Katherine Russeell @onAssignment is a "pilgrim on assignment", a blogger and a Jesus follower. Katherine is a serious student of the Bible and an active regular at Twitter Nightly Worship and Twivotions.
The Church today finds itself bogged down in the sludge of the 'status quo'. This sludge seduces you to be satisfied to just keep things the way they currently are. It looks good, smells good, sounds good and we've always done things this way, so why mess with what's comfortable?
The sludge of the 'status quo' discourages change. It says, "this is the accepted and expected way to behave. It's familiar and we want no interruptions/changes." But here is the problem: If the flow of the River of God is interrupted, stagnation and death are the end result.
Jesus came to disrupt the spirit of the 'status quo'! The religious leaders of that day liked things just the way they were. While Rome had power and control over them, they had control over the people of God. When Jesus came, however, He rebuked them saying, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. (Matthew 23:27)
Are we stuck in the sludge of the 'status quo'? Is it easier to just keep on the way things are? Or, are we going to get into the Word, and out of the sludge of this casual, lukewarm existence, focused on this world kind of living, and do what we have been called to do? It is as if we are bound by invisible chains and the chains have become so comfortable that we no longer even know we are bound.
We are living in a very dangerous time and it's the obligation of the Body of Christ to bring the only Hope for a lost and dying world. The Body of Christ is the Truth Bearer in this world, but, like a cobra charms it's victims, the Church has become hypnotized by the portrait of the violence and evil painted before us and we remain motionless!
We must awaken and fulfill God's purpose, as individuals and as a corporate body. The Army of God must be mobilized to carry the Truth of the Gospel to a world that is failing, breaking the hypnotic pull of strong holds in our own lives and the lives of the Body of Christ.
The disciples were in the trenches, not in a sterile, pristine, comfortable environment. They were dirty, sweaty, hungry, in peril, beaten, in chains and finally, most were killed for what they brought to the world. They engaged the enemy every day, every second of their lives and paid the ultimate price.
Page Two
Rock This Boat
June 2009
Katherine Russell
The Third World Body of Christ knows what it's like to live their life for Christ! They are captured, tortured and killed on a daily basis. We, on the other hand, have got it all in a neat, sterile, controlled, non-confrontational package. Any other way is too messy!
Warfare is messy! Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Was He just talking about, "I can't make my car payment; my girlfriend does not like me; my boss does not treat me right," kind of trouble? The Greek translation for the word 'overcome' is the military word, conquer. Conquer is a warfare word, therefore, 'overcome' is a warfare word! It has been demonstrated over and over again that this is a battle that we are in and we cannot be asleep on our watch (satisfied with the 'status quo')!
The Church in America, behaves as if we have passed through some kind of veil that others have not yet reached, and we are exempt and do not have to engage the enemy any longer. As if we are special and we act as if others ought to be drawn to Christ simply because they are breathing the same air we breathe! We are going to have to break out of this sludge of the 'status quo,' get in the trenches and fight this battle for souls that are lost without Him! The battle will never end until we get Home.
We are going to have to ROCK THIS BOAT to dislodge it from our casual concept of what a Christ Follower really is. This is about souls…but there is warfare to be done in the atmosphere, to break the assignments of the enemy from our communities, and to tear down strongholds that keep the Body of Christ divided. It's dirty work and emotionally and physically draining, but it's ours to do.
We must break out of this log jam of the 'status quo' so that the River of the Holy Spirit can flow in us and to those who still don't know how much He loves them.
ROCK THIS BOAT with warfare prayer! Keep ROCKin' until the RIVER FLOWS. Don't stop until we get Home!
