To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: " Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18: 9-14
We need to strive to be the tax collector in this parable, not the Pharisee. We need to strive to have the humility of the tax collector and not the pride of the Pharisee. It is only with this kind of humility that we can reach the lost and it is through reaching the lost, that our land is healed. Not through forcing legislation on the world. Not by demanding the baby Jesus is in the town square but rather by insisting that Christ Jesus is in our hearts. How do we heal our land and overcome the schemes of the enemy? God tells us in Revelation how we will do it:
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; - Revelation 12:11
The blood of the lamb is where our righteousness comes from. It is where our sins are forgiven. It is where God hears us from heaven. The word of our testimony is where we humble ourselves and admit to the fallen world what Jesus Christ has done for us. Our land will not be healed through false prophets and prosperity preaching. It will not be healed through shady politicians in bed with would-be Christian leaders. It will only be healed through the church following the directives of God to humble herself before Him. It will only be healed when we earnestly seek His face in prayer. When we bow down before the altar of God not the altar of politics. Our land will only be healed when we ourselves turn from the very sin lifestyles we seem so quick to condemn the world of.
It is a pretty easy exchange says God. Humble yourselves, pray and seek His face, and turn from sin and in return He will hear you from heaven, forgive those sins, and heal your land. It is not the world He seeks this deal from but the church because it is the church that is His instrument on earth to bring people to His salvation. He cannot use that instrument if it is proud, un-prayerful, and sinful. We were not saved to enact laws to lead the world to a Christian utopia. We were saved to be humble. We were saved to pray and seek the face of God almighty. We were saved to repent and allow ourselves to be an instrument in the hands of God. If we do these things, God will hear our prayers. He will forgive our sins. He will heal our land.
Anthony Wade June 6, 2008
