I recently read an article posted by ChurchLeaders.com about a Twitter thread from Beth Moore, in which she apologised on behalf of our generation for doing a great disservice to the younger generation. She ruefully regretted that it had been on our watch that the Platform culture and Christian Celebrity culture had successfully infiltrated the Church.
I couldn’t have been more proud of this anointed woman of God. It had taken one honest, fearless woman to finally address the elephant in the room and acknowledge her part in it as well. Such honest humility is hard to come by these days, even in the Church. (Dare I say, especially in the Church?)
And then Covid arrived with a bang and put paid to all our carnal showmanship and spiritual competitiveness.
I believe that Covid’s main redemptive purpose was to be as a ‘plumbline-reset’ for the Body of Christ.
Because, sadly, but not surprisingly, the flammable mixture of the political spirit with the religious spirit had resulted in some segments of the Church wandering too far Left, and some too far Right, and the rate at which apostasy was unfolding was mind-blowing.
God must have finally drawn in a sharp breath and said, “Enough!” It’s time to begin cleaning out My house before the rot goes too deep. I shall use Covid for my divine purpose.
(Please don’t lynch me for putting words in our Father’s mouth, this is only my personal opinion and sanctified imagination).
But, as everything came to a screeching halt and we began to emerge shell-shocked from the Covid Churchquake, it still took some of us some more time before we finally realised that all our commands and prophetic decrees were getting us nowhere.
It was going nothing like what we expected, even with all our well-intentioned faith and well-practiced formulae. So some folks decided to change tack and head towards the conspiracy theory camp, while the rest scrambled to resuscitate faith and be led by Wisdom.
Then as we hunkered down behind our Zoom screens, God’s heavenly scalpel began to do its sanctifying work. All the dross and the trash that we had successfully buried deep within us over all these years began being drawn to the surface with nauseating clarity.
Jesus was going for the jugular, because in His great kindness towards us, He was allowing us a glimpse of the secret sicknesses of our souls, so that we could run to Him and truly experience Him as our only Healer and Deliverer.
What a glorious Saviour!
The Heavenly Bridegroom was also wooing His Bride and directing her eyes towards Him alone as the sole object of her affections and attention.
All other distractions had been decimated already. There was no platform to perform on, no books to be hawked, no hype to excite, no long announcements to be endured and no cute videos to chuckle at.
God now had all of our attention.
Sometimes I miss those days of lockdown. Covid had caused me to long and yearn for Jesus more than ever. It had centered and anchored me deeper in Him and birthed a greater urgency for the perilous times that we’re living in. It also taught me the power of Anointed Silence in His Holy Presence, and a deep distaste for clamor and noise.
But now that we’re entering the third year of this disruptive pandemic, it feels like it was all just a dream and that none of it really happened. Everything is back to business like never before.
The Grand Reset has got reset again.
Dear ones, in this month alone, there have been three major religions celebrating their respective New Years. Countless resolutions must have already been made. But can I encourage us to make the most important resolution of all?
Let’s purpose in our hearts that 2023 will be the Year of Only Jesus, and that anything else that dares to upstage Him will be anathema to us.
It’s only as we resolve to make Jesus preeminent in our lives that we’ll then be able to ‘walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.’ Ephesians 1:22-23.
Anything else will be as filthy rags.
