All Hands on Deck

There’s a phrase I’ve been using lately pertaining the the Church. As I have been chatting with God, I just keep hearing Him say, “All hands on deck.”

This season of COVID has made it almost impossible to be a cultural Christian. It has taken work to stay connected to the body, let alone stay focused on Jesus. If we have unknowingly treated the church as a Christian country club in the past, that’s been fully exposed as the doors have been shut and we haven’t been able to function as “normal.” It is as if God has allowed his Church to be shaken, in order to get it back on track and be what He created it to be in the beginning. 

All hands on deck.

That means every follower of Jesus denying themselves daily, taking up their personal cross and literally following Him (Luke 3:23). It means restraining ourselves when nothing around us implies we should do so. It means saying no when everybody else around us is saying yes. It means stopping when everything around us keeps moving. It means being the body of Christ not just enjoying it.

If there’s one thing I am grateful for this last year, it is the gift of being able to slow down; a forced pause to reestablish or discover that which really matters. The truth is, we cannot listen if we don’t stop talking, and we cannot quickly pivot the direction of our lives without first slowing down.

We must, as a Church, purpose to pause and listen for what our God is saying, not only about the world, but to us: the dreams he has for us, the areas in our lives we need to change, and the places He has carved out for us to serve. In that, there is a call to holiness. Not the kind that separates us from the world and causes us to be out of touch and irrelevant, but a call to holiness that defines the standard by which we measure our lives. The standard that God determines and has already predetermined through his Word. It is not enough anymore for us to be one step better than our culture. It’s not enough for us to feel OK about our behavior and choices simply because our culture says it’s OK. 

There is a standard that God has set for his people and it is impossible to live that standard without him. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

There is a call to dependence that directly contradicts our culture’s yearning to be independent. 

It is only when we live our lives by God’s standard that we truly impact our culture. It is only then that the world sees Jesus, whether we are aware of it or not. And it is only when we live by God’s standard, that we truly experience the life Jesus died to give us.

All hands on deck.

It means every part of the body of Christ is not only useful, but necessary. God desires us to be all he created us to be so He can love this broken world through us. 

All hands on deck.

It’s time. It’s time to practice the things we have been learning about for years. It’s time to truly discover what it means to love one another. It’s time to ask what it means to “worship in spirit and truth” as opposed to just standing and singing songs on a Sunday morning. It’s time to let God activate each of us, so we can “be” all that he has created us to be. 

It doesn’t matter if you’re 12 or 91 – If you are here on this planet, and you know Jesus in a personal way, he is calling you to stand and be counted. 

Our culture needs Him so badly. It is in an a identity crisis. It is grieving and morning because of so much loss. It is hopeless and struggling to find joy, and we have what it needs.

Just like the Israelites were challenged to not be like the culture God rescued them from (Lev 18:30), nor like the culture he was taking them to (Lev 18:24), it takes a season like this one to learn who we really are.

The Israelites had a moment of pause, a time in the desert, to be alone with God.
Was it comfortable? No. Did they know what was to come? No. Was it painful at times? Yes. But, it was a gift non-the-less. A gift to bring clarity. A gift to bring healing. A gift to redefine and realign. It was a season intended to give them life and direction. Those seasons in the wilderness are times that strip away all that gets in the way…and we all have them. 

Moses had them, Joseph had them, Abraham had them, Esther had them, Jesus even had a season in the desert. 

We must purpose to be still before our Lord; listen to what he has to say and have the courage to daily walk in radical obedience, not led by our own passions and desires, but led by Him. 

In the Meanwhile…

Let’s stop and ask him: 

1. Who do I need to be so that you can work powerfully through me? 
2. What needs to change in my life so that I can experience the fullness of life? 
3. Where have I compromised your standard simply because it was better than the world’s standard? 
4. Where can I create pause in my day to walk with and be with Jesus? 

All hands on deck.

Are you ready?