For Such a Time as This

“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places, But there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.” 

- J.R.R. Tolkien

It’s early morning. The sun is not quite up, but yet I feel called to write. Many times, I believe, we write to clarify our own thoughts, to process things that are going on in our own lives, or that God is teaching us. This note is no different, although writings take many guises; they all help us come to grips with ourselves, regardless of who they are written to. I write this letter to the church at large, to acknowledge where we, as a body of believers are, and to help myself process where we should be heading.

Dear Church,
I have nothing but love towards you, for you are a deep part of me. My heart has been torn for us, and the struggles we are having. I pray for us daily. I know we are hurting. I know we are broken and torn in two. I know there is turmoil and that battles wage within. Differing opinions and strong words have left us battered and confused. From loving sinners, accepting outcasts, supporting the downtrodden, and determining the authority of Scripture and the character of God, we are and have been left divided and broken. Issues of faith and our worldview are often the dearest to us, the hardest to let go, and the easiest to get hurt over.

In this time of mourning and of brokenness, I urge you not to give up and not to circle the wagons. I know you are struggling to follow the steps of the Savior amidst differing opinions and strong points on either side of the line. In disagreement and hurt, the easiest thing is to round up our defenses and focus inwardly and lick at our own wounds. It is exactly what the enemy wants and exactly what we must avoid. When we stop at no cost to not to lose what we have gained, we cease being the very thing we were created to be. In focusing inward, we lose our outlook on the world at large. We lose our effectiveness for we are no longer going to the world we were so called to serve. We are too busy maintaining what we have for fear of any further loss.

Following Him is not easy. We will most certainly see loss. It is dangerous and we will most certainly be uncomfortable, oppressed, among sordid of people, and possibly even in fear for our lives. Yet, it will all be worth it. I urge you church do not become so inwardly focused on the trials at hand that you lose the vision that Christ has given you as the church. We must be focused outwardly if we are to remain the church at all. We must be active in our communities, and in the global church, if we are going to say we are following the vision He has laid before us.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is in Esther 4, verse 14. “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” “For such a time as this” is one of my favorite phrases in scripture. Everything that has led up to this point in Esther’s life, in my life, in your life, in the life of the Church, could be for such a time as this. What then if we circle the wagons, if we call it quits, if we focus so much on our inward dilemmas that we neglect our people, our tribe, or the ones we came to serve?

Will this stop God from accomplishing His purpose? Of course not! May it never be! God will accomplish His will with or without us, despite and sometimes if we are stubborn in spite of us. As it says in Esther, if you remain silent, deliverance will arise from another place. The question is: will you revel in joy in being part of God’s plan, or just watch it happen from the sidelines? We must be active. We must be willing to lose it all. We must give freely, because who knows if this is not why we have been put in this position, been given everything we have been given, if this is our moment. If we stop reaching out, what have we become as a church? We will then be nothing but a club, an inward focused organization that is of no good to anyone. One might say, “Yes, but we are rallying the troops for later”. What later? Do you not know the time is drawing near? Behold He comes quickly! Who knows if everything you are is for such a time as this?

“Sigh. Let's be blunt. We're a little distracted. What do you want? Once we could follow, now we cannot. You would not fit our image, so we lost the plot. Once we could hear you, now our senses are shot. We've forgotten our first love. We have lost the plot. When you'd come back again. We'll be waiting for you. When you comin' back again? We'll be ready for you. Maybe we'll wake up when... You come back again. Lies. Let's be blunt. We're a little unfaithful. What do you want? Are you still listening? 'Cause we're obviously not We've forgotten our first love. We have lost the plot. And why are you still calling? You forgave, we forgot. We're such experts at stalling, that we've lost the plot.”

-Newsboys, Going Public, Lost the Plot

If we remain silent, if we cannot perform our mission as a body of believers, if we cannot sort our differences, and learn to work together, God will bring it up from somewhere else. It is only whether we want to be a part of His good work, or not. I encourage you, be a part of the work He has called us to do.  We need to come along side others in our community and in the world at large and give the shirt off our backs, to walk the extra mile, regardless of the cost.  There are many ways and many places. But as a church we need to be involved somewhere, in His great plan. For we are His body, His hands, His feet, for such a time as this.