The Lie and The Beam
The Lie
When God moves, his presence has such a liberating effect on His people. We are set free – from deceptive inhibitions that lie to us about
what’s important in life,
what really matters to God, and
how we are to live out our calling as his children and as image bearers for him.
One of the most artful deceits the enemy has crafted against the body of Christ is that in response to shifting cultural norms and expectations, we as Christians must be agreeable, silent spectators.
The current cultural shift into tolerance of all sin has drafted us underwater, well into this age-old lie of silent spectating, and has worked its way into our minds to create an insidious falsehood that we must perpetually defer to passive silence instead of freely speaking truth and life into our world. Many Christians have been fearfully obedient to this lie, opting to muzzle their spirit led words of life and hope to their world in the name of a distorted interpretation of tolerance.
While Jesus was often careful to speak the truth with compassion, he never capitulated to the cultural norms of the day. Jesus, by definition, was peculiar, and his pattern of responses to varied demographics in his life can be defined as spirit-led, always deferring to the Father and the Word.
While many Christians have familiarized ourselves with Christ’s behaviors and lifestyle, we’ve allowed fear to paralyze us into silent spectating instead of speaking the truth with compassion, as Christ did.
We won’t explore the Why of that reality – it’s a subject all its own – but we’d like to discuss a different response, in light of the condition of the western Christian church and its Agreeable Spectator approach to its followership of God.
Here are two realities on which this encouragement is based:
- We are saved to save. We are healed to heal. We are set free to go and set free. Every benefit the Father has put in His hand for us to take is also meant to be given away.
- There is a Beam being pushed around in the spiritual realm. This Beam represents the boundary line marking the separation of the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. If we choose, we could be stationed at this Beam, moving it offensively into enemy territory, taking back ground in the name of the Kingdom of God. Every Christian is either away from the Beam for some reason or another, or they’re actively pushing the Beam forward with fellow believers.
The Beam
The destiny of every believer is at the Beam – participating in the awesome work for the Lord in our part of the world, however that looks for each of us. For some, its preaching, for some it’s social change, for some, its raising godly children to be future world changers.
Because of fear of living boldly for God, the church in America has been knocked on its backside by intimidation, and the world is staring at us, waiting to see whether we’ll choose courage and get back up.
So here’s how we get back up….
The meaning of the Beam has never changed, and our mandate has never changed. The Beam is still the borderline between Satan’s reign, and God’s reign. The mandate to go into every corner of the world is still as relevant today.
In Matthew 16, we see that if we try to guard our lives and leave the Kingdom of God in last place, we become spiritually dead and barren. That is the true result of avoiding the Beam in order to stay safe and secure.
We’ve been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1), and God has given us everything we need for our lives, to live them in a godly way (2 Peter 1). so our spiritual senses can gauge just how equipped and empowered we are to live in 2017, then we must pursue intimacy with God like never before.
And we must pursue God so we can go to the Beam. We must respond to His undying love for us with a readiness and willingness to be used by Him at any intersection, any time. We are not just attending church on Sunday morning, or going to a conference or retreat, so we can be stuffed with God, sauntering around, spiritually obese.
Our passion has a purpose.
Our devotion has a directive.
Our connection has a calling.
When we are aware of just how empowered we are to push the Beam, we head to the Beam.
Because we are the response to the sickness of the world today.
We are Gods’ brilliance and creativity for the problems and pain of those around us.
Here are some questions to answer in your own life, about where you are in relation to the Beam:
- Where on the Beam has God placed you, where you know you have influence for Him?
- Has fear of any kind pulled you away from the Beam, and silenced you in your circle of influence?
- Where are the sick, the needy, the lonely, in your life? Are you headed toward them, or away from them?
Folks, we are healed to heal. We are redeemed to redeem the world.
Let’s head to the Beam, and to the work of God in our world, today.
…”to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:19 (NKJV)
A.L.