Focus
on America
The
all-important step
As Pentecostal believers, we readily
acknowledge that being filled with and using the power of the Holy Spirit
is vital to our Christian life. But that’s only the first step. The
next step — the all-important step — is the one we take out the
church door. Churches must take the gospel to the sinner instead of sitting
in an empty building waiting for the sinner to come to our services.
True, a few new people still find
their way into our churches, but if we are going to impact our society and
see a spiritual renewal in this country we must take Jesus to the marketplace
where the pain and suffering are rampant. We must let people see that Jesus
makes an internal, external and most importantly, eternal difference in the
lives of those who follow Him.
I am grateful for fine buildings,
great music, wonderful drama, adequate finances and even large attendance
numbers, but these things are meaningless unless people are being saved. Jesus
died to save the lost, and His greatest interest in church buildings is that
they might be places where people get saved.
No ministry or program that any
church can develop is a substitute for people getting saved. Any church that
is not leading people to a life-changing experience with Jesus Christ is not
only irrelevant and unnecessary, but has missed its whole reason for being.
What would we say about a doctor
who never brought health to one person in a year or a car salesman who never
closed one deal in a year? Our chief business is getting people saved and
discipling them in becoming members of the family of God. If we fail at this,
we have failed at everything.
Politicians, educators or courts
of law will never turn this nation around. The only hope for this nation is
the church moving out of its comfort zone and getting back on the battlefield
where the needs are prevalent. God is not in despair over America. He has
a plan and He has the power to make that plan work. He is waiting for people
like you and me to step forward and step out.
Charles E.
Hackett
E-mail your comments to pe@ag.org.
