The Church in ruins?
You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. The Bible, Haggai 1:9
When the Israelites came back from a multiple generation exile, they found Jerusalem in complete ruins. So they thought it would be good to rebuild the temple first. As they were finishing the foundations, everyone simultaneously started building their own houses and the protective wall around the city and before anyone really noticed, the temple remained in the foundations-state for nearly 16 years. As they were legitimately concentration providing shelter and income for their families, the house of God was swiftly forgotten.
God’s house today is the body of Christ. Plain and simple, all our brothers and sisters around the world. And we realize that the biggest part of the body of Christ lives in extreme poverty compared to the minority of us who keep striving for just that little extra comfort, for better quality, for nicer screens, ever thinner computers, more aerodynamic cars, ever sweeter ice cream…
And yet we feel often empty inside and we wonder why… We have everything in an instant and everything is insured… So why this emptiness?
Maybe it's God’s way of helping us feel the empty stomachs of millions of children around the world, or the thousands of parents crying for their children who just died of malaria or simple diarrhea or the desperation of the thousands of fathers who realize that again they won’t be able to provide food on the table tonight…
We just witnessed an uprising of the people of Burkina Faso against the government that kept people in submission during 27 years. Once the former president left the country, people started looting houses and storages of those linked with the corrupt government. Our guard told us that he was called by friends to come and steal bags of rice enough to feed his family for a whole year, but he refused, knowing that, if he would do this, his heart wouldn't be straight with God anymore…
Every good gift comes from the Father above, and so this insight that our guard got is a God-inspired one. And we all of a sudden realize how important it is that we human beings should always be filled with God’s Spirit and listen attentively to His voice, leading us and guiding us through this life. When his Spirit does not fill our lives, there is an empty feeling, an insecurity, which we try to fill with stuff, entertainment, insurance, a stable job, a nice family and more, better stuff,…
It is researched that half of the kids between 12 and 20 in our western society regularly have suicidal thoughts. Owning many things, having all the bases covered but… emptiness…
Maybe it is time for us to consider the missions more as a part of the world wide body of Christ. When one member suffers, the whole body suffers and so it is impossible and an illusion to create a small well-feeling sub-body of Christ that has too much of everything and have that everything ensured… thinking that this will give us eternal happiness….
The suffering of our brothers and sisters should be a priority on our to-do list! They ARE our brothers and sisters, right? We’re talking of our closest family members here. Real religion is caring for the widows and orphans in their oppression. And bring them the Good News and teach them how to be disciples of Christ and keep his commandments. Full stop!
May we open our hearts to God’s plan for His Body of Christ on earth. May we not rest before we have done our part in alleviating the suffering of our brothers and sisters all around the world. May the people who haven’t heard about the Good News recognize Christ in us and see the church as the community of people representing Him in all His Compassionate Love, Care and Righteousness.
