Total Eclipse of the Church

The first total solar eclipse happened today. It arched over the United States and people everywhere purchased special eclipse glasses and stared up at the sun as the moon passed in front of it. Birds stopped chirping, the sky darkened, and the sun's warm rays cooled the heat by 15 degrees in my area.

The metaphor for the Bride of Christ is startling. We have racial tensions in this country, hungry children, more churches than kids in foster care, marriages on the rocks, and what is the Church doing?

Like the birds during the eclipse, the Church is silent.

What does the Lord God want His Bride to do? Two passages give us some pretty strong clues:

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God," Micah 6:8
and
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age," Matthew 28:19-20

I'm not talking about any particular denomination. I'm talking about the capital-C Church, Christ's Bride, the ones He will rapture up. Are we, as the redeemed and renewed, doing what these passages tell us to do?

We are to act justly -- to show grace to others who are not deserving, as we were not deserving of Christ's grace.

We are to love mercy -- to not act out in retribution but to cross lines and understand one another.

We are to walk humbly with our Lord God. Instead of looking up at the sun, we are to bow to the Son. We are not equal to God, the Creator of the Universe, the Creator of man and woman. The Church needs to put God's Word above political correctness.

We are to go -- to go out, armed with the Word of God and the Spirit of the Living God, and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who was born, lived, died and rose again to save humanity. We are to make disciples and teach the people we lead to Christ.

So many times churches are great at the "going" -- going all the way across the country or world to share the Gospel, but when we leave on the church bus or on the airplane, who will disciple those new converts? Who will teach them the Word of God so they don't falter?

Jesus told a parable about a farmer that sowed seed. If we look at this from a mission viewpoint, it's rather convicting. Matthew 13:5-8 states, "Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

The new converts are seeds, and they can either land on rocky soil where they have some soil (therefore they listen and accept Jesus as Savior) but since they couldn't develop deep roots (discipleship), they "withered because they had no root." Other seeds fell among thorns -- people who believe but lacked believer friends and a support group necessary to strengthen their faith.

For a church to do mission work in other parts of the world but neglect their backyard communities is shameful. If every Bible-believing, Jesus-preaching church in every town would do what Jesus commanded them to do in their own communities -- then supported other ministries, there would be a harvest of souls for the Lord. We must disciple souls as much as we try to win them for Jesus.

Here's the thing: the moon came between the earth and the sun, blocking out the light. When that happened, the earth lost the blessing of the sunlight. It dropped 15 degrees instantly, birds stopped chirping, and it was strangely silent. If the Church doesn't speak up, and stand for the things of God, we allow non-Kingdom-building noise to come between our Christ-given Commission and the Son.

When that happens, darkness settles in and God becomes strangely silent. The Church cannot afford to lose the blessing of the Son.

The last few weeks has seen the United States divided on many issues. This nation cannot survive divided against itself. Yet, the Church has been silent on issues that are clear-cut in the Word of God: oneness in the Body no matter the color of skin; murder of innocent, pre-born children; praying for the persecuted Church all over the earth; sharing the changing Gospel of Jesus Christ to people deep in the LGBT sin lifestyle; and preparing for Christ's return by serving, in love, with the focus on sharing the story of salvation in Christ Jesus.

Church, it's time to rise up! Wake up! Jesus is coming soon -- will He find you steadfast in your appointed jobs or asleep? Will He find you complacent?

The Church cannot allow satan-made worldly divisions and distractions to eclipse her mission to share the Gospel and love others in Jesus' name. We cannot willingly surrender our God-given battlefield to be overtaken by satan's darkness -- especially when God gave us the armor, weapons, and His Holy Spirit to do what He commanded us to do.

In Jesus' Name,
Terrie

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(c) 2017 Terrie McKee

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