One need not be a pessimist to admit that these are difficult and desperate days. Crises are ordinary things. They almost tumble over each other in the mad race to get here. It is easier to repeat pious phrases, make new resolutions, and pledge devoted lip service, than it is to accept such experiences as a challenge to demonstrate courage and ability which are products of a vital union with the Divine.
Neither the Church, nor individual Christians, can fulfill God’s purpose by disassociating themselves from the realities of our day. It is not our place to stand on the sidelines and watch the world go by, all the while deploring the dismal plight of men and nations. A robust, virile church should stand in the midst of cataclysmic events, and point the way to God and the path to deliverance. Unless the Church assumes this proper role, not only will it merit the disdain of man, it will court the disfavor of God. It is not the plan of the Great Head of the Church that the Church follow apologetically behind earth’s events just in case there are fragments which might be redeemed; but rather that it march at the head of the parade of events, lending an eternal flavor and direction to the affairs of men. Oh, how different would our world be today if this had always been true.
The Church should recognize today as the day of its greatest challenge. The need was never greater than now! The Gospel was never more potent than at the present! Every essential element of Pentecost is yet at our disposal. Facilities for reaching men with the Gospel were never more adequate. The most distant points of earth are only a few hours away. The hearts of men are hungering for that which only Christ can supply. There is a strong feeling in many quarters that God is moving to send awakening and revival in these last days. Expectancy is written on the hearts of many.
A challenge, to be effective, must contain several elements. There must be a sense of urgency involved. For the child of God, the spiritual interest must be paramount. The issue at stake must be clearly identified with the individual or group. There must be the recognition of partnership with God in any such venture.
All these ingredients are found in our present relationships. This is a day of urgency for us as a Church. Our complacency must be shattered. We must witness to men now, or we will never witness to them. One day’s delay is fatal for many. It’s revival today or ruin tomorrow!
This is our biggest business, because it is spiritual business! All our efforts must bend toward the ultimate end of saving men. We are not building human or material empires. From Headquarters to the farthest battle lines of Wesleyan Methodism, there are thousands of sacrificing, dedicated men and women giving unsparingly of themselves to build the spiritual kingdom.
The challenge of these days comes searchingly close to each of us. Yes, we do think of our Church, and here is due a strong loyalty. But present considerations have to do also with our homes, our children, our loved ones, our nation. All that is dear to us hangs in the balance. If ever we recognized the need to pray, to cry to God, to repent, to go all out in our efforts, surely we ought to do so when such issues are at stake.
We do well to remember that the tide can be turned and the conquest realized only as we work in partnership with God. He has honored us by giving us a place to serve. But the battle is His; likewise the victory. With Him all things are possible! He is searching for those who will unquestioningly co-operate. It is easy to enumerate a long list of needs, but whatever we need, as God’s people, He is able to bestow so as to make us invincible, and to glorify Him.
The challenge is ours. What will we do with it? Days of great danger and difficulty produce great saints. The crisis often precipitates the greatest conquest. Pressures that drive us to God, drive us far for God. The breaking guarantees increase. The bruising releases fragrance. While some stand limp and defeated, let us reach for the torch, forge ahead in these dramatic days, let God use us to write some new chapters to the book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit, and remind the world that the major function of the Church on earth is redemptive.
--General Superintendent B. H. Phaup 1960
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