“4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” – Revelation 2: 4 & 5
What is the duty of the church in this world? I am talking about the church, as in a building that is filled with a community of believers in the gospel of Christ. Why is it there? What is its purpose? If the church ceases to perform its duty; though the lights are on, the air running is running, the building standing. If they are no longer in love with what first taught them love; even if “the church” (as in the building itself) is still standing, is it not fallen?
In 2005 two young men were fishing off the coast of Charleston. A series of unfortunate circumstances caused them to swiftly find themselves lost at sea. For six whole days they were afloat in the vast ocean with hardly anything to eat or drink. Once the news of the boy’s absence was confirmed, and the conclusion reached that they were in peril. One of the largest search and rescue missions was launched on the east coast to find these boys. The US Coast Guard organized a mass exodus of rescue vehicles, millions and millions of dollars at risk. They risked both time and money to find………..two boys. If you were a helicopter pilot sitting at home with your wife and kid; your cell phone rang, and you were off to the rescue. If you were a rescues swimmer with plans to celebrate your great grandma’s 87th birthday; your cell rang, and you were off to rescue. If you headed to the ball game with some friends, guess what, cell rang, off to rescue. All hands were called in to help and every able body was on deck; for what? For two lost young men. Why did the Coast Guard risk so much? Why the urgency? Why the effort? Because SOULS were at stake; the lives of those two young men were in jeopardy, and it was the duty of the Coast Guard to rescue them. No matter the cost, no matter the effort, no matter what was risked. It was their duty to seek out and save the lost.
If you know the end of the tale you know that the Coast Guard did not in fact save those men, but a fishing vessel. So, does the salvation of those young men via a fishing vessel absolve the Coast Guard of their duties? Indeed it does not; we must reach out to the lost regardless. Sometimes they may find salvation through a singular testimony unrelated to an organization, sometimes they may find it on their own, sometimes not at all. Regardless, of how they are saved or if they are at all. The fact is, when souls are in peril: risk, reward, time, money, self-indulgence, comfort, and anything else that may stand in the way are jettisoned, and we go out to seek and save the lost.
So I ask again, what is the duty of the church in this world? Is it to serve ourselves? Whom do we serve? To what do we seek after? For the church IS the individual and the individual the church. I don’t presume to be the absolute authority on church condition. It is not my position to play church “doctor”, walking around with my stethoscope pronouncing our beloved churches in America “alive” or “dead”. However, we live in a day when everything that is Christian is being challenged; and if we resolve to curl up in our own little Zion as we watch the world burn from the tops our fortified walls; soon the fires birthed from our cowardice will consume us as well. For even if there is but a few that will be saved, though the night is long, and the sea is raging; that doesn’t absolve us from our duty. The time to act is now.
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Any Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Please respond to pgcollins65@gmail.com and please feel free to forward this to whomsoever.
