Meanwhile, God is Moving
How Christians often forget the plot in this dark and desperate world
I just returned from spending the most beautiful night with 1400 women in Arkansas, worshipping, praying, opening the Word, and celebrating…as 32 of them moved from death to life, making salvation decisions and being baptized on the spot.
It was an evening far too big for my descriptions or pictures.
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My last words to the pastor and his wife as they told us goodbye at the door: you are good leaders.
It was evident. You can’t hide health. The Church is alive. People have joy. Servants-hearts. Hunger for the Lord.
I went to Paragould, Arkansas, not knowing what in the world was there and left with a clear picture.
For the past 20 years, the Lord has sent me a lot of places. I’ve seen a lot of things.
I’m happy to be able to testify that despite human error and ways Satan comes at spiritual leadership hard, by vast majority, good leaders are everywhere, often unseen on social media.
This assessment is not at odds with my critiques of the past about the current state of our hearts as we who lead fellow believers in and out of the Church.
Because those charges to us are critical in a day in which not only have many believers been entrusted to our leadership and need not follow either a placating, people-pleasing nor a prideful, self-righteous spiritual authority…but also, non-believers are looking to us to be an authentic mouthpiece of the Lord we claim, not a caricature of Him that puts disgrace on His name.
This conversation is especially important because in light of criticism, we as believers often want to take one of 2 approaches.
Maintain that we are all good - turn a blind eye to the problems among us as the Church, starting with spiritual leadership - not wanting to call out sin and compromise- defensive in our weariness in the work, prideful, and unwilling to entertain any critiques.
or
Maintain that we are all bad - bend to the mob mentality of negativity & believe that every leader, Church or ministry is insincere or disingenuous - because of our own bad experience, dislike for that preacher on social media/is preaching nonsense or proximity to one who has had a public fall.
Satan wants us to stay committed to one of these two polarizing sides because living there keeps us from being the Church. Taking personal responsibility. Unifying for the Kingdom of God.
He also wants us to stay committed to the very idea that we can love God but not His Church. This is simply untrue. The Church is God’s design for believers - for community to bring discipleship, encouragement, support and iron-sharpening love and unity in spreading the greatest message of hope and salvation to the lost world.
And all of this because: Satan wants us ultimately ineffective. He wants us to miss out on witnessing the miracle of changed lives, which propels passion, belief and action. He doesn’t want us to see transformation and renewal with our own eyes. He’d rather us be married to our programs and miss real people. He wants us to stay bitter and in chains. Skeptical. Jaded. Entitled. Afraid. Lazy. Quick to anger. Unforgiving. Ready to walk away. Jumping from issue to issue. Inactive in our faith.
Because he knows that were we to ever know what is a radical move of God…to watch God transform a life in front of our eyes…we will never be able to unknow it. And then we are ruined. We will want to see God move more and more and we will be far less willing to get in the weeds about anything that gets in our way over it.
Self-interest simply can’t thrive in a heart of surrender.
In the days ahead, it is crucial that love drives our critiques.
That we are willing to be honest, first with and about ourselves.
That we fight for the Church rather than fighting with the Church.
Jesus is changing lives right in front of our very eyes.
Satan doesn’t want us to be a part of it.
What if we are so busy fighting for our rights that we have totally missed the fight God really cares about? The souls of men and women.
May we seek greater health as leaders in the coming days.
Fighting for not with but for the Church.
That love may drive everything, even our critiques.
So that we join God in the Kingdom work He is already doing, everywhere, to turn hearts towards Him.
God is moving, and it’s not to be missed.
