Warriors

I was in a church a while back that appears to be dying.  Looking around the meeting room the place was about 70% empty.  I have some familiarity with this place having visited on a number of occasions.  I have heard at least 5 speakers there; 2 or 3, were fill ins after the group had either fired or run off the leader.  The last time I was there, another “guest” speaker was to lead the group.

I have been in enough of those situations to have a fairly good handle on what is going on behind the scenes.  There is a group of people usually those who are supporting the group financially, who are more interested in keeping things the way they are, the way that is comfortable for them, familiar to them, than they are the purpose of the group.  As I looked around at the faces of the people that were there, I was pondering the questions, “Is this the best this group can do?  Is this all that Christianity has to offer?”  I wanted to stand on my chair and scream, “NO!”

The guest speaker then opened his Bible and essentially told those people what I was thinking.  He did it in much gentler terms than I would have.  He exhorted the group to raise Christ and to get out of the way of people trying to find Christ.  Great message.  He was fighting the status quo.  He was a warrior to bring them back to what was important, what was needed to move forward.  It reminded me of William Wallace’s exhortation in Braveheart.  It was a great example of a warrior charging the field.  Apparently not all warriors paint their faces blue...