Written by Cameron McAllister, a contemporary author and co-founder of Thinking Out Loud, a podcast about current events and Christian hope.
Looking on the large-scale decadence of many influential churches in North America, we’re in a unique position to appreciate that our slick presentations have not fostered men and women of spiritual maturity. Why? Because by and large we still don’t believe Paul when he says, “If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.” This age is precisely what is passing away. It’s characterized by restlessness and desperation because it’s shot through with impermanence. We, however, are the men and women who await the Day of the Lord, the Day that will bring every hidden thing to light and we are to live in the light of that reality, rather than the twilight of this perishing moment. How do we escape the morass of performance and worldly wisdom that’s infiltrated so many of our ministry efforts? Dallas Willard once remarked that he stopped trying to get people to do things, to somehow cajole them into eternal life. Instead, he focused on planting and watering and left the growth to God. It’s high time for us to do the same.
Prayer:
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), an American Quaker poet and abolitionist.
Dear Lord and Father of humanking,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind.
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the hearts of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire.
O still, small voice of calm. Amen.
Pathways Press.com 