If "The Church" Collaborated...

One of my mantras of late has been to look for others who desperately want to see something amazing happen in Charleston, SC. If we don't watch it, we will continue to pour all our resources and energy into doing church, leaving very little left in actually being the church.

Jesus said, "He who is not with me is against me." (Mt. 12:30) The context of that statement is Jesus, having just driven a demon out of a man, is accused of being on the side of Beelzebub (the prince of demons, an agent of Satan). We are in a war folks, and guess what God's church is doing in Charleston - and for that matter all over the United States? The church is hunkering down as individual entities - a church here and a church there - each existing in this world by itself.

Satan has effectively devised a plan to divide the Church of Jesus Christ - pride. There. I said it. Pride and the view that churches are in competition with one another is what keeps churches from working together, collaborating to storm the house of Satan - namely, this world. Jesus said, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand." (Mt. 12:25) Every city divided against itself...sobering, isn't it? Much less every church. Imagine if churches saw other churches as more soldiers, reinforcements, additional supplies - all for the goal of winning the war!

By His death, burial and resurrection, Jesus bound up the "strong man" (Satan), and now our job...our mission... is to rob his (Satan's) house and take what he possesses, namely people who don't know the truth. Remember what Jesus told Peter? "...upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." (Mt. 16:18) The gates of hell (Satan's authority) will not hold up under the siege of Christ's army! The question is, are we storming the gates of hell or are we going to sit idly by in comfort? We've been called to go!

Every day, I have committed to entering into a bold conversation with someone about Jesus. I could care less what church they end up attending. That is immaterial until they find Jesus. The fact is, 79% of Charleston does not worship at a Christian church on any given weekend. So, we need to modify our emphasis from inviting people to church and continue (or start) inviting them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Will you commit with me? One meaningful conversation a day? This is the war plan:

1) Pray for opportunities
2) Look for the open doors
3) Step out courageously
4) Depend on the Holy Spirit
5) Praise Him for the outcome

In Christ Alone,

Randy