TURN OR BE DERAILED

When something is made or created in a specific country, there is a sense of joy and pride if the product is useful, functions well, and is accepted. If the product malfunctions, we prefer not to associate with it. The same is true of religion and spirituality. When religion is responsive, practical, and yields solutions to our problems, we engage with it. However, if it is ineffective and incapable of offering solutions to our many problems, our tendency is to reject it.

The spiritual laws of the universe are such that human beings always will be attracted to anything that promotes life and livelihood. If they view church or religion as promoting life, they will be drawn to it. If they get more insight about life from the New Age guru, they will be drawn to him. Churches will not continue to exist if spiritually, they offer the equivalent of functional illiterates--individuals who go through the motions at each Sunday service, yet show no evidence of spiritual growth and change. Only by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit are we capable of genuine spiritual growth and change.

No trip of any significant length or duration can be taken without the expectation that you will need to make turns; either right turns, left turns, and sometimes a 180 degree turn. If the goal is to arrive safely at your destination, then, when the road ahead indicates that a turn is necessary, you prepare for and make the turn. Globally, the evidence suggests that it is time for our churches as a whole to make a critical and mandated turn. That turn must be toward the light of God, because only a massive infusion of light can obliterate the rapidly growing spiritual darkness in our world.

If you live in New York City, you know that there seems to be night-time road construction happening almost every couple of miles on some New York City roads. At night, the construction crews use multiple large flood lights to light the construction sites. If instead they chose to rely on a few candles, major problems and accidents would occur in the darkness of night. Our churches are attempting to deal with major issues in the church and in the world while holding the equivalent of tiny candles, and rejecting God's offer of a massive infusion of light.

In the darkness of the last days, God promised in the Bible that he would pour out his Holy Spirit on all people (Joel 2:28). He is the only source of spiritual light. You may not believe that we are in the last days of the tribulation and of life as we know it. However, if you are witnessing the growing darkness and are facing intractable and insoluble problems, you have nothing to lose by asking God for an infusion of the light of his Holy Spirit. Otherwise, any attempt at spiritual reconstruction is certain to end in disaster. Most importantly, the failure to make a clearly essential turn or turnaround is certain to end in spiritual derailment.