Domesticated and Confused
The thought: (Jan. 2012)
I look at my ducks how they are patiently sitting next to their egg, passionately watching over it and waiting – waiting for it to do what, while it lies there in the gravel? I am overcome with sadness by this picture. The potential is there; the ducks have the idea but not the big picture. Their patient wait is all worthless effort, wasted energy, no good outcome, leaves no hope.
While I was standing there looking at this scene I heard the little whisper, the quite welcome and familiar voice, saying “This is why mankind struggles so much.”
I’ve been thinking about it ever since that day. It is so true; the human race raised with the knowledge of the existence of Lord God Almighty has gotten stunted instincts about what happened in our historical past and what God intended for us today. We have been taught and are living out a myth of God, His power, His provision, His healing and His omnipotence.
We know about God but we don’t really know him
If we would thoroughly study the encounter of God and man in the Old Testament, then we would see who God was and still is and how He is with people who are fully committed to Him. These are not just stories of the past; they can be truths of today!
I looked in the dictionary; domesticated means:
- Becoming accustomed to human provision and control
- Evolutionary process has been influenced by humans to meet their needs
- To adapt to life in intimate association with and to the advantage of humans
- To bring to the level of ordinary people
- To adapt (a plant) so as to be cultivated by and beneficial to human beings
- To become accustomed to household life or affairs.
Can anyone relate to this? Isn’t that kind of how God sees us today? We live for self and survival and not for Christ; we have adapted to the world. There are a few people who do understand who God really is and what life is about. If you know anybody like this or possibly were raised in a home like this – consider yourself blessed beyond understanding.
The problem:
Many of us are brought up by parents who don’t fully understand the power of God and what it means to live a life that totally relies on Him. Rather we are brought up by reality, our worries, and are taking life into our own hands. The taught reverence for God has its place in church and in moments of desperate need!
We seem to have forgotten that we were made for His pleasure and that He wants to give us all we need and more. The days are mostly over when we called God provider (I know we still confess it in church, but I’m talking about the heart not the mouth). I understand the economy is bad and more often than not, we feel like we have to take matters in our own hands. We don’t know who God really is and what He really can do. We lost our roots in Christ; we don’t believe in His power anymore because we prayed and nothing happened. We do not understand anymore that God cannot give us what we cannot handle. By now we are expecting that prayers don’t always work and compromise the ‘Promise’ to the doubt of the Word.
We do grab the quick fixes instead of eternal solutions
We live in the fast lane and try to fit in everything the world has to offer. Compromises have to be made and we are well influenced to cut back on what is important and to turn our priorities upside down. Do you think we are living in bad times? Yes, maybe compared to the 50’ies, but in fact our ancestors (all the way back to the beginning) had it much harder than we do, both economically and spiritually. The Israelites had Moses, but we have one greater, the Holy Spirit. Like the Israelites of yesteryear, we too have a hard path to walk today; we are trapped in progress, trained by it and not the necessity for God. We are so self-sufficient in every area of life since man has invented something for almost everything; where is the need for Christ? We forgot how to listen to the Holy Spirit. Medicine is a good example, it is a great invention and saves lives but I believe it can also kill (spiritually). What do you do when you get the sniffels?
Do you go to God, or do you go to the pharmacy?
Medicine can be a very good thing, but we need to consider first things first. God is still in the healing business and would be delighted if we consider Him first instead of last! Why not pray and ask God for healing and tell the enemy to back off and see if that brings relief. I’m just using this simple example to make my point, not to talk down medicine or lead anyone into serious heath problems; prayer might not work for a lot of people at this point. First: back to the basics of what God requires of us – then applying the power that God provides for us!
Are we really a christian country?
We are not a Christian country any more, people get so upset over this statement, but it is the truth. We are a country with a few Christians and a lot of people with Christian instincts. In a Christian country you find brothers and sisters in the streets loudly and joyfully talking about the goodness of God – not intimidated whispering; you often find people praying out of the moment of need – not simply one prayer in a thousand chances. Christians praise God in excitement daily – not once in a lifetime or only in the big crowd; they trust Him and transform to His precepts – instead of conforming to the suggestions of the rest of this world. Not only are many of us following the world in everyday life, sadly the same is to often true in the Church. The truth though is: The world and Christianity don’t mix. It’s just like texting and driving – eventually you will crash.
We have become pragmatic Christians and we rely on the church to feed us; there is a lot of existing instinct, a rare few go deeper and even fewer diligently study the Word and live up to the standards set by our ancestors Moses and David. This is dangerous business – “My people will perish by lack of knowledge” says the Lord. There is something important about that duck egg from earlier – but what is it and how does it work? The truth is, it is our biggest responsibility in life to educate ourselves in the Word, live it out and radiate the love and power Christ has put in us.
We the Church are domesticated, our domestication has been handed down over the generations, and we are seriously missing our cause. On my journey through the churches of the city I live in the past few years I have seen this happening firsthand. I’m not writing here to just criticize, but hopefully to inspire a reality check.
I attended only three churches, which seemed to have testimonies as part of their service on a regular basis. Now isn’t that what we were made for? To give God praise? If not in the church, where else will people learn how to praise God and be able to taste His goodness as natural occurrence in the Christian life? How I miss walking into a church building that is filled with people praising God. “Oh, you won’t believe what God did for me last week.” Instead it is “Oh, you won’t believe what they did to me at work.” or ”Have you tried the new coffee shop in town?” There are churches out there that freak out when someone mentions the Holy Spirit moving in their life and it’s not necessary the same church where you would expect it naturally. I’m talking about churches that preach about the Holy Spirit, but then when mentioned in a personal form; they would rather keep Him strictly confined to the bible than in everyday living. Here is another example: Worship. No, I’m not going there – there are plenty of ways to worship our Creator, but there is one thing all worship should have in common, worship should be a one on one with God, praising him for His glory, seeking Him for His presence.
Seeking the face of God and finding it strengthens us to take on another week in fighting to live according to His will
Nothing and no one should interrupt this intimate move towards God. And who is it that dares to do so? The church! If you are a visitor in church make sure you get the identification process done up front, otherwise the greeter will come right to you as you are ready to knock on God’s heavenly door. The well intentioned greeter may interrupt your encounter with God only to hand you a form to fill out to make sure they can contact you in order to add you to their numbers. I am not blaming the greeter, rather the church officials who appoint them. I am getting the impression that today’s church is a socializing place. The problem is: socializing is for the rest of the week; church is for gathering with and about God. The seriousness of having God as #1 in life is neither acted out nor successfully being taught; the deep reverence for God is missing. Church service schedules seem to be the biggest enemy to the moving of the Holy Spirit; sadly few have time for God any more in the church. Everything needs to be flowing, looking good; timetables need to be kept so the congregation doesn’t get inpatient. Sometimes I wonder how pastors are able to forecast what they will preach on four weeks ahead of time. And why do we need to know anyways? Worship services are judged by their ability to keep up with the Top 10’s instead of how God can reach His people. The churches are full of baby-Christians and people that know about God instead of knowing God, even though there are an amazing number of great preachers available. So if a newborn person comes into the church instead of being sucked into a pool of believers, they find themselves tossed on the beach of immaturity. I remember when God called me out of atheism seventeen years ago; I had no problem adapting to the common problems known to man, because I was surrounded by mature Christians in the church. I also became involved with them in everyday living; these Christians helped me walk the walk! In my early church years the proportions were right, 20 mature Christians to 1 immature instead of the 1:50 ratio we find today.
This whole situation we find ourselves in didn’t just start yesterday and it’s almost worthless to try to track it down or put the blame somewhere; the important part is to recognize it and act accordingly. Make God #1 again! The man-made church will not survive; we need Christ to be our solid rock.
The vision:
Life is not getting easier these days; no, it will get more intense, more violent, and more hostile especially towards Christians. There will be more famine, more natural disasters, more man-made disasters, more horrible circumstances than we can even imagine today. The bible tells us so and it is only wishful thinking to say that these things will not happen in our lifetime. We are to draw our strength from God but we are also to draw our strength from each other. Let us get together, not with great ideas but with a heart to hear from God what needs to be done. Let us build up an army for the Lord.
This plea is to the people of God, the ones who know how to hatch the egg, the ones who know that God is in control of everything in the universe (from the smallest to the biggest happenings); the ones who know that it is Him who provides everything (from a cup of water to the house that you call your home); in short the ones who not only confess Jesus as Lord and Master of their lives but the ones who also know that Master means ‘The one who is in control.’
Let us gather in the name of Christ, irrespective of our denomination
Despite our leadership position, our education, our wealth, or our age, let us worship God, wait for instructions from Him, feed on each others blessings by sharing testimonies, pray for one another and lift each other up. Let us be a group of people like-minded in Christ and free from politics; setting aside time for God. Not only will we strengthen ourselves but a body of Christians that sets aside time to worship God will get His attention and I can’t wait to see what He will have in store for us. I do not want to tear apart churches but instead let us meet in addition to our regular lives, giving the extra the time, making the sacrifice. Let us feed on each other and take the power of God back into our churches and let everybody feed on us; let’s take them one by one and fill the church with God’s glory again. This is the way to stand strong for the times to come in this country. Let’s draw nearer! Let’s get ready! If the spirit speaks to you and you can see yourself being part of this vision then start moving!
For everybody else may this stir up your spirit and may it make you reevaluate your walk with God. The last thing I want to do with this article is to initiate a riot in the church; be passionate but be also prayerful. May God bless you on this day!