One Prayer the Church in America Urgently Needs Right Now
Share
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and you live in America, then there is a glaring problem that we are faced with. Even though this problem might seem simple to identify, I am not sure if we are recognizing how much damage this problem is doing to the name of Jesus and to the hope of the message of the gospel.
May I ask you this question. What does the color of your skin, the political party you belong to, your opinion about social issues, your economic status, or who is in office have to do with how you treat your brother or sister? If these things change the way you treat your brother or sister, then you have united around the wrong thing. Please carefully read the words of Paul.
What Paul is saying is that if you are in Christ, all other ties fall away and become secondary because we are first children of God through faith.
I am not trying to paint a Pollyanna picture here. I recognize there are issues in our society. However, if you think all we have to do is elect the right officials, or have the right party in power, or change the right laws, then it is clear you don’t understand the power of sin and the true condition of men’s hearts.
Yes, we should fight to change laws that are not good, but we must recognize that while laws may change conditions, laws cannot change hearts. If you remember Romans 8, the law was powerless because it was weakened by our sinful nature. That has not changed. This means if the society is going to change, if there is going to be transformation in the hearts of men, it is not going to come simply by changing laws. There must be an inward change that can only come through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. This is where we the body of Christ come into play and why we must become one, because people’s eternal destination is at stake.
Let me remind you that Jesus prayed that the church would be one so the world would know you sent me. This doesn’t mean they would all believe in Jesus, but at least they would know that he was who he said he was.
For this reason, there is one thing we need to pray for in the church in America more than anything else – that we would become one. That we would lay aside every possible thing that could bring division and that we would stand united around the message and hope of the gospel. That we would love each other and be the body of Christ and his representatives in the earth. That we as one body would pray for each other and pray that the message of the gospel would go forth with the power of the Holy Spirit.
As you go to pray, let this be the prayer you pray for the church in America. I hope you see the urgency of this matter and recognize there is nothing else that is more important.
More from this author
How Can Two Commandments Sum Up the Whole Law?
Is Your Heart Reflecting the Father’s Heart?
Why Every Leader Needs a Friend Like Peter
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/photovs
