MOVEMENTS AND NOT MONUMENTS (The Believer Must be Impactful)

While reading I stumbled on a very powerful story that tells us how we must live our lives as believers:

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the monarchy and temporarily turned England into a Republican Commonwealth. He also ruled as the Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.

At a point, while he reigned, there was a shortage of currency in the British Empire. Following his orders, representatives went all around the nation carefully searching for silver to meet the demand.

After a month, the team returned with their report that says, “We have searched all across the Empire in vain for silver. To our dismay, we found none anywhere except in the cathedrals where the statues of saints are made of choice silver”

Guess what the response of Oliver Cromwell was- “Alright then, let us melt down the saints and put them into circulation”.

The Church of Christ is ordained to be a movement and not a monument. The believer is called to impact his world and not to merely consume in church.

Our cars must not just bear godly stickers; our hearts and hands must reflect that we are ambassadors of Christ. We must be men who shape values and impact culture.

When the early church was becoming a monument, persecution turned it around again to a movement. Their impact would have been limited to Jerusalem while God had called them to the ends of the earth.

Our churches are becoming more comfortable but our conviction to be salt and light must also not reduce in any form. May our padded chairs be aflame with burning souls and not lukewarm hearts. May our marble pulpits become burning altars transferring flames of divine missions to the heart of willing saints.

For everything the church has abandoned, the world has taken over.

But here is our mandate:

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14‭-‬16 MSG