I am so thankful that I was born in a country that allows freedom of religion and worship. Last week during the Global Leadership Summit sponsored by Willow Creek Association, I heard a story of an Ethiopian pastor who had been severly persecuted due to his work in spreading the Gospel. The government became so annoyed with him that they attempted to execute him via electric chair two times. Both times the surge of electricity shorted the electrical currents in the town and the pastor walked away unharmed. After the second attempt his persecutors were so irritated that they released him. A short while later he encountered an American missionary who had heard about what was going on. The American said that he would pray for the Ethiopian pastor, and the pastor said he would pray for the American Christians. The American missionary began to walk away but then asked why the Ethiopian pastor would pray for American Christians.
The Ethiopian responded, "You tell me that there is a church on practically every street corner in America but lots of people don't attend." "Yes," the missionary responded. "We meet during the darkness of night in the valley so that we can fully worship," the pastor returned.
The Ethiopian pastor continued, "You tell me that lots of people own 7 or 8 Bibles in their home. We had one Bible but I torn it apart so that we would not be killed for owning a Bible. I gave portions of it to our people to memorize and then destory. Now when I am preaching, if God tells me to use scripture from Isaiah 58 I ask for that scripture and the person who knows it will stand and recite it. You tell me that Americans don't pray everyday. We pray all day because we know that only God can get us through one day and the next." The American missionary simply responded, "Yes. Please pray for us."
It is so amazing to me that we live in such a place that allows us to have God at our fingertips. We have the opportunity to fully come to know Him through scripture, church, and open worship. Yet so few of us truly know who He is. We have churches on every street corner but none are full during worship services and many sit as vacate buildings. More people are dying that giving their lives to Christ every day. Do we not know God more fully because we are so consumed with our own lives? Are we concerned about our comfort that we forget to worship? Do we clutch our lives and everything around us so much that we refuse to relinquish control to the One person who has the best plans for us? Why don't more people give their lives over to Christ and walk in an eternal relationship with Him? Christians, what are we doing wrong?
I strongly believe and do not doubt that the local Church is the hope of the world. The Church is the only institution entrusted with the redeeming message of Jesus. Church, it's time that we start getting this right. With all of the freedom afforded to us, let's lead more people to Jesus and reveal to them the transformational power of His grace.
