If the Church is going to avert national disaster, we must answer two questions: Will we remain complacent in our comfortable circumstances or will we please God and lovingly minister to our nation in hopes of turning it back to the Lord? Second, will we speak God’s Truth, even when it’s not popular?

Leonard Ravenhill, in his book Why Revival Tarries, said:

“This generation of preachers is responsible for this generation of sinners. At the very doors of our churches are the masses unwon because they are unreached, unreached because they are unloved. … Sin today is both glamorized and popularized, thrown into the ear by radio, thrown into the eye by television, and splashed on popular magazine covers. Churchgoers, sermon-sick and teaching-tired, leave the meeting as they entered it—visionless and passionless! Oh God, give this perishing generation 10,000 John the Baptists!”

When God ordered Jonah to Nineveh, He was testing Jonah for complacency. Jonah had become comfortable among his people. He had no reason to travel outside of Israel. The Church today must be careful not to end up in that same situation. It is easy to grow comfortable and complacent when we remain in a familiar setting. However, when complacency strikes the Church, our reach is lessened and our influence is weakened. If we are to change the course of our nation, we must stand up and minister to America. We can no longer sit idly by and talk among ourselves, shaking our heads. We must make it known that our nation has strayed from God’s path.

Jonah warned the city of Nineveh, and because he obeyed God’s command and delivered the Lord’s word, the city of Nineveh survived and turned to the Lord. Just like our nation has built its own thresholds and doorposts to mimic the Lord’s, the church has been guilty of doing the same. Before the church can minister to our nation, we must first be in line with God’s Word. Our ministry will crumble if we aren’t acutely aware of God’s Word and tuned in to the Spirit of Truth, Holiness, and Grace. We must be lovers of truth, and deliver that truth with lives of holiness and in grace.

It’s easy to become disheartened and discouraged, but we must stop trying to hide from the realities of what God is telling us to do so we can bring healing and hope. Yes, it looks like things could implode. Yes, there are global challenges. Yes, we’re in a critical juncture. But in the midst of it all, God is raising up a people who have not bowed their knees to Ba’al. We need courageous voices like Elijah, who obeyed God even though Jezebel threatened him. We need strong voices like Esther, who had to choose between staying in safety and comfort or speaking up for what was righteous and true. We need Jonahs, Noahs, and Daniels!

I believe we can see a great outpouring of God’s Spirit on an awakened Church! It will not be on the institutional church, but on the ones who have a love for the Spirit of Truth, who appreciate the Spirit of Grace and who respect the Spirit of God’s Holiness. God will give us the abounding grace and great power to reflect Christ to a world that desperately needs to know Him.

Will we be the voice that God has called, even though it looks impossible in the natural? Will we rise up and speak the truth, seasoned in holiness and grace, even when it’s not popular?

DOUG STRINGER

(repost from April 28, 2022)