A Different Conversation...
I love Jesus. So much. Without a doubt, He is my Savior, my Hero, my Lord, my favorite person, and my best and most trusted friend. He is the only one who has never let me down. And, though I wish I could say I’ve never let Him down, the reality is I have, oh so many times. But, in light of that statement, I must say that with all of my heart, the last thing I want to do in this hour, is to let Him down now.
There are so many things happening in our world right now. So many confusing, frustrating, and disturbing things going on all around us. I don’t know about you, but some of them make me angry, some of them make me sad, and through most of them, what I think I feel most right now, is this unshakable sense of disappointment.
Why disappointment? That’s a good question... Here is my best attempt at an answer. I think I feel disappointed in America, and in the Church in America. We are better than this, at least I believe we are supposed to be... expected to be... could be... need to be (now for sure)... as both leaders of the "Free World" and as a people of "Faith" who live out our "Faith" in the "...Land of the Free and the home of the Brave."
- An entire Nation seemingly cowering in fear in the face of a virus?
- Businesses of all shapes and sizes all across America forced to shut their doors (many of which will never open them again), while in many states abortion clinics were allowed to stay open and deemed essential?
- Churches being ordered to stop meeting under threat of criminal prosecution and arrest, and the majority willingly doing so, without even blinking, as they surrendered First Amendment Rights and bowed down at the altars of Medicine, Science and Technology?
- The expressed devaluing of human life as manifested and witnessed in the casual taking of a life during the apprehension and arrest of a suspect at the hands of, in the name of, and as an asseveration of the law, and law enforcement?
- Rioting and looting in the streets in response to injustice, resulting in not only the further loss of life, but also untold millions of dollars in property destruction, damage and theft, which is then portrayed as "justifiable" by the media?
- Cities allowing anarchy to reign due to either state or city leaders in agreement with a liberal anarchist agenda, or an apparent fear of being seen by the media as intolerant, racist or politically incorrect?
- Mobs destroying, tearing down or removing statues and monuments, disfiguring and desecrating artistic expressions of the truth of our history and key aspects of the story of our republic?
- And, all of this taking place in the brave new world of "masked" America, and our newly adopted culture of quarantine and "Social Distancing?"
- This tragic short-list of today’s current events and my perceptions of them, could unfortunately go on and on...
But, please hear this... This, I believe, is not us, America. This is not who we are meant to be. This is not who we should be. This is not who we need to be. We can do better. We’ve got to do better. We must do better, because our "melting pot" has become a "caustic bubbling cauldron."
Back to Jesus...
As stated above, I love Jesus, so much, even when He is hard to live with, hard to live for, hard to understand, and hard to follow. And, as I’ve spoken honestly with Jesus about my feelings of disappointment, as I’ve continued in conversation with Him as all of these things have unfolded, as I’ve cried out to Him and attempted to intercede in prayer for America and for all of these circumstances currently at hand, I’ve also been hearing back from Him... No, not through a voice that I’m hearing in my head, but through a persistent piercing in my heart, through my relationship with Him, and in the daily reading of His Word. What I’ve felt Him saying to me in response and in my heart is this: "All of this is exactly what I’ve told you was coming through my Word. A time of increasing lawlessness, lovelessness, and faithlessness. A time of the unfolding of judgement, the beginnings of which are not the wrath of God, but are the direct results of the actions and free-will of humanity. God isn’t ‘doing’ this. God is allowing you to choose what you will and what you want, and to experience the results of life in a fallen world in which you have chosen deliberately to live apart from and without Him, out from under His covering, and without the constraints of His Word and His Will." (See Matthew 24:4-14)
How can I put this message into receivable words? There are so many talking heads out there right now. So very many... So many angry, wounded, anguished, violent, loud, vulgar, offended, offensive, enraged, confusing and confused voices. So many words from so many different sources... How will anyone hear, heed and receive these words I feel led to write, and the message I believe I’m supposed to share? Even with what I’ve written so far, there are likely already many who have shut me off, and there will be many more who will pick apart my words, discounting what I’m saying as ethnically biased, as theologically fundamentalist, as Biblically illiterate, as unintelligent, as those determined to instead of considering what I’m saying, to be those who get caught up in the circumstantial narrative of the now, and miss the larger Biblical and Prophetic context all together.
But, here it is...
America, like it or not, we’ve chosen this, this "now...". We have methodically, litigiously and legislatively prepared our society for this hour of great turmoil. We have created this moment. This that we are going through is the direct result of our "best" thinking, planning, preparations and plotting apart from God. We have pridefully, arduously and systematically removed the foundation stones of faith, morality and of Biblical moral absolutes, from beneath the structure and from the very fiber itself of our Nation and Culture. And, Church, to be totally honest, the reality is this, it has all been done under our watch. So, now, as we turn on the news each night and take in the latest video footage of bedlam in the streets, we think to ourselves, "How can this all be happening?!?" Here is the truth... America, we have sown these seeds, we have planted these crops, and Church, we have, in our years of silent assent, allowed all of this to happen, to become what it is, and now... Now we are reaping this harvest.
The only way to change it, any of it, is to recognize what time it is, to come back to Jesus, to come back to God’s Word, and to come back to the real, authentic, heartfelt, living out of our relationship with God without regard for the cost to us personally. What I’m talking about here is Repentance. To recognize the path and direction we have chosen and to turn 180 degrees in order to go the exact opposite direction.
In Revelation 12:10-17 a "flash forward" takes place and the reader is given a picture of the times of the end. In this picture and in the last part of verse 12 we are shown what is really behind all of the escalations in violence, hatred, warfare, and all of the woes of the earth. It says there: "Woe to the earth... because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time." Then, in 12:13-17 we see the action that the enemy, the dragon, the devil, the "accuser of the brethren" takes as he persecutes and pursues God’s chosen people and then makes war with all of the true followers of Jesus.
But, in verse 11, before things get crazy, we are told in advance how the followers of Jesus will prevail. In fact, this is the only way they prevail. And, what that means for us is that this is the only way we prevail. There is no other way, and there is no better plan. It says: "And they (This is us!) overcame him (the enemy) because of the Blood of the Lamb (A saving relationship with Jesus), because of the word of their testimony (Our relentless tenacity in living for Jesus, talking about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for us.), and because they did not love their life even when faced with death (We don’t cower in fear even when faced with the enemy’s greatest weapon against us, because we know this world is not our home!). In this "flash forward" it is through these three strategic actions that the Church finds and lives out victory in the face of the wrath of the one who knows his time is short and who has come to destroy them. This is what the Bible tells us that the Church did/does in the face of the future.
So, What time is it Now, Church? Seriously?!? Do we not see?!? Can we not recognize the signs of the times?!? Just open your Bible and read the book of Revelation, read Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and then look at the news headlines of just the last year, let alone the last 5-20 years, and think about what our circumstances are communicating. I believe it’s time for us, Church, to realize Who we are, Why we are here, and What we are really supposed to be doing about it. And, as we recognize what time it really is, to take action accordingly. In other words, I believe it’s time for the Church to grab ahold of this three-fold plan from Revelation 12 and to take action by coming back to an understanding and an embracing of both the Greatest Commandment and the Great Commission.
Church, make no mistake, we are designed by God to be the true agents of change in our culture. We are the Bride and Body of Christ. And, I believe it’s time we more intentionally lived and acted like it, by obediently walking in His Word in preparation for His return. We have been placed where we are, not to shut or shutter our doors out of the fear of death, or the fear of litigation or the fear of liability, but to open our arms and to take action no matter what the cost. How? By walking by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16) and by intentionally choosing to fulfill both the Greatest Commandment (OT Deuteronomy 6:4-9 & Leviticus 19:18 / NT Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:29-31, Luke 10:26-28), and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), by speaking the truth in love as we take up the purpose and personal mission of Jesus as proclaimed by Him in Luke 19:10. We are the Bride and the Body of Christ and this mantle has been placed on no one other than us. What are we going to do about it now, in the face of things as they are and as they are unfolding?
Church, something to consider now is this, what if there is a "Second-Wave" of this global pandemic? What if there is another National or Statewide shutdown? What if there are future executive orders by governors, presidents or whatever the powers that be, instructing the Church not to assemble? Will we choose to be the Church and assemble anyway? Will we go beyond the boundaries of FaceTime, Zoom and Video venue gatherings in order to walk in obedience to Jesus? And, at what point will we be willing to say "Thanks, but no thanks" to any order, law, or proclamation that blatantly violates both our State and our US Constitutions, not to mention Scripture?
I believe, in the end times, in the face of whatever is to come, that there’ll come a time for the people of the Church, the followers of Jesus, to side with Peter and John when they were told to no longer speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus in Acts 4:19 & 20, when they said: "...Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard."
I believe, in the end times, there’ll come a time for the leaders and the clergy of the Church to say what Joshua said as he addressed his people toward the end of his life and ministry in Joshua 24:15, "And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
I believe, in the end times, there’ll come a time for all who name the Name of Jesus Christ to heed the words of the Apostle Paul to the Church at Ephesus when he said in Ephesians 5:14-17, "For this reason it says, ‘Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Therefore be careful (intentional) how you walk, not as unwise persons, but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
What makes us think that time isn’t now?
Again, back to Jesus...
Have you ever noticed how Jesus always had a way of redirecting the conversations He was in? He did so in almost every conversation He was involved with in the New Testament. Someone would start talking to Him about some Axe he or she wanted to grind... and out of the clear blue, with just a turn of a phrase, Jesus would take their Axe, turn it around, and then use it like a scalpel to conversationally and relationally cut open their chest, expose their heart, and suddenly be a surgeon performing Spiritual open-heart surgery...
There is a lot to talk about in America today. And, it seems to me that most people are so busy shouting, that no one is really taking the time to listen to anyone else. There are a lot of words being exchanged but very little real conversation and relational communication happening today. Church, I think Jesus wants to use us to recognize what time it really is, and to take the subject at hand, whatever it is, to prayerfully change the tone, and... to begin to engage relationally in a different conversation. A conversation that leads to a reality and a topic we’ve, in all honesty, been intentionally and awkwardly avoiding for quite some time now, a conversation about the need for Salvation and the Return of Christ. I believe it’s time for all believers, all followers of Jesus, to intentionally, invitationally, conversationally, and relationally engage with people about the gospel (the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus [Romans 1:16] / "...the blood of the Lamb" [Rev. 12:11]), and the return of Jesus, in the context of the discussion of current events. I believe it’s time to both talk about and live out what Jesus has done for us, what we are trusting Him to see us through, and what we know He would want us to do in how we treat and relate to others (The Golden Rule [Matthew 7:12] / "...the word [and deeds] of their testimony" [Rev. 12:11]). I believe it’s time for us to take action as those whom He can count on to be the Church, without fear or regard for our own lives, to not only speak the truth in love but to place ourselves in positions to be the truth in love. (Laying down our lives as living sacrifices [Romans 12:1-2] / "...they did not love their life even when faced with death." [Rev. 12:11])
Church, we can be those whom Jesus uses to do what He did... we can be those who redirect the flow of not only the conversation, but also the action. We can be, but will we be? What are we going to do about it? In the last phrase of Luke 18:8, as Jesus concludes the parable of the Widow and the Judge, a parable spoken to encourage His followers and to inspire them to not tire of both praying and taking action, He says... "However, when the Son of Man (Jesus) comes (comes back), will He find faith on the earth?" That’s a great question... What we choose to do here and now, as these days of the end unfold, will be our opportunity to answer it. One of the key truths of human behavior that I’ve observed again and again, is that people always consistently do what they truly believe. It’s time to ask ourselves "What do we truly believe?" Do we truly believe we are the Bride of Christ? Do we truly believe we are the Body of Christ? Do we truly believe we are living in the unfolding times of the end? What we choose to do or not do next may just say a whole lot more about what we truly believe than we realize or are willing to admit.
Who are you going to choose to, or choose not to, talk with about Jesus and His return today?
"He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen, Come Lord Jesus." - Revelation 22:20
Pastor Rob Schmutz
Watchman Evangelism Ministries
