October 13

Day 213: Left Behind By The Train

I woke this morning pondering things deeper than I should. Or at least, earlier then I should. How can and should the Church of Jesus live out its gospel calling in light of the dark of our present surroundings?

Almost everyone is nearing next month's elections with a certain sense of dread. Not necessarily by choice, homeschooling parents are resigning themselves to continuing on, at least into the next semester. And we're now told to wait for a massive wave of new Covid positives?

It's more than easy for the Church to simply settle in, find a way to get by, and quietly wait it all out. Resigned to waiting out the bombings from the safety of the underground shelter. But this is a far cry from our calling.

Someone (I forget who) said, "The Church's role, right now, is to mediate God's presence to the watching world." This same person also said, "As the soul is to the body, the Church can be to their city."

Inspiring, no? But to see ourselves responding in kind, it requires, even demands a new and different mindset. While we church people seem to readily accept the tenets of the gospel, especially as individuals on the receiving end, we often fall short of realizing its scope, even its timeline.

For the Church to be the Church, the gospel has to be more than the grace of past rescue and future hope. To which we all agree. The gospel must also have presence and power, observable in the Church, here, today, now.

If the Church is to be the "fast moving train" of gospel presence and Kingdom expansion, is it currently possible that some within the Church are more concerned about getting in the way of the train, then they are of being left behind by that train?

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau