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| RR bridge over the RR (River Raisin) in Monroe |
The basic question is not: What do you want? Nor is it: What do you think? Those are secondary questions, which only come into play when formulated as: What do you think God wants? What do you think God is saying? The core issue is not what you or I think, but what God thinks and is saying.
Some of my readers are atheists (thank you!). I believe even an atheist would concur with my reasoning, on the condition that an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving personal Agent exists; viz. that, given such a God, leaders will do best if they seek His will in the first place. Not to do so, in a church, is to acquiesce to a practical atheism. (This applies to all organizations and movements.)
This applies whether or not your church is in a crisis. But if it is crisis-time, keep focused on the basic question, which is: God, what are you now saying to us? God, what do you want us to hear, see, and then do?
To ask these questions will only be meaningful if your church contains leaders and people who: 1) live dwelling lives in Christ; 2) have actual prayer lives (i.e., they actually have time to pray); and 3) hear from God. Sadly, there are self-made churches out there with self-made leaders who, when in crisis, only have their own selves to depend on. That is a formula for catastrophe.
Clarity and direction is found in the presence of God. God's presence is the place where, ultimately if not entirely in this life, all questions find their answers. That is the arena where God builds his kingdom, and unless God is The Builder we strive in vain. Unless God leads the way we march on, directionless.
I am thankful for a people and leaders who cultivate the ongoing God-relationship and prize most highly the experiential reality of God's presence, to include frequently hearing his voice and gaining, among other things, his counsel on things.
