Monday

A Voice in the Wilderness

I just looked at the home page of the Southern Baptist Convention and found the headline, "The Open Door to Kingdom Harvest." This is an article from the SBC Executive Committee and represents the prevailing leadership of the convention. Now, I don't have a problem with the facts presented in the article. My issue is direction. Why are we reactionary instead of prophetic? Where were the articles over the last fifteen years that warned against outrageous consumer credit? What happened to the prophetic voice crying out that decades of overspending would lead to financial meltdown? 

Did you see Rick Warren on Fox last Saturday night. He did the same thing. He talked about a door of opportunity for revival during this economic crisis. Give me a break. People who are "seeking the Lord" during economic hard times are still self-focused. Is it possible that economic catastrophe can lead a person to really get things right with God? Sure. Is it likely? No. I still maintain that true spiritual change is the work of the Spirit not the result of crisis. The two can go together, but elevating crisis to the level of the Spirit's work is just plain dangerous.

We are the church. We have a direct line to God. Yet we act just like any business organization. We should have a different message. The "world" expects us to have an answer that is not already coming out of some marketing machine.

The business world reacts. The church should speak prophetically. The business community scans the cultural/financial environment, adjust accordingly, and plans to make money. The church should scan the Scripture, adjust accordingly, and plan to make disciples. That's my take...and I'm sticking to it. Rant over :-)

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