An Opportunity to Do the Right Thing

GOD always gives us opportunities to do the right thing to ward off what is to come! I believe that the tumultuous period of the ‘60s Civil Rights Movement could have been avoided had believers—yes, the Church, we— done what we were supposed to have done within the time allotted, which could have crushed the head of the rising serpent.

 

For example (mind you, this is just ONE example), at the turn of the century, GOD sent us the Azusa Street Revival. You know what we, the Church, did with it? We fought Spiritual Wars! Denominational Battles! Racial wars! Division! Separation! “You start your church; we’ll start ours!” (That was our moment in time to do the right thing …and we missed it!)

 

Then when the turbulent period of the Civil Rights Movement occurred, the Church was not wholly healed and aware of her own sins to aid Blacks and other ethnic minorities in seeking the equality that is a right of all men. “Now is not the time for equality,” the Church said! So she smothered her own fears, sins and prejudices and NEVER fully dealt with them.

 

This is what she did instead. She made political and personal agendas more important than GOD‘s agenda! (Forgive us, Father!) An innocent man black man (George Floyd) is dead (May God comfort this hurting family!) because sin abounds, but we forget that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound! A police officer for 8 minutes “forgot” that the neck he was crushing was that of a man with a soul, a human being — made, like him — in the image of GOD—with the right to breathe! My heart, as does yours, breaks that a life was lost so senselessly and one could so senselessly take it — even AFTER the nation was reeling from the horrible #AhmaudArberry murder! And now this police officer (Derek Chauvin) must deal with the result of that sin – which seeks to further stain all his brothers in blue, his wife, his family … America. My heart breaks for him and the callousness of those who could stand by and watch it happen!

 

I’m not speaking to the protestors, the police officers, the looters, the politicians (that’s way easier to do). I am speaking to the Body of Messiah, the Church. We are the answer to this world’s ills. And it’s easy to point a finger at all of the above — even those of us sitting in our cozy homes behind TV screens watching it all unfold. But let US heal, people of GOD. Let US repent of our closet racism, bigotry, passivity! The Father uses opportunities like these to cleanse the Bride! (This could be our moment in time to do the right thing so that any future rising serpent will be crushed!) Let’s fall on our knees and respond to the things in our heart that GOD is revealing even in this situation!! To do less is to allow this moment to sink into obscure pages of a history book to be read about and never dealt with! There is NO help for our society if we — the Church — don’t get it! We hate the images of looting and violence and killing, but can we hate with equal passion what is in the basement of those images … and change us?!

Then there will be hope for our world!