"Blue Monday" melody...

They (that is, the collective they) say that today is statistically the most depressing day of the year--what with New Year's resolutions loosing their luster, post-Christmas debt, and let's not forget the lovely weather we all experience in January :) This morning, I woke up before my alarm at 3:55am (set for 4:10am). I felt refreshed and optimistic. I took extra time with my breakfast and coffee and did not rush my car to perform without warming up in -2 F temperatures. As I sat in my car allowing the frost to fade from my windshield, I saw my first glimpse of early morning moon. I pulled out of our snow covered driveway and onto the mainroad to see her in all her glory...perfectly round and glowing, and larger than I have ever seen. I scanned the radio and landed on a station playing a recording of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reading his letter from a Birmingham prison. (see below, my emphasis has been added.) "...I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen... I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: "Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother." In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities (any Pharisaical resemblance?!). In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice (both of which still exist in 2011 might I add), I have heard many ministers say: "Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern." And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: "What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists. (so true!) There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed (strong in power of The Spirit). In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators."' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are. But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century (I would argue we have reached this place in the 21st century). Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust. Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom." After settling in at work, I popped onto the BBC news website only to read of yet another man setting fire to himself in protest of rising food prices, unemployment, and autocracy (this time in Egypt, not Tunisia). I think on the current state of our world; I have brothers and sisters in the faith whose belief it is that this world is progressively getting better, that the church is growing in number and in power and ultimately the hearts and minds of man will turn to God. Other members of the body simply believe that like everything else, the church also goes through cycles of strenght and revival as well as apathy and decline. I fall into the third camp--it is my belief that the world is growing more and more hostile to Christ and the message of the gospel. Yes, the church is on fire in parts of the world right now (Asia, Africa, South America) but that is not to say that it is welcome and certainly does not mean that believers in those areas are not persecuted. Because they most certainly are. There are also areas of the world today that are basically numb to the working of the Holy Spirit and the power of the gospel. We're living in one right now. The Northeast has just surpassed the Pacific Northwest for being the most atheistic region in our country. But our Master said that it would be so. Why then are we surprised or discouraged. If you read the narrative story of God and His people, I don't understand how you might arrive at some other point. The importance of understanding this is not to induce fear in those around you (scare them into salvation). It is not so that you can be dark and depressed and pessimistic. In fact, it is for the opposite purpose--that our joy may be complete and our hope firm in the truth of our Savior. And we are to allow our lamps to be seen in darkened days so that those around us who are groping in the darkness might grasp the truth and enter the Kingdom of God and become, with us, friends of God, through belief in His Son Jesus. On this monday in January, this national holiday, I echo the sentiment of Dr. King. Yes my heart breaks for the church. I believe its time we "turn my {our} faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world." Let's not forget that this church will not be huge, it will not be the majority, rather, the minorty. Why you might ask? Because He said so. While it may be few who enter, His love is for all and His desire is for all to enter the love and care of His Son, our good Shephard. To those who have ears to hear.