Is There No More Cause?

Dying for Change

Have you ever been lost and asked yourself, “Where do I go from here?” Years ago after having accepted my first call to serve in a local church as staff youth pastor, upon my first arrival in the city, I got lost driving to the church building during the early morning hours. Because it was dark and I was unfamiliar with the streets and roads, it took me many hours to find the church location (this is before we had GPS). As a result, what normally would have been a relatively short drive ended up being many hours. By analogy, a similar lack of direction in ministry focus seems to be true of our current cultural environment in North America. In fact, I was visiting with a close friend who just a year ago surrendered his life to Christ who said, “I can sense uncertainty in the air.” That sentiment is becoming more common.

We have seen significant change here in North America in recent years. My paternal Grandfather witnessed great change in his day also. However, his experience with change came gradually. He experienced change in transportation, moving from horse drawn buggies to the Model T and later the Model A Ford to what we now call the modern automobile. The same was true for his farming experience, as he went from working with horses to the gas–powered tractors. Late in his life, he also witnessed America’s sending an astronaut to the moon. Yet, to his dying day, he would not believe we actually accomplished that feat. He felt it was a massive hoax orchestrated through clever television tactics. Denying change, however, does nothing to address it.

Many people often bury their heads in the sand and hope that what they feel will go away so that they will not have to deal with all this uncertainty. In addition, there appears to be a lethargy that permeates our culture reflected among folks paralyzed with fear. Possibly, it is because they are lost and cannot find their way back spiritually. The days seem long and dark. Whatever the reasons we may be at a place in our history as a nation, where we will be required to begin the tedious process of step–by–step moving out of these doldrums and into action. In fact, moving into action has always been good for individuals and for groups even though they may resist initially. Some might protest and say, “This time of lethargy is predicted in the Bible concerning the last days, which are supposed to be difficult, and therefore, there isn’t anything we can do about it.” While it is true that troublesome times will come during the last of the last days, there is no assurance we are at the place chronologically prophesied in Revelation and elsewhere in the Scriptures. To be sure, even if that is true, we are not free to opt out of life at any point in time.

In many respects, the present days are good, because the church always thrives best when times become difficult. It is easy to sit back and complain and compare our current condition to the “good ole days” (which were not so good either), and then slide into home base with relative ease. These days produce tension, and tension always brings about results. In the book of Acts when those in the Jerusalem church were neglecting the Greek–speaking Jewish widows in the daily administration of food, a reaction occurred within the church. The net reaction gradually gave rise to another church office known as the “deaconate.” In other words deacons, an original description of the seven men selected and responsible for these neglected widows, were mandated with the responsibility of ensuring that each widow receive what they needed to sustain life. Without tension, those widows might have continued to languish in improper care.

The same is true today, as it was in the first century situation. Our culture is seriously at odds with the message of God. However, we cannot allow that to deter us from doing what God requires of true disciples. In my opinion, what our world needs more than anything else is a true picture of what a church looks like when she is fulfilling her responsibilities before God and man.