Ringing the churchbell (pt2)

(originally posted 11-09-2021)

The Work of the Lord awaits faithful righteous men and women to submit themselves, roll up their sleeves and commit to God alone.

If being a saved committed man of God, after His heart in the work alone is not only, SOLELY, why you claim the title of Pastor – get out! Pack your bags, leave, and go sell houses, or shoes. Throw up a shingle and offer inspirational messages to the masses on the endcaps of your local bookstores. But know this, I’ve said it for years, and I’ll say it until my dying breath:

You can self-actualize, and toss chakra, and hum like a Chevy until you turn blue in the face, BUT…

If your best life is now, your next life is Hell.
Plain and simple.

“The church” has had too many and needs no more thieves in the temple – it is the house of God, and it’s time we put it back where it belongs. We need to grab our spiritual rifles and chase the wolves from within our church families before they devour us all.

Okay, now you ask, since this seems – as yet – to be pointed directly at men who claim to be Pastors, why am I being exhorted to take on The Work of The Lord? I’m just a Sunday School teacher. I’m merely the treasurer. I just teach AWANA. What you’re saying sounds right enough, but what part do I have to play in all of this?

I’m glad you asked brethren. I am glad you asked.

Remember, the root of this, is the desperate need for us “the church” to get back to doing, The Work of The Lord – all of us. Just as we have all been complicit, we all bear responsibility. You, me, all of us.

The place that begins is with the confession that we the church today, want to be encouraged, but we refuse to be admonished. We insist on being encouraged in every whim we entertain, but we refuse to be rebuked for our failings. We “the church”, just like society have bought into the cultural illness that says everything I say, do, or desire is valid, and ought to be celebrated, and woe to those who refuse to lift me onto their shoulders.

We’ve taken our mantra from the secular world around us, and in something less than a heartbeat, we will stick out our chests, lift our noses, and doggedly insist: Don’t judge me! We take one of the most important subjects in scripture, we strip it of context, and we wrap ourselves in our own self-righteousness.

Matthew, Luke, Romans, scripture is positively rife with the teaching that says we believers ARE supposed to judge one another – but we are to be cautious and be sure that we do so rightly!

Scripture also teaches us that for believers to rebuke one another, is actually true Biblical encouragement, because it is meant to restore and edify us in our walks with God.

Just like the unsaved, when we are confronted with our sin, we get angry, and indignant when our noses get rubbed in our mess, and we do so because we know that we are in the wrong, and no one likes to be reprimanded. I’ll readily that I don’t like it any more than anyone else – but accepting admonishment is the first step toward redemption and wisdom.

Remember brethren:

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

(Phi 2:13-15)

The Work of the Lord, the Work of the Lord – our mission! And it begins with repentance. Yes repentance! There can be no renewal, no igniting the torches to guide us through the night, without first that we willingly repent.

Repentance first says that we have been wrong, that we acknowledge in all things that it is WE who are wrong – not God. Never God. Any time you and the Bible but heads – you lose! Period. In repenting of our sin, we submit ourselves, on our knees, to God’s way, God’s will, God’s desires, and in chasing His desires…we will win!

Think of that! A great big check mark in the WIN column of God’s most holy ledgers. How freaking cool would that be to see, to be part of, to be used for?

But again, I hear you say, I’m just a little old lady in a wheelchair, on an oxygen tank, how can I possibly do the work of the Lord, and fight the good fight like you keep talking about. How?

PRAYER!!! There is absolutely no greater weapon in the Christian arsenal than prayer. Prayer has been given to us to get down on our knees and raise the roof for Jesus!