The American Church, Part 2

This is the continuation of a devotional series titled, “The America Church.” Click here to review last week’s spiritual reflections with John Maisel.

Doing this involves us following Paul’s example. In the words of Winston Churchill, “wars are not won by retreating.”

When people ask me what I think is the greatest hindrance for the building of the church in America, I respond with, “Christians who want to sneak into heaven without ever considering the radical call that Jesus has on our lives.”

Not long ago I was struck by a statement by Peter Drucker—a management consultant known worldwide for helping Japan rebuild after World War II. He said, “Every few hundred years in western history, there occurs a sharp transformation so years later there is a new world, and people born there cannot even imagine a world in which their grandparents lived.”

I believe that you and I are in the midst of that transformational generation.

And as Christians, we have the spiritual responsibility of showing people the freedom that they can have through Christ’s Cross. In Luke 4, Jesus stands up in the synagogue, unrolls the scroll written by Isaiah, and reads one of the greatest passages about freedom in the Bible.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19)."

Then Jesus rolls up the scroll, gives it back to the attendant, and sits down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue are fastened on him as He says, “today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:19)."

He is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, and He is all in when it comes to bringing freedom to the poor, imprisoned, oppressed, blind, and sinful.

That is Jesus’ mission, and He longs to continue doing the same in our time.

There are 3 questions that I wrestle with almost daily, and they help me determine if I am following the mission of Christ or my own.

1. Am I living for the fame of earth or the fame of heaven?
2. Am I living for the immediate or the eternal?
3. When I am all by myself dreaming, what am I thinking about—God’s agenda or my agenda?

C.S. Lewis liked to say, “When you pursue heaven, earth is thrown in. When you pursue earth, you get neither.” What are you pursuing today—the things of heaven or earth?

Brother and sisters, let’s encourage each other to wrestle with these questions and act to bring God’s message of freedom to the captives around us.

Next week, we’ll take a further look at these questions and how Jesus instructs each of us as we struggle with them. I can assure you, it is worth the struggle!