Tuesday, May 08, 2012 – Entry – The Great Divide

The different depths and cultures of Christianity, meaning true Believers and Followers of Jesus the Christ, within the United States along is so vast. Spiritually speaking, it is like the great divide of Christianity. Granted I have not been to or lived in every area of the country but I have been to and lived in a great many of them and have served to in full-time ministry in most of them I have been to or lived in; and I can assure you the difference between the spiritual depth of, and/or oppression of, God’s people is a vast. Now is this because of God or because of man?

The area of the country that I currently live in is vastly more spiritually oppressed and so far behind what God is doing among His people than any other place I have lived in since the beginning of my ministry. It is as though God has brought me personally full circle back to the same type of environment that I started out in some 20 years ago when I first went into the ministry. Things that God was showing us 20 years ago, things that we were enacting by the mid to late nineties, are brand new concepts in this part of the country. Yet they are not brand new, God has been moving in this capacity for at least 15 to 20 years. So this begs the question, Why the disconnect, why the great divide?

In part, the answer can be found in spiritual oppression itself. In more oppressed environments, God has a much more difficult time getting people to recognize and implement His Will and Purpose[s]. In these environments you find a lot of religiosity, better known as religious tradition, a heavy resistance to change, a lot of fear, unbalanced leadership meaning leaders who are way too liberal or way to dogmatic or fundamentalist in nature. Now don’t get me wrong, there something to be said for a certain amount of dogmatism and fundamentalism. The key here is a certain amount of each, as they relate to basic doctrine and the authority of the Scripture; both are fine and a necessary component in our society. However, there is a darker side to dogmatism and fundamentalism and that dark side stunts the work of God.

Another part of the problem that creates the great divide or that disconnect spiritually is the individuals who permeate the Christian community in leadership but are not servant leaders they are hirelings, there for financial gain, social gain, political gain, to feed it their own wants and desires, and or what the Bible calls selfish ambition. Yes, they are there, they are around you every week when you go to church. They are just more prevalent in some locations that others. Therefore, where people do not have a sincere heart for what God wants to do among His people, He cannot work or move. For these individuals it is more about them than it is about what God is doing or what God wants to do. That is completely backwards, it is always, I repeat always, about God!

In answer to our original question, it is not God who is holding up the show, it is man. Therefore, the reason that you see what appears to be God working among His people at different times in different places is really a manifestation of the people’s willingness to respond to what God is doing. God is continually seeking the cooperation of His people in order that He might manifest is Will and Purpose on earth. The problem is they will not respond to in unison. The fact that God’s people have not responded in unison has created a vacuumed that the Enemy has been able to come into and fill. That vacuumed and it results can be found in the distorted religious groups, which call themselves, chrisitan [small “c” intended]. If only Gods people would unite in fulfilling His Will the impact on our country would be astounding. Won’t you please join me in doing that? Will you please urge your local Christian community to do that? Do we not owe it to Jesus after all He has done for us?