It's Our Turn, Church

It’s the same crossroads faced by every other Church and Christian in history. The same valley of decision faced by millions.

For decades, we’ve talked disparagingly about the Church in other seasons, despising the apparent weakness of our brothers and sisters in the face of circumstances we never walked through. We preach about how poorly some Christians handled challenges like slavery, the Holocaust, the abuse behind the Iron Curtain. We said, “never again”. We said we would’ve been more like Schindler and Ten Boom, like Wilberforce or Wurmbrand. Easy to say when their heroism is scripted like Marvel movies on the pages of our history books—and wasn't required of us.

But the time always comes to face the music for ourselves. Human victory and freedom only last as long as we’re able to remember the cost of it and stay connected to the Source of it. The One who equipped Ten Boom and Wurmbrand is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And He’s calling YOU and ME.

The time has come. The time no one wants and no one can escape. Our turn.

It’s been here for years, brooding with signs as obvious and yet as easily-missed as white-caps forming on an ocean. Our opportunities will look different than anyone else’s, but they will reveal if we’ve learned anything from the stories we so cherish—whether historical or fictional.

As Tolkien poignantly observed, no one ever wants the circumstances they get handed. Everyone wants to pass the buck the way Frodo longed to pass on the ring. Let someone else handle it. We would rather read about the adventures of our ancestors while passing our lives in the peace of the "Shire". But the peace of the Shire isn’t static. It isn’t inevitable or incorruptible. If we don’t risk our comfort and face the grit and grime of Mordor to protect the innocence of what we love, it will be lost.

And the real conflict is never where the world says it is. It’s several layers down, beneath the smokescreen of craziness. It’s the stuff no one wants to look at because it uncovers false humility, burns through fake compassion, and demands responsibility without arguing about blame or fairness.

It’s not a fight to get our normal back. It’s a fight to preserve the foundations that allowed us to build anything precious in the first place. It’s a worthy struggle that contains deeper, harsher realities that were always meant to be revealed.

That's what drove Frodo on the mission that broke him. It’s what we should have realized all along.

But Frodo wasn’t alone. And neither are we.

As the Church, it’s high time that we remember who we are. How do we start? By remembering WHOSE we are—and what that means.

It’s all right there in Scripture. Do you know what it says? Do you believe it? Have you dared to ask the Holy Spirit what the application looks like in our daily lives? Is there anything in there you’ve chosen not to deal with because it’s “just not something we talk about in our church”?

We do not have to join the anger and panic of the world in order to care. We do not have to borrow the flimsy, twisted wisdom of the age in order to forge a way forward. We do not have to hide in ignorant pretense in order to protect ourselves.

It’s not about being Corrie ten Boom or William Wilberforce (and if you don’t know who they are, you weren’t educated properly; Google them). The point is, they weren’t trying to be who they became. They were simply being faithful. While the world is literally losing their minds trying to look moral while having zero clue what that is and no power to effect real change—we have the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus Christ from the dead living in us (Romans 8:11)!

This isn’t about showing the world how strong we are. This isn’t about manufacturing manmade solutions. This is about showing up to the circumstances God placed us in for His good purposes and showing the world WHAT JESUS LOOKS LIKE!

He doesn’t look like any agenda of man. His nature was only radical because He proclaimed Himself to be who He was and is forever—the only Son of God. That’s why He was hated. He did not anoint His disciples to dismantle broken systems with glorified temper tantrums. He knew He would be offensive to humanity because of His claims. But He loved us and came to save us. Now, He sends us out as sheep among wolves. But we’re the most equipped, battle-ready sheep ever because we have a Shepherd who rules over a Kingdom that will never end.

Don’t sleep.

Don’t run.

Don’t ignore.

Don’t take this lying down, waiting for it to “blow over.” Your children will have to face what you don't address. But don’t take the lazy way out—demanding changes to realities you don’t understand. Prepare your kids. Prepare yourself. To do what? Represent Christ.

Get back into the Scriptures, drink of His Presence, dive into the glorious depths of His nature, be satisfied with His likeness—and from there, you’ll be able to go out and quietly change the world. Without screaming, threatening, or virtue-signaling. Without needing to be filmed. Even when you're troubled and grieved, you'll be anchored by a bedrock of Jesus-joy the world can't fathom. Because you carry His vision, His Heart, His Life.

You carry Him.

 #kingdomculture #faith #jubileelipsey #jesusislord