There are two words that are unspoken but have such a powerful influence in many Christian lives. Those two words are "resignation" and 'satisfaction". As someone who tries to inspire and encourage passion, zeal, ardor, devotion, whole hearted faithfulness, loyalty and sacrifice in God's people for Jesus and to Jesus, the words resignation and satisfaction are my arch enemies and my most encountered attitudes in Christians.

I find that far too many Christians have resigned themselves to the fact that the Spirit filled and Spirit led life evidencing God's magnificent breaking through in everyday life that you see in the church in the Book of Acts is not possible for the church today or at least not practical for themselves in the world and life they live in. They don't really seek it and long ago stopped expecting it. Practical is the word for the day. Of course, when others seem to breakout and buck the system to live that kind of life, they view that as the exception rather than the rule.

The second attitude which is another step down the same wrong road is satisfaction with the Christian life they have hewn out for themselves and they do not really experience any unease that this life they have chosen to live looks little like the lives of early Christians.

For those who want the bride of Jesus to be spotless, beautiful and pure, who desire to see Christ formed in His people at all cost, who want His children to have a fullness of joy in unity and fellowship with the Trinity and with each other, who desire for God's glory to be plainly evident to the world in His people, especially when they gather together, the foes of resignation and satisfaction are not just impediments, but sad and painful sources of friendly fire. They are attitudes that are contagious and spread like a bad debilitating flu through the church. This is especially true when it is spread by older believers to the new who look to their older siblings for how to view and live the Christian life. This flu is spread like a pandemic to other countries. Luckily, in countries where becoming a Christian costs much, resignation and satisfaction are luxuries only the west can indulge.

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Robert

Dearest Robert!

Heaven will tell how timely this word is, given all that is going on.

I praise the Lord for your faithful words written in love, and wrought in knowing Him.

The pandemic has hit our family, but we are in the “hospital” of the Great Physician right now.

Urgent Care!

Glory to his matchless name.

Caleb your response cracked me up but it’s so true- we are all in Urgent Care or need to get ourselves there right quick! And there’s no co-pay to worry about, we just have to turn over everything!

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Todd

The source of this "pandemic":
"the world, the flesh and the devil."

To date I hear much talk of what is wrong with the church. I have seen churches where there are people exercising the gifts of the spirit be completely destroyed and cease to exist and I have seen churches where all are comfortable thrive and continue to remain established.
People seem to enjoy church and therein lies a major fault line that will soon expose the underlying forces that brew beneath.
I have come to the conclusion that Christianity has become a principality that the people of God need deliverance from. Its like words have their meaning changed over the years and today's Christianity does not mean what it once did, but then again, Christianity is not biblical anyway.
As Art Katz wonderfully explained once, there is an epidemic of cross evasion.
So, I take my observations to our Lord and it is clear what needs to be done. If comfort is our problem then that is exactly what the Lord will touch. What else can he do? we bear his name and he is a jealous God.
Lat time I preached at a church I stood up after the fired up singing and hand clapping and then read out the statistics of how many mosque now are built in England, how many legally set up Sharia courts there are in England, how many children are on the ''At Risk'' register, How many teenage suicide deaths there have been in the past year among teenagers and how antisemitism crime reports have double within twelve months. I then stated that during this time you all meet on Sundays and declare victory and sing and clap your hands. I then pointed out that this particular church where I was speaking was less than one mile away from the largest mosque in Europe in Morden UK.
I wasn't asked to return because it ruined the charged atmosphere.
The whole set up of seats facing a lectern facilitates a consumer mentality. Where is tongues? where is prophecy, where is interpreting prophecy?? I cant stomach any more of this.
God will bring a revival, but if he is unable to change the people in the church he will bring revival by bypassing the church. What God sees as church is not what we think church is and its certainly not what church is.

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Tony