Can God count on you? Can God count on me? Can God count on us to be His representatives in our country and the world? Can God depend on us to be where we are supposed to be and doing what we are supposed to be doing? Are we doing what God has called us to do? Are we shining our light? Are we the salt of the earth? Are we members of His body, the church? We need to make sure that we are doing what God has called us and designed us to do. We need for God to be able to depend on us. Our silence on many of the ills or issues in our society seem to beckon the question – Can God count on us?
God is faithful to us. We can count on Him in any situation. But can God count on us? Are we His mouthpiece, His hands and feet? Are we committed and faithful to Him? Is spreading and living His gospel important to us? You see, these days, greater emphasis or priority is placed on our lifestyle, comfort, success, personal achievements, education, career development, friendships and travel, while spreading the gospel and living the gospel are secondary or irrelevant. Faith does not seem significant any longer, and one’s survival in the present seems to be much more significant than eternal security and spiritual possibilities.
As believers in Christ, God has commanded us to stand up against evil and iniquity. We are supposed to stand up against the evildoers. Psalm 94:16 states, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” You see, the believers in the early church were the ones who were making things happen. God gave us the Book of Acts so we would have an example to follow. They were getting people saved. Acts 2:41 tells us that 3,000 souls were saved in a day. The Book of Acts provides us with a valuable account of how the church was able to grow and spread out from Jerusalem into the rest of the Roman Empire. Acts is significant for chronicling the spread of the gospel not only geographically but also culturally. What is the matter with us and our churches today? Are our churches today mainly concerned about making money and going through the religious motions?
The early church in the Book of Acts was rocking the boat. It was making people angry by preaching the truth. Some people were martyred, willing to die for the cause of Christ. What about our churches today? Are they willing to do the same? The early believers did not just preach a salvation message. Acts 19: 8 tells us that the Apostle Paul preached about all the things concerning the Kingdom of God. He was never afraid to do so. When the truth was preached by the early church, businesses that did not represent God went out of business. In Acts 19:30, for instance, the local idol makers were so enraged at Paul that the other believers had to keep him from the angry mob waiting to tear him to pieces. The truth spoken, cleaned up the community. Allow Acts to encourage us to walk more closely with God so that we might make Christ’s name known with the boldness and the zeal of the apostles.
You see, the church is supposed to be the agent of change in any country. It is to affect the life of the society and the nation in general. The churches are to seek to change the hearts of the people first rather than just their behaviour. Churches are to be active partners with God in reconciling mankind to Him, and mankind to one another, as outlined in Matthew 22: 36-40 and in Matthew 25:31-46. Churches ought to be positive catalysts of influence and solve mankind’s problems. Jesus solved people’s problems which resulted in greater influence in people’s lives. People followed him because of his example.
Christians must be change agents. It is the duty of “The Body of Christ” that is, every believer, to speak out against the ills of the society or the wickedness of the day! It is not just the preacher’s job to witness to the lost and speak out against wrongdoing. We have a responsibility to God. Can He trust us? Can He depend upon us? Can He count on us? We are not called or chosen to be secret agents or secret representatives. We are called to be light and salt of the earth. We are called to be God’s voice, hands and feet in this world. We are not to be fearful or be afraid of people. We should never be fearful of what man may do to us.
It is time for the church and Christians to break the silence and speak out on all the ills in our community and not just the chosen few that they are concerned about. It is time for the church to come clean and declare its allegiance. It is time for the church to take its rightful place within the nation. If we are not experiencing persecution in this world, then we are not living godly in Christ Jesus. 2nd Timothy 3:12 states, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” God has warned us already, so what are we afraid of?
God has called us, the church, to be “change agents” in the world, fulfilling His purpose wherever we are and wherever we go. Therefore, perhaps the best way to understand our responsibilities as believers in Jesus Christ – in the social/cultural, economic and political arenas within our land – is to look to Jesus for our example. Jesus never issued a call for political changes, even by peaceful means. He never attempted to “capture the culture” for biblical morality. He did not come to earth to be a political or social reformer. Rather, He came to establish a new spiritual order. He came not to make the old order moral through social and governmental reform, but to make people “new creatures” holy through the saving power of the gospel and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew what many people today fail to grasp: that governments and institutions are made up of people. When people’s hearts are changed by Christ, godly governments and institutions will follow. What we need is not better government, but better men and women in government. It is only then that the country will run and be governed right.
Can God count on us, the church, to be the change agent in the role of contributing to societal harmony? You see, the Church is expected to rise to the occasion and provide leadership to its numerous flocks and the nation at large. Churches cannot be simply concerned with effectively connecting within their own community or with the people within their walls or groupings. The time has come for churches to go beyond their walls. Churches should be more concerned about community transformation rather than more about their church preservation. In order to reach or save our country, therefore, we need to follow Paul’s example and build bridges so that we can more effectively preach the Gospel. The Church cannot engage effectively by just going along to get along. Its has to declare its allegiance as to who it is representing and take a stand, if there is going to be any effective change in the land. So, the question remains, “Can God depend and count on you to be the change?”
Remember: God is counting on you, God is counting on me and God is counting on all of us. Will we be His voice? Will we be His hands? And will we be His feet within our Country? You must decide! The Choice is yours!
About the Author: Mrs. Marilyn Hodge owns and operates the Wellness Centre in the Farrington, Anguilla. The Centre offers Counselling Services by Appointment Only and has now published Positive Living Volume 2. Contact information: 476-3517 or email:marilynb@anguillanet.com. www.facebook.com/axawellnesscentre
