Living on Purpose: The church equips Christians for service
I’ve been in church all my life and I know people who believe that attending an assembly fulfills the majority of their Christian obligations.
Somewhere down through the centuries the idea of the Ekklesia being a boot camp to train soldiers and a school to teach disciples how to engage in spiritual warfare and develop their ministries became watered down into an easy country club of comfort and pride.
The word Ekklesia appears in the New Testament 114 times and is often translated as “church” in the Bible. It means to be called out by God into the light of His kingdom and called out from the darkness of a sinful world. Unfortunately, most members are content to give offerings to pay the one percent to do 99 percent of the work.
We’ve read lately how a few Christians in Oklahoma and Louisiana read the memo about putting on the whole armor of God and were not afraid to battle against those who threw God’s word out of public schools.
In Louisiana, it is now in litigation that all public classrooms must post the 10 commandments, and in Oklahoma, the same is true, including a Bible must be in every class. We realize when prayer was removed from public education in 1962 the church was asleep. The Supreme Court’s decision prohibited state-sponsored prayer in schools, including Bible reading. Finally, the sleeping giant has awakened and as we can see, there is no reason why every state cannot take back what was lost and more.
Yes, of course, there are parents and lawyers who are fighting against these decisions, because they do not want children to be influenced by Jesus Christ the Almighty God, The Alpha and Omega who just so happens to be the creator of all things and knows all things. And yet these same enemies of divine truth work night and day to flood our education system with a library of woke propaganda that is twisting and confusing the minds of the little ones.
This is not a Republican-Democrat, conservative, or liberal disagreement, it is clearly a war between good and evil. We recently celebrated our nation's independence, and there are many true stories associated with God and the founding of this nation. Many watch fireworks and eat a hot dog because they love being free to do whatever they want, but hardly understand that our liberty was about loving and serving God.
An Englishman named Thomas Paine came to the colonies at the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin and published a book in 1776 called “Common Sense.”It challenged the authority of the British Royal Monarchy and encouraged the colonies that to find relief from oppressive legislation by the King of England they had three choices: Do nothing, rely on their colonial government, or have the people rise up and follow what God was saying even if it cost them everything. They wisely chose the latter and their trail of blood proves it.
It appears God’s church is standing at a similar crossroad today as religious spirits of compromise and fear want to control the bride and body of Christ. Christians will spend hours watching the news and never lift a finger or bow their knees in prayer. Why not? They do not pray because they are not close to God, and they do not want to get involved for fear of persecution. The enemy whispers to soft and weak religious attitudes; “everything is alright, go back to sleep.”
This is not a seeker-friendly, patty cake devotion that fears offending those who disagree. It’s time to either stand and allow God to demonstrate His glory, or just keep playing church. We’ve had more than enough cookie-cutter programs from pastors and preachers who are intimidated to relay what God wants to say to His people.
Where is the prophet and watchman on the wall? Yes, we are divided in our political and spiritual views, but how can a true follower of Jesus possibly ignore or embrace lukewarmness that God is clearly against?
There are only two sides and the line has been drawn. I John 4:4 declares, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” but who understands that God is waiting on someone to walk in this authority with faith, holiness, and obedience?
We hear about fairness and rights but very little about truth, discipline, and judgment.
Dr. Billy Holland is a minister, chaplain and author. Read more about the Christian life at billyhollandministries.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Living on Purpose: The church equips Christians for service
