Standing on the Sidelines

I Samuel 17:1-4, 10-11 "Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath... And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid." (ESV)

The Church of today has lost much of its influence. I think it is safe to say that our society is crumbling, that the West no longer stands as a moral beacon in the world. We here in America just went through a nasty election process, and no matter which side of the aisle you may stand on, I think you will agree there was no real moral choice, both candidates existing in a moral gray-area. Our Church exists in just such a moral gray-area these days as well.

The American Anglican Church has just been suspended from the worldwide council for its moral ambiguity, the Methodist Church is poised to split entirely over the liberal movement in their doctrine, and the pope as the supposed head of the Church openly speaks heresy and goes against Biblical doctrine. All this is not to mention the rise of corruption in mega-churches, the child abuse scandals that have run rampant in the church community and all sorts of other scandals. I think it is safe to say that the Church has dropped the ball.

So, how are we supposed to be shining the Light of God's Truth in the world when we have becomes so weighed down ourselves? Where did the Church go wrong, and how can we gain back the ground we have lost? For that, let's look to our passage.

In the passage, Saul, the king of Israel, stands at the front of a mighty army. In this time, Israel has been on the rise, organizing and growing into a fairly formidable kingdom. Saul has led several successful campaigns, and his enemies have been sent packing time and time again. Until now. The Philistines have lined up against the Israelites, army to army, but instead of running to meet their foes, the Israelites hesitate. Out from the lines of the Philistines marches a giant of a man, Goliath, and he stands in the middle of the field and mocks them. This happens day after day after day. But no one challenges him.

You see, the Israelites hesitated and because of that, they lost their confidence. They second-guessed God. They got their eyes stuck on Goliath, and somewhere in the back of their heads I think they all, each individually pictured themselves having to take him on alone, and they were terrified, as I think anyone in their right mind would be. The became so focused on this one man, gigantic as he was, and they forgot they had a whole army at their back, and that a massive battle was supposed to be fought between two entire armies. You see, they let the enemy, Goliath, dictate terms, instead of following in God's will.

I think that is where we are as a Church. We have become consumed with the idea of being politically correct, we have introverted our faith. We speak in platitudes, taking the idea of a 'personal walk' with God out of context and using it as an excuse to not engage the world for Christ. We allow a corrupt society to dictate terms of our faith. How often do we hear "Judge not, lest ye be judged" tossed around without any knowledge of the context of the verse? And this by so-called Christians!

We have lost all concept of discipleship and spiritual growth. We focus more and more on getting people to mimic spiritual behavior, rather than fostering a read spiritual life into their routine. Sunday school is a watered down day-care, where kids are taught fairy-tales on brightly colored sheets of paper, but with little to no actual spiritual applications. The gospel has given way to 45 minute- hour long concerts, with a 15 minute pep-talk tacked on. Churches host special event after special event, with little to no actual outreach to their community.

People come to a special service and repeat a prayer spoken by someone into a microphone, but there is no actual discipleship offered so it isn't too long before they slip back into their old ways. 80% of growth in American congregations comes from people transferring from one church to another, not from new converts, but from transfers.

And that is where Saul and the Israelites found themselves as well. Lined up, shouting their war cry, but too scared to engage. Doesn't that sound like us?

We get on social media, we say our private prayers for deliverance, we read our Bible and gaze heavenward, but we do not engage. And that is the core of the problem in our Church today. In I Samuel, one brave young man strode up, and he heard what was happening. You see, he came to provide food for his brothers, who were supposed to be fighting in a battle, but instead he saw the armies, lined up and one loud-mouth in the middle of the field mocking the Israelites. And he stepped out on faith, put a stone between Goliath's eyes, and cut off his head. End of story.

That is what we are missing as a church. You see, we let society tell us there isn't anything we can do. Our faith is outdated, our doctrine is 'evolving,' it's time to move on, but if we really believe that isn't the case, then it is time for us to engage. We keep waiting for someone to do something, we keep waiting for a person in a place to make a difference to speak up, but that person is you. It wasn't David's place to fight Goliath. He wasn't even in the army. In fact, his brother rebuked him for even saying something about it. But God blessed him, just like God is waiting to bless us. We can take back the Church, we can impact our society. We can turn back the doomsday clock on morality.

It's time to step off the sidelines and into the action. It's time to engage the enemy "that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.” (I Samuel 17:47 ESV)