Persecution vs. Judgment

So, I've been preaching through the book of I Peter as he writes to encourage the young church as they face persecution. I have been using a giant arrow that I made out of cardboard as my weekly illustration, that our lives are much like that arrow: we too are pointing people somewhere. We are pointing people with our time, resources, and the way we speak and spend our money somwhere. Some are pointing people to our jobs. Some to our families, to our kids or grandkids (you know who you are, the ones who have the ready-made life-size posters in your wallets prepared to withdraw them at a moment's notice). :)

Some of us point simply to ourselves. Everywhere we go, and in all that we do, our lives practically scream, "look at ME"!

So, week after week, I've used this giant arrow to focus us on the fact that Peter is saying we are to be about pointing people to Jesus in every facet of our lives. Our private, quiet, alone time is to be pointing people to Jesus. But also, our public, work, and even Wal-Mart, grocery store, soccer match, restaurant time is to be pointing people to Jesus. When all is going well, my arrow is to be pointing people to Jesus. When all is not going well, my arrow is still to be pointing people to Jesus (not to my problems).

As I've gotten deeper into I Peter and preached through his encouragement of the fledgling church in persecution, I've started having a thought, which turned into a nagging thought, which turned into a haunting thought. As we approached this week's text of I Peter 4:12-19, that thought finally came to true light, and I'll share it with you now.
The essence of the message is very simple. It is based on an either/or statement, that seems to be exceedingly clear for our country at large, and all too true for all too many individual Christians in America today. The questions are these:

Are we being persecuted by men because we are so passionately living for Jesus? (v. 12-16)
OR
Are we being judged by God because of our apathy and our lethargy in our walk with Jesus? (v. 17-19)?

Peter begins by saying that we should not think it strange when persecution comes as if some strange thing is happening to you. Paul told Timothy yea, all who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted in II Timothy 3:12. My haunting thought was, God, why aren't Christians in America being persecuted??? Of course, I tried to comfort myself and say things like, "well, we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave." I'm grateful that God allowed me to be an American and enjoy all the freedoms I enjoy, but that answer did not satisfy my soul. It was hollow. God said through Paul, all who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. "All" and "will" were not qualified by, except in America.

Then my next thought was something like this: after Sept. 11, I said and heard countless others say things like, "Wow. God must really be trying to get America's attention." After Hurricane Katrina, "Wow, God must really be trying to get New Orleans' and America's attention." Now, in the midst of this world economic crisis, "Wow. God must really be trying to get the world's attention."

But, look at verse 17 of I Peter 4. It says, "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?"

If I understand that verse correctly, then my previous statements about 9/11, Katrina, and the financial woes were incorrect! God's not trying to get THEIR attention. He's trying to get OURS!!!!!!! The problem is not the world turning from God, it's that the church has settled back in it's mission and gotten lazy, lethargic, and complacent. We have fallen asleep at the wheel and God is having to wake us up before it is too late, not only for us, but for those that we are endangering! We have a mission to do and we are falling down on the job. We have become comfortable in our air-conditioned, padded pews and forgotten that our call is to BE the church outside of the four walls to reach the world with the Great Commission. We gather to worship, to be sure, but then we SCATTER and continue to worship as we live out our faith in front of a world who needs to know what that looks like! Our mission is to BE the church and to tell this world that there is a God who loved them enough that He sent His only begotten Son.

Is it possible that God has gotten so fed up with our luke-warmness that He is now bringing judgment on the world because of us in order to get our attention to remind us that time is short and that we have a job to do? I don't know that answer to that, but it certainly is within the realm of possibility. It is time for us to repent of our laziness and get off the sidelines and back to the mission.

Life is a Mission Trip!

So, I'm a husband, a dad, a pastor, and most-importantly, a Jesus-loving Christian. What does that mean? Well, most folks don't know because we rarely see people that look like those folks we read about in the New Testament. I don't think I look like them all the time either, but MAN I SURE WANT TO!

If you're hungry to see your life mirror the life of Christ and His New Testament Church, then I invite you to join me in this prayer journey. Will it be easy? No, absolutely not. Will it be worth it? Oh yeah, you bet ya!