Tragic State of the Church

"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you" (Jn 15:16).

He chose me. I did not choose Him.

He appointed me. I did not do anything to merit that.

Truths that are sinking deeper and deeper into my heart. Truths that are so absent from the church in this place.

Today, my heart sunk in sadness and flared in anger once again over the state of the church here. And in America. My friend and I were talking this morning with two women, one of the majority religion here and one claiming to be a believer but talking like she was Catholic. The Catholic woman described a religion that basically was the same as her friend standing beside her. Ritual. Work. Dependent on us. The difference? She was praying once a day to Mary. Her friend was praying 5 times a day to Allah. The rest of it is the same. Tangled in animism, cultural traditions, prosperity gospel, and self-centeredness.

After we walked away from these 2 women, I asked my friend how the teaching of the Word came to this filth here?

Her answer: over generations, the Word has been watered down more and more to the point where it is now. And people don't read the Word, so they don't know what it really says. So tragic. More than tragic. Now, there are several generations of people believing the same lie as their majority faith neighbors-- that we have to earn our way to heaven. What kind of gospel is that?!

No gospel to share, that's for sure!

The sad state of the church in this place is not far off from a reflection of the church in America, dare I say. How much of what the church in America does is religion or ritual or tradition? How much do we think that our salvation is dependent on us? Oh, we'd never say that, but at the core of our beliefs, we think pretty highly of ourselves and our service in the church, don't we? Friends, that cannot save us or earn us brownie points with God! Only the blood of Christ saves us. He chose us. We did not choose Him.

My friend, Becca, has told me more than once: "God cannot love you any more or any less than He does right now in this very moment." So true. Think about it. If God could love me more tomorrow based on what I did today, then His love is imperfect and incomplete and lacking, right? If God could love me less tomorrow based on what I did today, than His love is inconsistent, unsteady, constantly changing. And God cannot change or sin or be imperfect.

Praise God that He chose me, that I didn't choose Him. Praise God that my salvation is not dependent on me, nor is His love or grace. Pray for the church here and for the church in America that they will have a high view of God and His sovereign grace, and that that belief will dramatically change everything in their lives and in the church and in these nations.