Chapter One
Can You Hear
the Call?
Face the Facts!
* * *
It was a beautiful fall day-a perfect time to curl up in a chair
and read the mountains of journals that had been accumulating
on the floor of my den. Fully appreciating the break from all
responsibility, I felt relaxed and carefree. I had just completed a
magazine when as I glanced down at the next journal in the
stack, I was jolted by its horrific headline: "Killer Kids: An
American Tragedy." I could feel my stomach tighten as I picked
up the journal and opened it to the featured article.
My heart began to race when I read, "Fourteen-year-old Eric
Smith was convicted of bludgeoning 4-year-old Derrick Robie to
death. His lawyer attempted to prove the teen's innocence, saying
the reason for his action was a mental disease-intermittent
explosive disorder, which causes eruptions of uncontrollable
rage. Eric was sentenced to a maximum prison term of nine years
to life." Stunned, tears flowed down my cheeks as I found my
way into the prayer closet, knowing the only answer for the
decadence of our society is a divine visitation of almighty God.
Our society is reaching the depths of decay and degradation.
Abortion, murder, suicide and war ravage every continent. As
Kay Arthur, outstanding Bible scholar and vice president of
Precepts Ministries recently said, "America's cup of iniquity is
full." Not only that, but hunger, starvation and disasters abound.
Our world is in a state of chaos. Society is being destroyed by its
own evil devices.
We are foolish to think we can solve these problems ourselves.
Contrary to popular belief, education is not the answer to
AIDS, drug abuse, crime, premarital sex nor the many other ills
of our world. The time has come for us to admit that we are helpless!
Many of our best plans, including many plans of the
Church, have failed.
In the spring of 1995, Oprah Winfrey introduced Families for
a Better Life. Her aim was to give poor urban families $30,000 a
year for a two-year period, along with education or job training,
health care and counseling. She also pledged to donate an additional
$6 million and hoped to enlist corporate sponsors to continue
the precedent she had set.
Although Winfrey's motives were benevolent and one might
think this kind of giving would reduce crime, statistics prove that
giving welfare is an ineffective means for conquering the problem.
A survey of the U.S. Department of Justice in 1991 revealed
that while welfare spending increased by 800 percent, the crime
rate tripled. Who has the answer?
Powerless, Prayerless and Purposeless
The Church has the answer! The answer is the presence and
power of God expressed through an intimate relationship with
Jesus Christ. But many in the Church seek His presents rather
than His presence. They seek the power of God rather than relationship
with the God of power. The Church is generally powerless.
We can no longer say, as Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have,
but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, walk" (Acts 3:6). When the world needs us most, sin,
division and faithlessness have left us impotent.
We are unable to do the works Jesus did, let alone the greater
things He claimed we would and could do. He told us that "anyone
who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will
do even greater things than these, because I am going to the
Father" (John 14:12). So why aren't we doing them?
The apostle Paul could say, "My message and my preaching
were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration
of the Spirit's power" (1 Cor. 2:4). Yet, we must pitifully
beg the world to believe us for our word's sake. We aren't doing
His works because many believers are too out of touch with God
to allow the Spirit to display His power!
Perhaps the Church's strength is its own greatest weakness.
Refined and rigid, the Church has assessed, prioritized, planned
and prayed with superficial consideration for God to bless its
plan. Strangely, we have overlooked a powerful key to the ministry
of Jesus, who said, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do
nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father
doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does"
(John 5:19). Jesus had power for ministry because He had an intimate
relationship with the Father. We must discover what is on
God's heart and join Him! Only by praying intimately are we
able to discover what He is doing. "Surely the Lord God does
nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants" (Amos 3:7,
NKJV).
Our powerlessness is largely a result of our prayerlessness. We
are eating the bitter fruit of prayerlessness and our children, government,
churches and society are reaping the result of dry eyes
in the pews and crusty hearts in the pulpits. Ed Silvoso says it
well in his book That None Should Perish:
When Christians begin to pray for the felt needs of the
lost, God surprises them with almost immediate
answers to prayer. In fact, prayer for the needs of that
one-hundredth sheep is the spiritual equivalent of dialing
911.
Another problem is our commitment level. Not only are we
prayerless, but we are also purposeless. Rather than a commitment
to reach the world with the gospel, most of us are satisfied to
attend weekly services. Too often they are "weakly" services.
Where is the "salt" in our society? Jesus said, "You are the salt of
the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made
salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be
thrown out and trampled by men" (Matt. 5:13).
Salt that has lost its saltiness (or flavor) takes on the taste of
the food with which it is mixed. Ironically, the Church has taken
on "the flavor of the world." As someone has said, "We are good,
but we are good for nothing!" We are not willing to die for Christ,
much less lay down our lives for one another.
My husband Eddie's father, Robert E. Smith, is an example of
one who was willing to lay down his life for others. He not only
demonstrated purpose but also commitment. For years, Eddie
and I watched as Dad and Mom would pay their bills, then cash
the remainder of their paycheck and drive into Northern Mexico
to share their money with several struggling Mexican pastors.
Robert-we call him Dad-has faithfully pastored several
churches, was president of the Valley Baptist Academy (a secondary
school for Latin American children), served as chairman
of the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board and for more than
17 years was area missionary for the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
When Eddie's mother passed away recently, I spent one
afternoon reading hundreds of beautiful expressions of love for
both Robert and Marguerite Smith sent by their friends.
I will never forget one letter in particular. It was from
Paul Powell, president of the Annuity Board for the Southern
Baptist Convention. Many years ago, Paul was the pastor of
Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas. Each summer,
churches bring busloads of people to the Valley for mission trips.
(I know because I was in a youth group that went one summer.)
Dad would take them across the border into Mexico. Paul
Powell's church was one of them. In his letter to Dad he said,
I remember the first visit with Dr. Smith at Diaz Ordaz,
Mexico. You (Robert) stopped before we got to the International
Bridge and said, "I want to warn you, once you see
the ignorance and spiritual darkness of this city, you are as
responsible as I am for doing something about it. Do you still
want to go?"
That made a lasting impression on me. I shall never forget
it and will forever be indebted to you for it.
(You will be blessed to know that Paul Powell acted on what
he saw. He understood the purpose and responsibility of the
Church. He went back to the church he pastored and raised more
than $40,000, of which $20,000 helped to build a Hispanic Baptist
Church in Mexico. The other $20,000 was given to the mission
fund of the Southern Baptist Convention. This was twice the
money that Paul's church had ever given to missions.)
United We Stand-Divided We Fall
Not only are we powerless, prayerless and purposeless, but we are
also polarized, pulled apart and pitted against each other. Division is
reducing the Church's effectiveness by causing it to operate in a
spirit of dysfunction, disharmony and disillusionment.
* * *
Why should the lost world have
faith in us when we do not have
confidence in God or each other?
* * *
Jesus warned us about this when He said, "Every kingdom
divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household
divided against itself will not stand" (Matt. 12:25). The city of
Zion and the household of God are divided. Christian brothers
and sisters are arguing over minor doctrinal issues and complaining
about services that linger past noon while men, women
and young people from every nation slip hopelessly into eternal
hell.
Christ is the only solution to this counterproductive grumbling
and bickering. He gave us the perfect example of unity by
showing us the relationship between the Father and Himself. The
intimacy of this Father and Son relationship is revealed throughout
Scripture. Christ said, "I in them and you in me. May they be
brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me
and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:23,
italics added). Our world doesn't believe us! Why? Because we
are not one with Jesus Christ and we are not one with each other.
Why should the lost world have faith in us when we do not have
confidence in God or each other? We must be willing to imitate
the unity Christ and the Father have modeled for us if we are to
successfully build His Kingdom.
At the building of the Tower of Babel, the Lord explained, "Ifas one people speaking the same language they have begun to do
this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them"
(Gen. 11:6, italics added).
Satan has learned this lesson well. Satanists defend witches
while abortionists support gay rights and vice versa. When will
the Church grasp what the Father said? When will we begin to
stand with each other across denominational and cultural lines as
one person, Christ's Bride, for the intention of God?
Linking Hearts and Hands
A recent news broadcast reported about a little boy who wandered
away from his family in a state park. After a couple of days
of air searches, an alert was released encouraging people to come
to the park for a final sweep. Thousands of caring people came
together on the campgrounds and received instruction. As directed,
they clasped hands and formed a single line hundreds of
yards wide. They walked slowly through the wooded area. In
almost no time the search ended. There, in a small ravine where
he had curled up in the cold of the night, lay the dead body of the
tiny boy. The grief-stricken father's response was sobering. He
simply said, "If only we had taken hands sooner, my boy might
still be alive."
Is this what a grief-stricken heavenly Father will say to us?
"If only you had taken hands sooner, millions would not have
slipped into outer darkness."
Unity comes when we link hearts and hands in prayer to
partner with the heavenly Father in His plan and purpose for
saving the lost. And when we are prayerless, we are powerless.
Overcomers are developed in the prayer closet. The more time
we invest at His feet, the longer we will be able to stand as a
whole (unified) Body empowered and charged with God's energy
and authority to trample the enemy under our own feet.
We must remember that behind divisions in the Church are
spiritual forces of darkness that can only be pulled down through
prayer. Paul wrote, "For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 6:12). This conquering authority
for the Church is found in prayer. Let me say it again: The person
who is prayerless is powerless.
Chosen to Partner
But those who do pray are united with the Father as partners in
bringing about His purposes and plans on earth. Through prayer
the Church is empowered to be salt and light in this troubled
world. God has chosen to include us as His partners. This partnership,
however, is based on daily intimate prayer. Thus, it is
the unfamiliarity of relating to our heavenly Bridegroom (see
John 3:29), who knows all and can do anything, that sometimes
robs us of our privilege to partner with Him.
We can learn of Him by building relationship with Him. And
that relationship is formed as we invest intimate times of listening,
learning to trust through obedience to His Word and living
in oneness with Him-abiding in Him. "If you remain [abide] in
me and my words remain [abide] in you, ask whatever you wish,
and it will be given you" (John 15:7). The Lord will entrust the
powerful things of His Kingdom to those who have found an
abiding place in Him.
Some wrongly assume that what the Father is going to do,
He will do with or without us. Right? Wrong! We are God's chosen
partners. Need I remind you of Joshua's battle in Exodus 17?
Moses told Joshua to go fight the Amalekites while he lifted his
hands as a token of victory. As long as Moses' hands were lifted,
God enabled Joshua's army to win. When Moses' hands began to
drop, so Joshua's men began to drop. Listen! This was life and
death! These sons and dads were dying. Spears were being driven
through their bellies and arrows were piercing their hearts.
Continue.
Excerpted from Beyond the Veil
by Alice Smith
Copyright © 1997 by Alice Smith
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
