… And We Were Mocked …
If there’s something this year that has been difficult to see, hear and understand, it has been the outright mockery of the church and of the name of Jesus and of believers.
The sad part of this situation is that the endemic silence of the church over times past when her voice was needed the most, and then followed by a slow and steady dilution of the word and reverence for the word and for the name of Jesus, have played a major role in the mockery we see today.
At some point last year, I was considering not identifying as a Christian because the connotations and assumptions that are associated with that identity, are things I want nothing of. I deep dived into the word and found another older identifier for Christ followers and decided that when asked about my faith I would identify with this old old name. And as I was starting to sit in this decision, I was reminded of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Ephesus regarding what it takes to operate as the body of Christ in Ephesians 4:2-5;
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
So what do I take out of this? I’m I humble? Do I bear with others from a place of love? Have I made every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit?
Now expound these questions globally and you will see that before we look outwards for the faults that provoke this mockery, internally we the church are not in a good place and every person that identifies as a Christian needs to do better and it starts with the person you see in the mirror. As you look at the mirror, ask the Holy Spirit these questions. What is humility and how can I be humble? What is gentility and how can I be gentle? What is forbearance and what is love that I may be lovingly forbearing?
The other thing about this wave of mockery is that it is a sign of the times both within the church and outside the church. The tears of those who have been broken and reduced to tears by the body of Christ have not fallen to the ground.
Ps 56:8> You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.<
God has a record of all the injustice and suffering caused by the church and before he comes to deal with the world, he must deal with the church, as is demonstrated in Revelations chapters 2 and 3, and in full view of the world. Because it’s the work of the church to occupy the world until Christ returns and this occupation is a standard setting occupation…
Now, there are those who believe that the church is above reproach and have operated from this place of believing that they are above reproach but this is what the Lord says in Isaiah 28:7,8
>And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.
These priests and prophets continue mocking the sound of God in v.9 saying, who is this one trying to teach, to whom is he explaining his message? Does he think we are children barely weaned from our mother’s breast? <
And then v.14-19
>Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.
Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it. As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through.”
The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.<
Please read Isaiah 28 in its entirety because in it stand assurances and hope for the righteous, for the remnant who will remain after God has purged His people.
What is all this to say? In the light of all the mockery towards God and the things of God, God himself is working out a plan to restore his church, restore the fear of his name in the land and restore justice and righteousness and with it, all those that are called by his name.
In the meantime, we must endure the yuckiness as we interrogate ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit to bring us up to standard because in all truth, by our own strength, we are incapable.
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