Church! Wake up!
How do you walk through a global pandemic?
I'm a simpleton, but to me the answer has to be: walk. You walk it out. The alternatives are to take a passive approach and do nothing or an aggressive approach and try to rush the process. In either case, you miss the process. Be it pandemic or grief or loss or pain it all has to be processed if we are to come out on the other side in health.
I find myself walking two lanes of feelings while watching the pandemic unfold. In one lane, I cheer and hoop and holler (my Oklahoma roots coming out!) at the way the Church is rising out of the fear and serving her communities. I marvel at the resurgence of prayer. I am overjoyed by the increase in family time that has been prescribed by stay-at-home orders. I am shocked to see so many humans outside. I am smiling at the way teachers are still pouring into students online. I am humbled by those putting on scrubs and working without proper medical supplies to help those infected. I am hushed in a way that forces me to be still and know.
And while these are positive and good and right things to be amazed and slowed down by, I am also carrying a burden. That's where I walk in another lane. I hurt for those who are not working and collecting necessary paychecks. I tear up knowing the elderly in my own life are scared and unseen by family members. I grieve with those who aren't celebrating weddings, graduations and birthdays. I summon courage for those who are unable to sit in hospitals with those who are sick and possibly dying. I am undone by the fear that I see in people's eyes. Yet, the biggest burden I carry is for the Church.
I am grieved by the modern Church and her priorities. Somehow, we've operated with good intentions but have made Church event driven and personality heavy. We've formed studies and groups and called them intentional while many people sit on the sidelines hurting and wondering why those who call themselves followers of Jesus don't notice them. We've made idols of buildings and smoke machines and trendy jeans while stealing attention from the One who calls us by His name. I hear 2 Chronicles 7:14 being used as an anthem but wonder if we are paying attention to the words:
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 will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
Hmm.
Before I continue, let me say I love the Church. I am part of the Church. I'm not bashing the Church. I'm calling us up. It's time.
Before COVID-19, it was difficult to connect with many inside the Church. Busy"ness" is an idol for most who bear the name of Jesus. Most of our busy"ness" is good stuff. It's just too much. Meetings are meetings for meetings sake and prayer has been attached as an afterthought. We worship the Name. We hear the lessons well. We live in our insulated circles. We have good lives. So why the burden, Christina??
Because this is not what I believe God has called the Church to do. It wasn't what Paul told the Church. It wasn't what Jesus modeled. And I fear that as we navigate uncharted waters during the pandemic, the Church will trade one set of busy"ness" for another and call ourselves changed.
There are so many words from Paul that I could illustrate but since I brought up 2 Chronicles 7:14, let's just camp out there.
If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves ...
Humble, according to definition.org means:
"Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful."
What would it look like for the Church to humble herself? Could I suggest it starts with taking ourselves, our leaders, our programs, our buildings, and yes, even our smoke machines off the throne and putting God back on center stage? Would it look like not moving an inch until we heard from God? Would it look like not acting on any strategy to reach our community until God provided the wisdom, strategy, people and product to move on it? Have we let this pandemic humble God's people?
... and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways.
How are we praying, seeking His face, and turning from our wicked ways? It has to come out of this place of humility. I pray differently when I am in a spirit of humility. I confess my own sin. I confess my own busy"ness". I confess my own pride. I confess my own prayerlessness, unbelief, and ineffective witness. I confess because I've allowed myself to become small in the power of the Cross. If you are like me, you might scratch your head and wonder what wickedness lies in your heart. Ask Him. For me, I've seen things that separate me from Him through the shows I binge watch on Netflix, the idle use of doing nothing, to the way I disregard opportunities to share His love in a simple way. We each have our own "wickedness". Let's just own it and confess it. And let's not be afraid to ask God to show us what those things are and where they lurk within us. He's a good and loving Father. He's not going to list our issues of wickedness, post them on Facebook and shame us into change. He's not like that. He will reveal only to heal that within us. That's the kindness of discipline.
And how do I seek God's face? I lay before it. I lay before Him and empty myself of all I am and all I think I am and I give Him room to weed out all the junk and weave back in all the truth. I seek His desire, His wisdom, His plan for me. I seek ... until I find. And when I find ... I act transformed.
And for heaven's sake, how do I turn from my wicked ways? I first have to acknowledge I have them ... and so does the Church. When I humble myself, pray, seek, then my heart is in the right posture to receive in love the wickedness of my own heart, actions, and thoughts. Wickedness can be examined through a lens from a loving Father who desires to prosper me and call me into the good works He's created for me to do ... not the things I've created for myself to do.
We know the rest of the verse ... but we have to examine, honestly, the first part.
Oh Church! God loves us so much that He has allowed a global pandemic to create space and time to allow the global Church to pray, seek, and turn! Let's not waste this time! Let's not replace an old habit for a new one and call it good. Let's truly hear from heaven. Lets humbly respond from a place of humility that leads to real change and real heart reform and not behavior modification.
The Church is Gods. Let's give it back to Him. Let's live by the words of His Word that tells us to renounce the shameful and secret things, to not walk in deceit or distort God's message but to openly display His truth (2 Corin 4). Let's not forget who we are! We are the light that shines in the darkness (2 Corin 4:6). We are extraordinary treasures in clay jars! We were meant for times like these. We were meant to be pure, refined, and impacting the world for Jesus. Let's humble ourself, pray, seek, and turn from wickedness because the world is counting on us! The world needs to see light while they experience darkness. Let's be the Church. Let's be a pure offering to God who sacrificed everything for us. Let's use this time to emerge as obedient children with a new vision for serving Him and not ourselves. It's time! Let's walk!
Come on, Church! Let's Wake Up!
