The news and images coming out of Afghanistan these last few days are gut wrenching, heart breaking, soul crushing. I cry myself to sleep at night praying for those trapped, those who will be or are being persecuted for not being Muslim, for working with US forces while our troops were there, for being women.
Stories of Taliban fighters going door to door and searching for Christians. Searching people's phones for signs of Bible reading or Bible study. Searching for those who dared to help our soldiers over the years. Killing women who aren't wearing a full face covering. Setting old women on fire for failing to cook adequately enough to please them. Forcing young women to marry Taliban fighters.
Images of people so desperate to leave that they're climbing in through half closed aircraft doors, packing into airplanes like sardines. Images of tiny frightened children, terrified women whose freedom has been stripped from them overnight. No more working, no more education, no more liberty of any kind.
Christians who KNOW they'll be slaughtered in the coming days for daring to believe in Jesus...for refusing to recant and go back to being Muslim. Followers of Christ gathering together to worship in secret.
And then there's the American church...
What can I even say about the American church? We have everything. Nice comfortable buildings in which to gather. Freedom to worship openly. Freedom to have as many copies of the Bible as we choose to have and display them in our homes. Freedom to put a bumper sticker on our cars that tells people to "Follow Me To Church". We can talk freely to others, openly, without fear. We might face some laughter or ridicule, we might even lose some friendships over our faith in Jesus...but- generally speaking- we don't have to fear for our safety, for our lives JUST BECAUSE we love Jesus.
And yet we skip church because we're too tired. Because we don't feel like going. Because we have something more fun to do. We see people suffering and don't tell them that Jesus loves them because we're embarrassed, because we don't want to be made fun of. We're unsure of how they'll react so we remain silent.
We don't read those Bibles we so proudly display around our home. They sit and collect dust, still looking brand new 20 years after they were purchased, the spines never creased from being opened. How can we have a relationship with someone we don't know? How can we get to know God without reading His Word?
How can we complain when we have so much and why are we so unwilling to help those who need some of what we have? We live in a country full of people who NEED Jesus...yet we keep Him to ourselves and turn our backs on those in need.
We should be ashamed of what we've become. We had so much and we've turned out backs on the blessings that God gave us to share with others as we hoard them to ourselves.
God, forgive us. Please open our eyes to what we've done. Break our hearts with what breaks Yours, Lord. Help us remember our first Love. Set our hearts on fire for You.
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