I have been able to fellowship with the church in many nations, cultures and traditions. I have been blessed by the diverse and beautiful expressions of worship. God is certainly glorified by this kaleidoscope of worship. The scripture even tells us that people from every tribe, every language and every culture will gather around the throne and worship the Lamb of God (Revelation 7:9). I look forward to that day.

With all the “visible” differences in the church around the world, these are what seem to matter most: Is a church seeking God? Is a church hungry and thirsty for His righteousness? Is the presence of God welcome, alive and active? Are prayer and the Word the foundations of all ministry?  Is the congregation placing the needs of others above their own? Is the congregation personally engaged in the Great Commission? These things will result in eternally impacting the world around us.

In many places around the world, it’s all or nothing. Either serve Him with all your heart, or don’t serve Him at all. No middle ground. The cost is too high. The effect on your life too great. Give Him everything, or give Him nothing at all.

The depth of spiritual, moral and emotional devastation in our world today has led to a mass of wounded lives living in despair and fear. A cultural expression of faith in a politically correct (and often dead) church does not suffice. Preparing a good Christian program and opening the doors is not enough. Neither is heralding truth on a soapbox. People come to our churches hungry and thirsty, and often leave hungry and thirsty with no personal encounter with God that changes their souls. It is time for change.

Truth must have hands, and it must have feet. It must have shoulders to lean on and knees to intercede. It must have tear-stained cheeks from hearts that feel the pain of the people, hastening them to do something not just tangible but right in response, pursuing healing and justice. It must be church that goes to the oppressed and rejected and compels them to come into fellowship with the Healer, Savior, and Lover of their souls. 

Tom White of Voice of the Martyrs wrote, “If we hoard our holiness, keeping it inside the church, is it really holy?  Are we godly if our Christian witness is only heard inside a sanctuary? …The light of an active, verbal testimony has greater effect out in the darkness, not in a Sunday school that the world ignores.”  He goes on to say, “God doesn’t want your heart, He already has that. He wants your feet.” 

Salt and light must be more than a phrase. Enduring hardship with unshakable faith not a figment of the imagination but a lifestyle. Ministry must not be a position with a title, but the physical hands and feet of Christ serving in our world. Don’t just go to church; be the church. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. And let “church as normal” become church that “turns the world upside down for Christ.”