…The blame is gone. 🙂 Last week we recognized our own ineffectiveness at fulfilling the mission given us by Jesus Christ. Our inability to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world is not the fault of industry, the location of our church, or the young people we want to reach. But these are some of the places we have been laying blame.
Read Matthew 12:38-45
Have you prayed a prayer similar to this: “God, do something miraculous in this community so that our church might grow and we might know that you really are still with us”? When we place blame on anyone or anything other than ourselves, it is tempting to seek some miraculous fix to the problem. But, when we realize the problem is with us, we begin to see clearly God’s work among us, and there is only one thing to do: we must repent.
We have been blinded by blame. We have not wanted to believe that the problem was ours, and therefore, we have failed. We have failed to see the needs as well as the resources that God has already provided for meeting those needs.
So, let us repent that our eyes might be opened to what God is already doing in our midst and wants to do through us. But take caution: in verses 43-45 Jesus warns that an evil spirit might return bringing some of its friends with it. We must learn how to truly repent and allow the Holy Spirit to guard our hearts from the evil (the blame game) we desire to leave behind.
Do not be discouraged, dear friends! 2 Peter 3:9 reads, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent.” The Lord is waiting for our repentance! Not so that God might punish us for our failures, but so that we might receive the power of the Holy Spirit to live forgiven; fulfilling the mission Christ has given us.
So, let us take time this week to repent. Ask the Lord to show you what you’ve been missing: the specific ways God is already at work equipping you and your congregation to make new generations of disciples.
And be assured that, in Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
Growing Rural Ministries 