Welcome to America where we have everything at our finger tips and most of us claim that we follow "God." We live our normal lives on the weekdays and then we show up to church on Sunday morning to get our attendance in. We go back home and live the normal life we did before, mostly unchanged by attending church at all. Our older generation churches are stuck in comfortability and traditions while our younger generation churches seeks what's the best performance possible on a Sunday morning. "There better be the best acoustics, light, sound, a fun pastor, and a quick sermon. If it's over an hour...I'm out."
Husbands and wives get in their car after the service and discuss how well the pastor performed that day and probably how he could have done better. Older women discuss what that other woman wore and how dare she wear a dress above the knees. Older men get in the car after the service just recovering from a nice nap.
The tale goes on about the Western faith. We love being comfortable. Some may say, "How dare the pastor challenge us to change? How dare we actually change our lives for God when everything in our lives is going well. Why would we change anything at all? I mean I"m doing what's good. I go to work every week day, I pay the bills, I feed my family, I go to church...what more could you possibly want from me? Besides I prayed that prayer years ago so I'm all good to go plus I got baptized as a baby. I mean why even go to church every Sunday...maybe I should just wait till Christmas."
Does this sound familiar to you?
I can say that most "Christians" have experienced this sleepy, unchanged by the Holy Spirit kind of life. That's why most of us are sleepwalking. That's why we're so unappealing to the world. We look like a bunch of rules and look really boring. I mean if I was looking from the outside in, I wouldn't want this kind of religion either. It's so unappealing. It's not welcoming.
This is my call to the Church. My last blog was to awaken the church to talk about what's actually going on in the world and to stand up for Truth in love. Now this is my petition for the Church to literally WAKE UP from your slumber. Stop going through the motions.
Either truly live for Jesus or don't. A heart after God's own heart is a life that will be radically changed throughout every season of life. A faith in Jesus isn't one straight line of stagnation. It's a life with ebbs and flows of learning day by day how to live in this life for Christ.
If you've been sleepwalking in your faith for so many years then now is your time to wake up. May the Holy Spirit that you asked in your heart a while ago be awakened within your soul or now is your time to ask Him into your heart. May you start seeing the work of Christ all around you. May the deep love of your Heavenly Father gush like springs of water all over you. May you never ever just go through the motions again. May your church let go of their stifling traditions and comfortability. May they do something so radical for the kingdom that they look crazy to the world but do it all for the glory of God. May people stop becoming your god and allow God to take the throne of your life. Forget your religion, doing everything just to be a good person, and living like you're fine because you have the "get out of hell" card. You're not living. You're sleepwalking.
May your soul breathe life again and the love of your Father wash over you so that you see the world through fresh eyes. I deeply desire this for you and me. Please Father come quickly and help us with this so the church will stop sleeping with heavy, wet blankets. Let us seek your face from day to day and never ever go through the motions again even when life is so hard.
"Do this, knowing that this is a critical time. It is already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep [of spiritual complacency]; for our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed [in Christ]" (Romans 13:11, Amplified version)
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