Out of the Ashes the Gospel Rises

While it seems society is burning to the ground around us, God remains. When we see that all is not right, when we fear the loss of the false things we hope in, and we feel the anxiety of a looming future we did not expect, we must be aware that these things are the mercy of God.

Mercy! How?

Yes, mercy. Because it is when we grow aware that things in the world are not right, we do one of two things. We can place even more hope in the broken things, becoming a more fabulous cheerleader for the false hope around us. Or we finally give up our affections for the things on fire and place our hope in Christ above all else, no matter the cost. It is a merciful God who is bringing down our false idols and shattering our false safety so that we might ultimately turn to Christ and escape the judgment of God and the eternal, unquenchable fires of that judgment.

And we are not alone. We are a part of a loose network of churches united together for the proclamation of the Gospel. Nationally, that network is working through a great many struggles well beyond COVID-19. The various churches are not in agreement about how some things are being managed, specific doctrine held by some members of the network, and all sorts of other minutiae. Maybe God was burning these things down in our network before He started doing a larger work in the world. Either way, I believe if the network remains beyond COVID-19, our work together will be refined by these fires.

It is my prayer that the above video about the Cooperative Program is even more true of us on the other side of these challenges than it is today. I pray that as so many worldly things are grumbling to pieces, the Southern Baptist Churches across the nation will turn to the Lord to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. I pray us and the other churches in the network will be marked by how we love one another, even as we deal with doctrinal and operational differences. May our love for God and our love for people bring the Lord great glory. And out of our worship for God, may we continue to engage in the Great Commission together, even better than we ever have before.