We Cannot Stay Quiet

I wanted to come to you today with a question: What was your experience at church this past Sunday? Did you go to church and things went on as normal, as if nothing happened this past week, or did your pastor and leaders address the murder of Iryna Zarutska, the school shooting at Evergreen High School, and the assassination of Charlie Kirk? Did they give a passive nod to these events? Did they even mention them, and if so, by name? Do you have leaders who were bold in the face of evil and called you into a place of courage and boldness?

We are at a kairos time not just in American history, but in Church history. A kairos (G2540) time is a cycle on God's calendar where His Kingdom purposes intersect with human history. It is the time when things are brought to a crisis, and what we have waited for comes to pass. We live most of our lives in chronos (G5550) time. Chronos time is when we are being faithful in our daily lives and going through the regular cycles of God's calendar. But there are times when chronos meets kairos and the divine collides with our daily lives. We are in such a time.

The divine has collided with our daily lives. This collision requires a choice. The Scriptures put before us two paths—a wide road and a narrow road (Matthew 7:13–14). Most will choose the wide road because it is easier. The wide road is the road of following our feelings, desires, and emotions. The wide road does not require self-control and discipline. The wide road does not require sacrifice and laying down our lives.

On the other hand, the narrow road is full of obstacles, sacrifices, and death. The words for narrow in this passage mean the way is narrow because of obstacles standing in our way (G4728) and to be pressed as grapes in a winepress (G2346). Jesus says it is the way to true life, but most will not choose this road. We do not like obstacles, and we do not like the pressing.

Each of us must decide in this hour which road we are going to choose. Are we going to fully step into this kairos time with God, or continue on as if nothing is going on? And you must pay attention to who is leading you at this hour and what they are choosing as well. Now is the time for courage and bravery. It is the time for truth and boldness. If those you are following are cowering and not being courageous, pray and seek the Lord about the steps you need to take. Are there people you need to unfollow? Do you need a different pastor who will call you into courage and boldness? Does your church side with evil agendas and promote the things God hates? Do you need to start meeting with a different group of believers who are truly on fire and living their lives for the Lord?

We cannot stay quiet. This kairos time demands a choice. The days of All I need is Jesus and Coffee t-shirts are over. It is time our faith is more than a saying on a t-shirt. Instead, it must be a faith that sets captives free, confronts demons, and proclaims Jesus with boldness. People are waking up and returning to church. God has sent forth the Holy Spirit, and He is drawing new people unto Himself. How will we respond when they come to our churches, we run into them in the grocery stores, and they interact with us on social media? What aroma are you carrying? Is it the aroma of Christ or the aroma of the world? 

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:14-16, NASB). 

The aroma of Christ will draw people to you, and it will repel people away from you. Do not allow your heart to be offended when they are repelled. That is a sign you are carrying the fragrance of the Spirit of Jesus. 

As we process these days we are living in, may God give us the grace and power to see His plans go forward, and may we be surrendered to hearing and obeying so we can gain the authority needed to see Jesus' enemies be made a footstool under His feet (Psalm 110:1)! 

Be bold, be courageous,

Brandee