I was in a world mission’s conference recently in another state. I was one of several NAMB and IMB missionaries invited into the association. We spoke in four different churches Sunday thru Wednesday.
We attended and participated in the association’s annual meeting. At one point during the meeting a pastor of advanced years was helped to the podium. He had been a pastor in that association for sixty years! He was asked to speak about the glorious past of the association. For a long time he reminisced about the “good ole days.”
The question I wanted to raise was “good for who?” This area was ground zero in the battle for civil rights. Within a 30 minute drive of the church many atrocities took place, including the murder of 3 college students who were spending their summer vacation registering voters.
Were these the good ole days for the people whose churches were bombed and burned in that area? Where they good for children being denied equal education? What about the 3 college students swinging by a rope? Were they humming the tune “these are the good ole days!” What of the people denied jobs and the right to vote? What about being told you’re not good enough to eat here or drink from this same water fountain or use the same restroom? Precious memories indeed! The good ole days certainly!
As you can probably discern these things bother me. But let me tell you something that bothers me about churches. So many times I hear church people talk about “the good ole days” of their church. They speak glowingly about how God worked in the past. Don’t get me wrong, we should rejoice over what God has done. We should be grateful for his past blessings! My question is this; what about now? Is the cross still powerful to save? Has the blood lost its power? Is Christ no longer interested in saving the lost? Has the great commission expired? Holy Spirit no longer convict and draw people to salvation?
Is the gospel no longer the dynamite of God? Does the Holy Spirit no longer convict and draw people to salvation?
The answer of course is No! So what’s the problem? Why aren’t these the good ole days for many churches? We could spend weeks talking about this but bottom line, in my opinion, is we are missing “IT”. Duke Ellington, the famous jazz musician was asked to define Rhythm. He replied, “If you got it, you don’t need no definition. If you don’t have it, aint’ no definition gonna help.” What the “IT” we need in our churches? The “IT” is vision.
Someone defined vision as “foresight with insight based on hindsight.” To me it is simply understand what God want to accomplish through you to build His kingdom. Many churches and believers struggle because they don’t understand God’s purpose for them. We need to reclaim a Biblical understand of who God is and what He has called us to do.
But remember its God’s vision, plan, and agenda NOT OURS.
“It” is what God wants to accomplish through you. Our biggest downfall is
attempting to do God’s work in our strength and ability. No wonder we struggle. We are building our Kingdoms through our power instead of God’s Kingdom through God’s power. Until that changes we will struggle along striving to maintain or survive and we miss God’s best for us. Got “IT?”
