10 Things the Global Crisis Has Revealed About the Church by JOSEPH MATTERA for Charisma News
Since the beginning of 2020, the whole world has experienced an epochal challenge that has tried our souls. It has revealed character, motivation and maturity levels in the church and the world. Consequently, this should be a time of reflection and correction for us all.
Since I am an ecclesial shepherd, In the following 10 points, I will narrow my focus on the church.
1. Many people in the prophetic lack biblical alignment. The inaccurate prophecies regarding both the outcome of the presidential election and post-election predictions have greatly troubled many of us in the charismatic church. It has caused a massive crisis of confidence related to the charismatic movement. For this reason, Michael Brown, several dozen leaders and I have crafted the prophetic standards statement. Biblically aligned prophetic ministry always allows others in the church to judge its words (1 Cor. 14:29, 1Thess. 5:19-22. )
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2. The leaven of Herod has infiltrated the church.
See my recent article on this here.
3. Much prayer won’t necessarily change election outcomes. I am a great proponent of fasting and prayer for revival and national awakening. On the other hand, I also know that God judges the hearts and motivations of people when they pray (James 4:3). Alas, despite multiple thousands of conservative evangelicals rallying for days of fasting and prayer, they did not get the result they were looking for. My only conclusion is that much of the prayer was probably not in line with the will and heart of God. This is a prerequisite for Him to hear and answer (1 John 5:14). Perhaps our motives in prayer were related to avoiding persecution and retaining religious liberty (things the church in China, Iran, India and so forth) do not believe are essential for the church to thrive. Perhaps the prayers would have been better spent seeking the face of God to heal our land rather than striving for a particular candidate to be elected (2 Chron. 7:14).
4. The church must continually pivot for forward motion. The effective church must always be willing to adapt according to the times in which its people live. At the beginning of the pandemic, many of us had to work day and night for weeks to reinvent how we did church.
5. Only the remnant will persevere. The pandemic has caused most church attendance to drop between 25-50%. Consequently, those half-heartedly committed to Christ used the virus as an excuse to disconnect from church even after the lockdown was over. However, immediately after the lockdown, the faithful remnant church began to assemble again. Regarding those with COVID concerns for missing church, the test is whether they are still participating in the life of their church through Zoom, online services, and giving tithes and offerings.
