressed decently to attend church and sang traditional hymns instead of all this screeching. When children were raised to treat their elders with respect. When the elderly were treated with dignity and honor. When parents disciplined their children properly. When obscene words were not used in polite society and bodies were not covered in ugly tattoos. When criminals did not have more rights than their victims. But those days are gone and will never return.
I have felt all of this stirring in my heart over the past few weeks. Thanks for supplying the words to describe exactly what I have been feeling! AMEN!!
Thanks for challenging me. I like that I can be a part of this movement of coming out of the Lazy-Christian stage.
Thanks for putting into words my feelings exactly. God,please hear our prayers. Linda Mitchell
Amen! We so need this encouragement. I wish everyone in my church family would read this.
Psalm 138:2 (NLT)
I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.
Beth’s bible study “Believing God”, will begin July 10th online at The Women’s Bible Cafe. Let’s join together over the summer and strengthen our hearts for the days ahead ❤️