Andrea Costa Photography at Flickr

We are the last generation.

Adam came, Abraham came, Moses came,and finally Jesus came.  And from that moment, we have been the last.

The Apostles urgently proclaimed the Gospel and by the end of the last of the original Apostle’s life, Christianity had bloomed from a nothing, little Jewish-offspring cult into a multi-continent, state-threatening religion whose followers boldly flaunted laws made to oppress them–publicans, doctors, wives, virgins, soldiers, slaves.  And now, we sit in our churches and smile because we are free.

What are we doing with that freedom?  Why are so many hearts hardened against God, and don’t know, don’t care, don’t even want to know that Jesus loves them? We have forgotten two things:  that we are the last generation, and to love our neighbors.  We are no longer set apart.

The first Christians, they were radical.  They were extreme.  Today, we blend in.  On average, our family sizes mirror the culture, our divorce rates mirror the culture.  Our Gospel is a message of “have your cake and eat it, too.”  We’re focused on prosperity and our own selves.

But the trial is coming.  Be prepared.

The devil has lulled us into a stupor, soothed us with the message that the Lord has tarried so long, surely He won’t return soon.  He has used a myriad of shiny baubles to distract us, make us ineffective–amusements, entertainment, worries, materialism.  As long as we relate with and continue to focus on the culture, we forget that we are citizens of a larger Kingdom.

Our citizenship appoints us Ambassadors, and everything we do serves our King.  We are not held to the laws of our adopted nations, but to a greater and higher standard.  Our chief duties are to know our King, to love our King and to serve our King by being all that He created us to be. God doesn’t ask us to be anything other than who he has created us, but by living as His creature, we submit ourselves to His service.

But our culture calls us to conform.  If you’re gifted as an orator, wear a collar and keep it in the confines of the Church.  But not all orators are likewise given a vocation.  The Church does the same as the world, expecting some gifts to be given to the Church while others are shut out of doors.  When was the last time you saw the role of artist or sculptor proclaimed as a worthy calling to be nourished by the Church?

And so we are confused by a false dichotomy, the Church and the world.  Gifts are accorded to certain columns and genders and recognized only within the norms.  But the time has come for boldness.  The gifts of the Creator can no longer lie fallow.  Let all that has breath praise the Lord, for the day is dawning when we will be required to choose.

Now is the time to form a habit of rendering our service to God. Because we have failed to integrate ourselves, being identifiable ambassadors in our work, our lives, our relationships, we are losing our freedom to be integrated.  We’ve shut our religion into our churches and law has turned the key in the door.

This is only the beginning.

But be not afraid! With trial comes a new out-pouring of the Spirit! He will not leave us alone.  Abide with Him, and find happiness, even in the most dreary of circumstance. Be ready. He comes.