State of Emergency

Often we watch in the movies, state of emergency declared whenever there're uncontrollable situations. I don't know about you but I myself find it very exciting to watch these situations. Maybe I'm into disasters and trying to fix it. Hero minded perhaps? Not really. I don't like to be in the spotlight or in the front stage. I prefer behind the scene, the unsung hero. I like to be in the role of advisers or strategist.

I read lots of books for example,Book of Proverbs, Art of War by Sun Tzu, etc. So, I've learned a lot from these type of books. Learned so much until some people thinks I'm no longer listening to God or trying to act on my own limited knowledge and wisdom. People have blasted me by quoting bible verses about worldy wisdom, etc. He he!

Sometimes, one have to wonder, how are we supposed to use our God-given brain? If we are smarter in some ways, they said you are doing things the "worldly" ways. If you are not using your brain, they said you are wasting God's precious gift (brain) to us. However, most people these days prefer not to use their brains, they rather let God show them the way for EVERYTHING.

The key is the balance between applying what we learned and listening to God. Not an easy tasks but hey, nothing is easy but it doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. We can apply what we know at the same time be listening to God or look for directions from God. At the same time, we must always update or increase our knowledge to handle the ever complicating world. Without it, how can we be effective? Will we take the ideas in our mind as God's will? Let's make no mistake about it, without using our brain, there're lots of consequences, very serious consequences!

Let's examine what's happening around our church today. (Most people tend not to agree with me in doing this in public, but for me, it doesn't matter. It's about being honest and face the problems we have)

Our church attendance drops, offering drops, Sunday School students probably an all-time low, small groups divided (not multiplied) & shrinking, divisions in the church, gossiping, laziness, not doing mission works, not evangelising, etc. Sometimes I wonder why the church even exist if it's in such a pathetic state.

For me, this is a very serious condition! I don't know what else can be more serious than those above? A homosexual pastor? Child sex abuse? Wrong theological teachings? Surely in the eyes of the people, those may seems to be more serious than others. For me, it's those little things that will slowly kill a church without the church realizing it. It's like dying due to Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after the inhalation of carbon monoxide gas. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a product of combustion of organic matter under conditions of restricted oxygen supply, which prevents complete oxidation to carbon dioxide (CO₂). Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and non-irritating, making it difficult for people to detect.

Big things like homosexual, sex abuse, etc can easily be detected and fixed. However, smaller things people often neglect or didn't realized. The impact can be as lethal, if not worse.

Many of our church members do not even realized the problems we are facing. We easily shift the blame to someone or something. For example, we blame the case of attendance dropping to students leaving Melbourne after graduating, they moved to the suburbs, etc. I'm not saying they are totally wrong but we need to examine whether that's really the case. I don't have the exact number but from estimates about 40 people have gone "missing", the numbers of people who went back is less than 5-8. The people who went to the suburbs are still with us, in fact some of them who are in the City areas have left us.

With so many symptoms around us, it's hard to believe that the church top leadership & management couldn't see it coming. This is what i call the "State-of-Denial". How much longer can they be in denial? What does it take for them to wake up & smell the roses?

Prevention is better than cure, as what most people would say. However, today, we are not in a stage where prevention can fix the problem. We are heavily poisoned. We need cure, not prevention. We need medicine, not apples. By telling us to be patience or try to give it another try for another year is NOT a good option. Try telling that to Africa people, "Wei, I know your people are dying of hunger now but try to plant more padi so you guys will not get hungry next time ok? After a year, you'll have rice to eat!". Obviously, it's not going to work. You can tell them the prevention later but give them the cure NOW.

So, what cure do we need?
- We'll leave it for the leaders of the church to think about for now. :)

However, here's a hint for you: a state-of-emergency might be a good place to start!

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale for suspending civil liberties. Such declarations usually come during a time of natural disaster, during periods of civil disorder, or following a declaration of war (in democratic countries, many call this martial law, most with non-critical intent).

There're also pre-requirement before we can do this. We need good leaders with vision & direction. We need someone who we have faith in. Otherwise, it'll be worse than it already is.

We have so many things we can do in the church for the community! So many plans to be implemented. However, I dare not to propose anything looking at our condition now. I'll post more on what we can do in the next few posts.

For now, Bishop or District Superintendent must come into the picture. Having said all that, God must not be forgotten! Holy Spirit must be among us! God be with us!

Doing nothing is not an option.