When Hathach told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai sent her this message: “Don’t think that just because you live in the king’s house you’re the one Jew who will get out of this alive. If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this.” Esther 4:14 MSG
I am stunned by the deafening silence I am hearing from Christians and The Church on the events in Israel, especially the ones on October 7th.
Last Sunday I tuned in on several church services.
I heard two churches speak of the atrocities in Israel–only two.
Plenty are speaking vociferously about prophecy, but not one word condemning the horror against innocent Israeli citizens–the elderly, men, women, and babies, slaughtered!
And, not a peep from the so-called Christian blogs I follow.
It makes me think of the words of Jesus…
The Withered Fig Tree
Early the next morning Jesus was returning to the city. He was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree alongside the road, he approached it anticipating a breakfast of figs. When he got to the tree, there was nothing but fig leaves. He said, “No more figs from this tree—ever!” The fig tree withered on the spot, a dry stick. The disciples saw it happen. They rubbed their eyes, saying, “Did we really see this? A leafy tree one minute, a dry stick the next?”
Or, how about these words:
“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’”
How often I have heard Christians “wonder” at how German citizens could have stayed so silent, so complicit, during the days of Hitler and his Nazis.
But, what about us?
After listening to Israel’s response to the U.N. on the events of October 7th; to their so-called “peace proposal” from the United Nations Security Council, how could anyone, especially The Church, stay silent in light of such brazen barbarity?
They hate us too!
Does The Church not understand that these terrorists see no difference, NONE, between Jew and Christian?
Do we not get it, that they HATE us too!
I am chilled as I think of those words from the book of Esther that The Church is so fond of quoting,
“… for such a time as this.”
But, perhaps we have conveniently skipped over the words of warning preceding it:
“Don’t think that just because you live in the king’s house you’re the one Jew (or Christian?) who will get out of this alive. If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. “
There is just as much danger from these terrorists for we Christians as there is for Jewish citizens anywhere.
Losing sight of ourselves
But what happens when we no longer see what we are?
Are we then become “the Laodicea” of John’s Revelation?
Are we so “full of ourselves,” that we have become, “soul empty?”
Aren’t many of our churches “The Church of Laodicea” that has become, “so rich that we believe we are in need of nothing?”
I wonder… and so I am asking, “Can we see God the way we once did? Are we really face-to-face with Him? Does His Presence manifest in our hearts and in our lives? Do we really hear His Voice?”
Or, have we become temples of mediocrity, so lukewarm, indifferent, and tepid, that even The Lord Jesus Himself can no longer bear us and will spit us out?
Losing sight of Christ Himself
Can you imagine, having everything, yet possessing nothing?
I believe that is the Church of Laodicea: Beautiful buildings, filled with beautiful people, who have completely lost sight of what is really important.
In Laodicea, love is merely a word on the page of their bibles, while indifference, slander, and gossip are what really rules our hearts, and the day.
Money and what is politically correct rules attitudes, choices, and behavior.
In Laodicea, we abhor the thought of “certain types of people” entering our doors.
We love our soft chairs, and the sound of our own celestial voices. We insist on short sermonettes, “… with the appropriate number of bullet points, please.” We smile and applaud ourselves; for what we must endure from society, but frown with disdain over any idea, of anyone expecting us, to change ourselves, or the things that are so very wrong around us.
“Tasteful luxury” our unwritten motto?
Has “Fortressing in place until Jesus comes” become our unspoken creed?
The thought of ever joining with such a Church absolutely terrifies me.
(And, fearfully, so it should.)
She (Laodicea) is described in the King James Bible as,
“… rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Jesus Himself says to her,
“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” (Revelation 3: 17-18)
The Way…
In his book, The Way Of The Warrior, Erwin McManus makes the following observation:
The battle may look different for each of us, but the battle line is the same: it is at the intersection of our passions and desires. Solomon tells us to love wisdom. He knows that in the end we become what we love. We do not become fools because we lack the right information; we become fools because we love the wrong things. The only way you can care for your soul is to nurture your love for what is good and beautiful and true.
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Oh, God, forgive us for what we are not.
Come Holy Spirit and fill our hearts, and our churches, with your cleansing Holy fire!
Women With Destiny 