Is the Church Ready to Be the Church – [Part 3]

I find that I have been asking myself this one question quite frequently lately. Why this question? Simply because there are so many Christians who have been expecting a great harvest (and we should). There can be no doubt that the stage is being set daily and the world is being primed for a great shift in the culture. It seems to have been in the process of a great build up in the same way that pressure builds up in a pressure cooker. Some people say we are right at the point of another revival. Many expect it to be the “next great awakening”. 

Yet, another question that I’ve been pondering of late has been this: What if the next great awakening does not occur in the way that many Christians expect or are anticipating? What if it is not a “spiritual revival” for the Church? What if the next great awakening is a global movement which is currently underway, even as I write this?

It’s is plain to see that things throughout the world are being shook. Every cultural mountain is at present being rocked to their collective cores by men and women who are recognizing that for too long, there have been corrupt people in positions of power at the top of each of these cultural mountains and they have to be displaced so that God’s creation can have something that has been lost to them, that they did not even know they were missing; the freedom of choice.

This is not to discount the need for a revival for the Church. However, revival only serves to excite a people that have died or fallen asleep to their faith and relationship with God. It’s interesting that one of the things that Paul speaks of to the Church at Corinth happens to be in relationship to the reason that many are weak, sickly among you, and many “sleep” (See 1 Corinthians 11:30). 

Paul makes it clear that an indication of weakness, sickness, and death (being spiritually asleep) at the Church can be connected to its attitude or spiritual insensitivity towards one of the Church’s greatest sacraments; the Lord’s Supper. Could it be possible that many of the ills that we find affecting not only the Church, but the world at large can be connected to a Church that has not done its part to reverence God through this sacrament? Could it be that another depth to the power the Church has lacked in transforming culture the way that it was demonstrated by the first century Church could be connected to this in the same way Jesus told the disciples that “this kind (demonic power) does not go out but by prayer and fasting( See Matthew 17:21)”?

The Church has made itself content to seek the revival of the Church and the salvation of souls over the transformation of culture through the discipling of nations. Some may see this as two sides of the same coin, but they are distinctly different. In this age of distinction, I believe that God has been waiting for His earth-bound governing body display righteousness, not only through living a life committed to right living but to also occupy the places throughout culture that would enable the culture to have a greater exposure to His Kingdom Presence and experience the freedom that comes from knowing that God wants to be present in every facet of the land that He left in His greatest creation’s hands to steward.

What if life, liberty and love was the real outpouring that God wanted above all else? What might an awakening look like if the focus was on a Church securing freedom from tyranny as much as it seeks to evangelize? I can only imagine how much more difficult it is for a person to see a loving God caring for them when their whole existence has been a fight just to stay safe, sober, sane, or stay alive simply because they’ve had to live through sex/human trafficking, had their voice suppressed from expressing a thought that is different from their government, academic colleagues, or industry elites.

Without freedom, how can anyone hope to choose to worship, to live or have hope? Can a person accept a gospel apart from a love that is willing to speak to injustice? Can a hopeless person pursue a faith in God if they can’t imagine a God who can deliver them from their very present struggle? Jesus demonstrated a love that freed people from people who looked down on them because of where they were at a certain point in their life.

There is a movement under way, all across the globe. There is a people who have been in need of deliverance, not only from their separation from God, but from the bonds of life. I believe this movement is in fact the next great awakening. There is an axiom that I believe fits this discussion: “many people do not recognize a revival/movement until it has passed”. This doesn’t have to be the case. This can be the time that the Church recognizes what God is calling the Church to do in this season and be the Church. 

Another one says: "People won't care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Jesus and the early Church demonstrated a love that not only was soul focused. They demonstrated a love that was life focused. If it is true that they will know us by our love, our love must go beyond what we have shown. Our reverence for the sacrifice demonstrated from the cross must be exhibited through a call to sacrifice our comforts, paradigms, and perceptions so that we can bring deliverance to those who are without freedom in every aspect of life.