Way back in 2012, I wrote an article entitled Our Nation's Achilles Heel, and at the time I was focused on how I viewed this world and what I could see going on "behind the curtain", so to speak. At the time, I was concerned about a particular mindset of Americans called "normalcy bias", and I identified it as this: a tendency (or preference) to view the world around us in its usual, customary state. And like I said, in 2012 I was focused on the geo-political state of the world, so someone's normalcy bias might manifest in a mindset that said, "America will always be a Super Power. No one or nothing is going to take us down"; "I still have a job. Everything's going to be alright"; "I don't need to prepare. If I just believe in God, He will take care of me." "Nothing's really changed in my life; I still do all the things I've always done. What's the big deal?"
But the condition of our lives today proves that we were walking on shifting sand. Our lives have changed dramatically in the past few weeks. The severity of the threat of COVID-19 is still largely unknown, and people are dealing with the fear of instability and an uncertain future. I can't imagine how those without faith in Jesus are traversing this "new normal". And, in reality, I'm not too sure that many Christians aren't struggling, too.
However, I see this season in our lives as a blessing and a huge opportunity to "reset" our paradigm of faith. Our mega churches with their "business as usual" agendas are closed to the public. Our normal ways of worshiping and sharing the Gospel have changed. Could we soon see the growth of small Home Churches, and the birth of new ministries that are unhindered by the conventions and norms of 21st Century Christianity?
To the world, our circumstances might look bleak and depressing, but if we take a closer look in a spiritual sense, we should be able to identify the Lord at work. Perhaps this is a time when He will use the unorthodox and out of the ordinary to reach the world... and will we have hearts softened to receive them?
After all, He tells us in His Word that "the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to all the nations and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). We know that Western Christianity has not accomplished that goal and perhaps it's time we gave up our normalcy bias and considered new ways to share the Good News of the Kingdom.
There are bold, new voices speaking to the Body of Christ; voices that call for us to step outside the box and walk in the Lord's ways. Just as He walked an innovative path in a world dying for evidence that YHWH could still intervene in their circumstances, I believe that Jesus is raising up a generation of fresh and radical visionaries that will unleash a new Kingdom strategy to defeat the Anti-Christ and his agenda. They will walk in unprecedented power and spiritual insight regarding new understandings of our purpose as Christians and Kingdom representatives. We will no longer be stymied by worn out religious traditions that do not attract the world to our message.
I believe we will see people exhibiting the signs and wonders of our Father in Heaven as He prepares the world stage for the Kingdom message to spread across the globe. Before he died, Pastor Myles Munroe referred to Matthew 24:14 and asked the question, "Have our churches actually postponed the return of the Lord because we haven't been preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom?" Might this pandemic and the changes it is bringing to how we "do Church" be a way that allows God to hit the pause button so we could realign our purpose with His? I'd like to think so.
And that's why I'm excited about this time we find ourselves experiencing. I have great hope that we will see changes for the better. To those who view our circumstances from a secular viewpoint, it might be a scary time. But I know there is always God's perspective, and within that realm there is hope and opportunity to see what He wants to accomplish and then to look through a Kingdom lens to find the ways to join with Him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to see His will done on the earth.
So, please join me in praying that new voices will proclaim the Kingdom agenda for our lives and that the Body of Christ will have ears to hear. And let us live each day as if tomorrow we will see Him descending from Heaven with a cry of command!
John 14:1 Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.
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