With All That's Been Going On

With All That's Been Going On

"With all that's been going on…" I feel like I've heard that phrase over and over again the past couple weeks. Maybe you've experienced the same. From friends, coworkers, maybe people you haven't spoken to in a long time, that question seems to pop up out of the blue lately. There are some key reasons behind it. Assassination, school shooting, intense political division, and ongoing wars all seem to contribute to deep anxiety about what our world has come to and where we're supposed to go from here. Combine those with whatever someone might be going through personally and it's a recipe for change. Lately I've noticed a big shift in how people are thinking about their lives, what it all means, and what they're supposed to do now. I've heard it again and again the past two weeks--people disconnected from the church and the Christian faith have been asking questions, checking out churches, reading the Bible again, all trying to find direction because of "all that's been going on". What an incredible opportunity!

With this opportunity comes the need for clarity about what matters the most. As a Christian and a church, I think it's so important to know our end goal when we engage with people genuinely seeking faith and meaning. It might be tempting to jump into why "we were right all along and they were wrong". That makes us feel good because we feel vindicated. But the problem is that then we are pointing people to the wrong thing. First and foremost, our goal should be to point to Jesus. What are people genuinely seeking? They're seeking the power of God to direct their lives. When our world is anxious and afraid, seeking direction on what to do and where to go for help, we point them to the king of kings and lord of lords. We show them Jesus. It is Jesus who was there with the Father and the Spirit at the creation of the world and still cares for it today. It was Jesus who was fully God yet became fully human to represent us. It was Jesus who became our "God with us" through the darkest times of life so we know we never suffer alone. It was Jesus who lived righteously when we couldn't. It was Jesus who proclaimed the kingdom of God in the face of injustice and exploitation. It was Jesus who went to the cross to forgive his enemies. It was Jesus who set us free from sin and death. It was Jesus who rose from the dead, and sent out witnesses to show the world the goodness of God and tell of his sacrifice. It was Jesus who ascended to heaven and who still prays for us when we can't even put to words the intense groanings in our heart. It is Jesus who promises to come again and restore all things, gathering his people into his eternal kingdom where there will be no more tears, sadness, pain, injustice or even death. Jesus is the one calling God's people to himself, saying, "trust in my love, receive the forgiveness of God, and come follow me as I put the hurting world back together."

This is the message I want people to hear because it's the story of God's redemptive power for people and our whole world. That's the message we need to remember the most. In the midst of tragedies, personal crises, anxiety about our world and how we fit into it, we look to our Lord Jesus Christ who holds all things together by his mighty hand. So with all that's been going on, let's show them Jesus. 

-Pastor Kendall Everett