A Christian Response To Current Events – Part III – Take Action!

In Part I of this series, I covered how we Christians are the most persecuted religious group worldwide. In Part II, I challenged readers to maintain hope because the Church is alive and well! If you have not read either of these posts, I encourage you to do so. Today’s third and final installment in this series is geared toward answering the question: What are we Christians to do in the face of such adversity?

Understand that the very Spirit of God indwells the believer! This provides us power, love, and soundness-of-mind (see II Timothy 1:7). While it is not a sin to feel fear, God’s will is that we would not allow fear to overtake us and sweep us off course of completing His will. Listen to the exhortation of Peter, one of the pillars of our Christian faith:

Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:13–16).

In Jesus, and only Jesus, lies the hope of this world! Humanity simply does not have the means to heal its broken nature. This being the case, there will be no lasting solutions coming from politicians, military leaders, or any other humanistic endeavor. But this does not mean we are to bury our heads in the sand. Peter challenges us to prepare our minds for action, to discipline ourselves! Here are some practical steps I believe we all can follow:

1. Watch less news and read more of God’s Word. No, I did not say watch no news, my approach is more realistic and practical than that. Simply, watch 30 minutes less news each day, and read God’s Word instead. Some of you might be asking where you should start reading? Any of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) are excellent, but you might also want to spend time in Psalms and Proverbs.
2. If you are not sure what your spiritual gifts are, I suggest you take time to assess the matter. Its likely your Pastor has an assessment you can take. But you can also go to Lifeway Christian Resources, they have a very thorough assessment: http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcF_MYCS_030526_Spiritual_Gifts_Survey.pdf If you don’t like to click on links, then go to www.lifeway.com, in the search field type in Spiritual Gifts Survey and follow the path from there.
3. Once you find out what your gifts of the Spirit are, then pray daily for God to place it on your heart as to where He wants you to begin taking action?
4. Next, pray each day for the courage to take whatever action God is calling you to.
5. Don’t operate in a vacuum. Galatians 6:2 tells us that we need the help of others. Start with your Pastor, they can help you discover and hone your spiritual gifts. They can also provide valuable resources for you to connect to so you are not attempting to reinvent the wheel.
6. Whatever you do in this regard, pray each day for the ability to do it in love.
7. Finally, never give up! Make it your goal to live-out your life in your gifting day-by-day; regardless of what is going on around you!

Now: Go – Do – Enjoy!!!

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Dr. Michael Mannia, D.Min. is Co-Founder and President of Kingdom Community Ministries, and author of The Conditioned Mind.