Hey,
I’ve been wrestling with the idea of the local church being a sleeping giant lately. Given I live in the world and ideology of the ministry of First Priority, it is no wonder that I struggle with the institutional side of the body of Christ. I want the body of Christ to be organic and influential in our world. I often bang the drum of church unity and call the [institutional] church to rise up. If you listen to Fox News or CNN, you hear them talking often why the majority of citizens of our country who consider themselves Christian do not rise up and take control of the direction of our nation. After all, there are enough of us to do it. So, we end up continuing to call the church the sleeping giant.
But…
This quote below causes me to believe that the giant is not sleeping; it is doing and being what Jesus laid out for us. It is simply not the way our human nature would expect on the surface.
“These early Christ-followers did not organize special interest groups or political parties. They never directly opposed Caesar; they didn’t picket or protest or attempt to overthrow the ruling powers. They didn’t publicly denounce or condemn the pagan world. Instead, they challenged the ruling powers by simply being a faithful, alternative presence—obedient to God. Their most distinguishing characteristic was not their ideology or their politics but their love for others. They lived as those who were, once again, living under the rule and reign of God, a sign and foretaste of what it will be fully, when Christ returns.” S. Michael Craven
I do not think those of us who labor for First Priority stop calling the church to unity or asking them to rise up. But maybe we need to add to our language the ‘alternative presence’ we are to the world in order to help our people understand that following Christ is not a political uprising, but a unity of helping the spiritual orphans in our schools.
Just thinking out loud.
Peace,
Brad Schelling
