Coming Soon and Its Backseat Mentality

Coming Soon and Its Backseat Mentality

8/13/14

In a Christian’s heart the one main hope that we carry is the fact that Jesus has promised to return for His Bride one day.  As we watch things in the world unfold and the meanings that these events signify, it is not too difficult to become a little bit more excited about this truth concerning Jesus’ return.  However, what kind of excitement is actually rising up within us and to what extent do we really care?  From the looks of the condition of the Church and all of the inhabitants that grace their doors each week, I say that our excitement is not of God and of the true mission that we have been commissioned to complete.

I recently had a conversation with my mother concerning all of the small steps that the world, and the Church is taking towards fulfilling what God has said needs to occur.  She stated that even though we have kind of understood what was going to take place and while it was exciting to witness at times, it also presented a very eerily feeling inside our spirits.  To see things come to pass when one already knows about them in advance is very scary and can pose major nervousness within a person.  Yet while those nerves are tense they are somehow comforted that everything is ok and that all is under control. So, we do what every other human should be doing, we sit and wait and watch what occurs next and hen jot that bit of information down and occasionally look back at the progress the world has made in proving God correct.

We all love to wait, right?  The short and simple answer to that one is no!  But if we stop and look at it we wait on many things each and every day.  We wait in lines at the bank or for a store to open so that we can purchase a specific item.  Waiting on a doctor to arrive or simply just waiting on a letter from a friend to arrive in our mailbox and waiting on dinner to finish baking can seem like a lifetime.  All of these environments prove that a human has to wait for almost everything and that very little actually arrive instantaneously.  The question remains as to what we do while we are waiting on the store, food or letter?  Do we sit around and go to the mailbox every 10 minutes and hope that the letter has arrived?  Many of us do and I have to confess that I have done this on occasion.  Can this type of physical activity predict how we respond to Christ’s returning and our willingness to accept God’s Laws within our lives?  The answer to that question is yes.

As a kid I remember that sometimes we would have the opportunity to go to Colorado for Christmas.  One set of grandparents lived in the Four Corners area of that state and when it was time to visit them all of us would be excited to see new country and to spend time away from home.  Vacations are always a fun thing and it was even more thrilling for this boy when those trips came at the holidays.  I knew that when the news was broken to me about where we were going and when we were going I became very excited and for whatever reason I made sure that all of my friends knew that I was headed to Yanyad’s place for Christmas.

Now, most of my friends had no clue what a Yanyad was but it did not take them too long to figure out that we were going somewhere for Christmas.  This excitement of mine I could not contain and I had to tell someone about it before I exploded with untold information.  Then the day arrived that we were to leave and reality set in, we had to drive to Colorado and since most of my life was spent in the South, that drive was not going to be a short one.  The majority of our trips took two long days of driving to reach this golden place of holiday bliss and by the second long day I was ready to be out of the car and to reach the final destination.  But as mile after mile crept along those famous words filtered out of my mouth “are we there yet?”  There was nothing that I could do to change the time of our arrival so I had to sit and be patient while the destination inched closer and closer.  And while my excitement could barely be contained and my patience wore thin there was absolutely nothing that I could do to shorten the already specifically designed road towards that destination.

A few decades back there was a very popular Christian artist by the name of Andrae Crouch.  While the majority of the South knew who this man and knew of his ministry it was not until one specific song that he wrote called “Soon and Very Soon” did his name be known throughout the country and many parts of the world.  The song was a wonderful piece of music and there is no question that it was a message from God’s own heart to His people.  I am not going to write out every word of the song and if you are not familiar with this song I hope that you will go and look up the song and its words, for I know it will be a witness to your spirit.

“Soon and very soon we are going to see the King”.  “No more crying there we are going to see the King”.  No more dying there we are going to see the King”.  These words are the basic foundation of the song and what a marvelous and truth that these words portray to those who listen to them.  If these words do not cause excitement and hope to rise from within our inner beings then I have no idea what will, and to be honest that is exactly what those words are supposed to do.  But to what level are these words being portrayed to our spirits and has the enemy used these words to hide the true excitement that they should be displaying?

Do not get me wrong please, this song is an excellent song and its message still rings loud today but it is what those words say to our hearts and what the enemy has done with them that is of concern.  One of our founding hopes in Christ is that He is coming back one day and while no one shall ever know when that day will be, it is that unpredictability that should bolster this song’s true meaning.  The song states that one day very soon we will be meeting God and Jesus and everything that is associated with His Kingdom.  Yes!!!  This is exciting news and rightly so, but what have we done with those words?  Have we hid them inside our lives and ignored another simple song that says “this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine”?

As I was sitting in the car waiting to arrive at my grandparents’ house, I was basically biding my time and not being real productive with it either.  I had knowledge about a certain event yet could not have the opportunity to share it with anyone because the occupants in the car that I was riding in also knew what was coming up soon.  In this example the excitement had to be kept within and in the beginning of the trip I could hardly sit still because I had this information in my head yet could do nothing about it.  As time went along the feeling of urgency and excitement began to fade and the reality of the drive overtook my enthusiasm.  Then boredom becomes an issue and the frustration level sets in and then it is time to start looking for something else to entertain us while we wait.  And is this situation something that we have noticed within the pews of our churches?  Definitely!!

What type of excitement should the song mentioned above bring to the table and in our lives?  Yes, it is supposed to bubble up within us and to spill over so that others may see, but if this type of excitement is occurring while we are sitting on the pews and not where we are supposed to be, then given a certain amount of time we will find out that this excitement will fade, just as mine did sitting inside that car waiting for the arrival time; the source of the excitement if you wish to say.

How are we supposed to act then?  Take for instance a newly engaged person.  How many times have you been approached by a person showing off the ring that has been provided for her?  All of us have had that experience before whether it is on the giving or receiving end of this situation.  One can feel the enthusiasm and excitement as that person sticks her hand in front of her friends’ faces and in those whom she does not even know.  She wants everyone to know what has just occurred and how happy and excited she really is about what has happened in her life.  The future bride is excited with the plans and the recent news that has graced her heart and she is not ashamed of what is about to take place in her life either. 

This example actually presents a very clear picture as to how we are supposed to be acting as the Bride of Christ.  After the engagement ring has been issued then there is a bunch of steps that need to be taken in order for the bridal party to be ready for her special day.  This is a long process and one that cannot be properly completed in a few short moments.  If the future bride stays on course and follows the pattern that she sets out she and her groom will find that everything works out smoother and everything is in place when the wedding event arrives.  If the bride waits and does not prepare adequately for this day, even minor details will seem overwhelming and could even jeopardize the ceremony itself.

It is not too demanding of oneself to understand the differences between the two examples of excitement above.  Both are readily witnessed in our personal worlds and both can be examined if we place the setting into our church walls.  It is dangerous enough that we have this backseat mentality in our own lives but with this concept reigning in our lives it has infiltrated and is now flourishing within the Church herself.  How so?  I am glad you asked.  It is stated very clear about what our mission is and how we are to spread the gospel in the dying world.  This CANNOT be done while we are sitting in the pews and hiding our personal excitement and waiting for it to eventually fizzle out.  Yet with all of the negative stories that we all read about in the news, one cannot help but to think that the Church has lost its edge somehow and this is one of the major reasons why.

When Jesus said to go into the world He meant it.  He did not mean to go into the church and sit there until He returns; which brings up something else that we need to think about and that is that for those of you who believe that this plan of sitting back and waiting for the return is ok, guess what, you will be sitting there in that same place after Jesus makes His return.  That is not a judgment, it is a fact for the Bride of Christ for there is nothing lazy, stale or dull about the Bride and sitting around only represents those qualities.

We need to ask forgiveness of our sinful behavior and get off our duffs and go into the fields that God sees as a harvest.  We have lost that harvest mentality and have replaced it with a backseat mentality.  See when I took those trips to Colorado I rode in the backseat and had to wait until the destination arrived.  I was able to do nothing but sit and become bored and frustrated and as long as I was incapable of doing anything active, I was completing my assigned task for that trip.  Think about this and ask yourself if you have been sitting in the backseat and not doing anything for the mission of Christ.

God bless those who are willing to stand up for God’s Laws and commission and thank God for those who are not ashamed to be different from the world.  I pray that we open both our physical eyes and spiritual eyes so that we can see what we as a Bride have become for I can guarantee that Jesus shall not receive us in this condition.  Allow God to restore our excitement for His return once again but this time let us understand what we are to be doing with this excitement.  We cannot afford to hide this excitement for the world needs to hear this message of life and if we cannot bring this message into the world, then who will?

DLB