(Click here for a video of John reading this Catch.)
These are truly strange days, indeed. If I ever feel myself growing tired or complacent, I simply pinch myself and say, “Is there no crisis? No hijacking of Christianity by issues? No washing out of the message? Steeples are toppling everywhere; the institutional church is crumbling. The big churches are being torn apart by personality cults and conflicts; the little ones are like turtles pulling inside their shells. People aren’t trusting the churches anymore, especially Millennials, because the churches have mostly all become political. They know that’s what keeps people coming in their doors.
Historians are telling us our Christian leaders have been influenced more by John Wayne than by Jesus. There is a militant, even violent strain of Christian leadership in this country bent on any means to the end of “taking America back.” Sometimes I wonder if the Holy Spirit has left the building.
We’ve been saying for weeks that we have to go outside the camp to find the Lord anyway (Hebrews 13:13). That’s where He died and that’s where we meet Him today, and where He wants us to meet sinners and spread the good news of the gospel of welcome — grace turned outward — to everyone everywhere. So what am I doing falling asleep?
If you are serious about living for Christ in these last days, I urge you to listen to our BlogTalkRadio interview Tuesday, May 10, with Paul Clark. It’s a prophetic message that will grab you by the collar and shake you into realizing our message today is a simple one, as it always has been. It’s a message of love — what we call grace turned outward. We’re right on target. It’s the same thing we ended up with in Tuesday’s Catch — Jesus and love. And I’m suggesting you show love first, and then when they ask you why you’re being so kind, tell them that the kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus who lives in you.
Then write me and tell me how it’s going. But don’t tell me it was a nice Catch. I don’t care if it was a nice Catch; I want to hear about what love looks like in your neighborhood. What does it mean to love inside your home? What does it mean to love outside your door? Are you meeting Christ and sinners outside the camp? What’s that look like? Tell me, because I need help doing this too (especially the part inside my own home).
We are the voice of Christ to the next generations. We are here to make disciples all over the world. And remember that, to that end, Jesus Christ has promised to be right here with us even to the end of the age. But He’s not with us just to make us feel comfy. He’s with us to help us make disciples.
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