The Bride of Christ Has Been Sleeping

There was yet another church shooting recently. Twenty-six people lost their lives and dozens more were injured leaving behind a much fractured, hurting church body. In the days that followed, questions centered on many different topics: the NRA, gun reform, racism, politics, Republicans and Democrats. People will likely join together in their pain and God will be called on to intervene and heal. All this has become commonplace as more and more mass shootings have taken place on our soil.

The problem with these discussions is that none of those conversations is what we really need to be talking about. Romans 8:19 says, For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed. (AMP) All of creation waits in anticipation for the children of God to rise and set things in order, but just as the beautiful bride pictured here has fallen asleep on the Earth, we, too, as the Church have fallen asleep on the Earth we have been called to protect. Where has the voice of the Church been as America as progressively succumbed to the pressure of culture. Where was the Church as legislation and laws were passed that rebelliously oppose God’s sacred law? Why have we kept silent?

The answer is likely one that few are willing to accept, yet it is true nonetheless. We, the Church, were too busy trying to fit in. We wanted to be liked and accepted. We couldn’t dare face ostracism or alienation because we stood for something that wasn’t popular. So here we are again, preparing to bury the dead, grieving the loss of the peaceful America we once knew and enjoyed. It is time for the true Church to arise and transform our broken world. The day has come for us to assume our positions at the pinnacle of culture. We can no longer “hide” in our churches, celebrating our “holiness” while a dying world waits outside. If we do not, the blood and carnage is on our hands.