One Child Born . . . and a World to Carry On
The line of an old song says, “When I'm dead, when I'm gone, they'll be one child born and a world to carry on, to carry on.” On the very day of the thirteenth anniversary of my father’s home going, we received a phone call from our oldest daughter, Heather, informing us that she was in “the family way.” What a blessing!
It has been said, “Whenever a child is born, it is evidence that God desires the world to continue.” That is a given; the appropriate question is, “Does God want the world to continue as it is?” This past week a dear Christian lady said to me, “I never really thought of what kind of condition our world was being left in for the future generations, until our first grandchild was born.” That is a lot to think about, isn’t it? What kind of world are we leaving to our children?
Today, will you join me in prayer that our world will be left with a vision of God? We hear many clamoring that they speak for God. If that is the case, we are getting mixed signals from God. I am being facetious. The problem is not that God is trying to confuse us. Down here, the problem is that many are not picking up God’s message. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” The word for vision in Hebrew is “chazown.” One of the definitions is: “divine communication.” Without God’s communicative message to us individually and corporately we are going miss His direction and ultimately His will. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5,6). As we examine this verse, we receive a clue on how God’s vision is distributed to us; that is, by acknowledging Him in all our ways.
Let’s get more specific; will you join me in prayer that the vision of God will flow through His Church? Have you ever considered that every church has a collective personality? If I were to ask you what is Christchurch’s collective personality, what would you reply? First of all, it would be difficult to say. It would be similar to the story of the three blind men who touched an elephant and described it. One man holding the trunk said it was like a snake. The other holding the leg said it was like a tree, and the third holding the tail said it was like a rope. The only way to see the elephant as it is would be to step back and open the sighted eyes we have and get the whole picture. If someone has had a great experience at our church, they may see it as the perfect church. Well, that’s nice, but in all truthfulness, there are no perfect churches. If someone’s experience is not so pleasant, they may pre-judge the whole congregation in a bad light. We will make mistakes. We will do some things just right.
As I pray for the generation coming behind, I pray that these three things will be obvious by those who know us casually or very well. First, I pray that everyone who enters these doors will sense the presence of God here. I love what one man said who came here years ago. “I went to many churches who talked about God, but when I came to this church, God was here!” Secondly, I pray that everyone who enters these doors will feel loved and appreciated. Thirdly, my prayer is that everyone who comes here will have the liberty to make life-changing decisions. To summarize the desired collective personality of Christchurch it would be: God is here! God and His followers in this place love me! I, too, can be a follower and disciple of Christ! “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14).
The only way the vision of God can flow collectively is if we begin where we live in our own personal life. May we allow God to be God within us. We cannot get inside others and push controlling buttons to make obedience to God a reality. We can, however, allow God to do anything and everything He wants to within us. There was a boy walking with his grandfather along the ocean’s edge. The tide had washed hundreds, if not thousands, of starfish upon the beach. The little guy inquired of his grandfather, “What happens to these starfish if they don’t get back into the water?”
“Well son,” the grandfather said, “they die.” As the grandfather continued sauntering down the beach, he noticed the grandson was not with him any longer. He quickly turned around and saw the boy throwing a starfish back into the water. The grandfather said, “Son, what are you doing?”
The boy answered, “I’m throwing this starfish back into the water.”
The old man said, “Son, you cannot possibly make a difference; there are too many starfish out here and it would take so long! Forget it, Son, it doesn’t matter!”
The undeterred little boy said, “Grandpa, it matters to this one!”
We may not reach all the people we would like to reach, but keep reaching for them; it makes a difference to every one we touch. While you’re at it, please allow God to reach you and make a difference. Allow His loving, omnipotent hand to pull you up to a level of His abundant life! Don’t give up on yourself. God wants you to carry on! As you observe those in the next generation, remember, God wants them to carry on! “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12).
-Pastor Pope-