I come before you today humbled and hopeful. While COVID-19 has kept me almost entirely at home, it has also given me a unique opportunity to listen to God with a more keen ear than ever. While most of what He says is encouraging, some is also quite terrifying.
It’s with sadness I admit that my relationship with the American church has fallen to a new low. The last time I felt this way about the church was before I ever knew Yeshua, before I ever even knew the interworking of so much of the American church. I was an atheist then, but I now I stand before you as brother in Christ and friend. Father, will You forgive us of our endless idolatry of money and politics? Who has ever been saved by either of these? And yet the American church finds more time for both than it does to act justly, to love mercy, or to walk humbly with our God.
COVID-19 has shown just how little the American church cares for the weak and vulnerable. We’d rather express our freedoms in endless fruitless churchianity than to listen to You Lord, find Your sweet quiet voice, and soften our hearts to the reality of the world around us. The world is hopeless and suffering, and all we can do is boast in our rights!? Our hypocrisy has no end. Forgive us our sin Lord. If our words were silenced, what would our actions be expressing to the world right now? At best we were busy-bodies, at worst we are heartless and worshippers of ourselves or money masked as the economy. We have found new ways of idolizing, and new excuses for such, but You Lord have set Your eyes on us, and You Lord are not fooled by our denial.
American church, there is nothing else left to say other than, we have clearly lost our way. Scripture is now more of a matter of controversy than it is a matter of life. Obedience has turned to endless busyness instead of a profound devotion to the Almighty One. If I say left, then you say right. If I call for action, you seat yourself in political stubbornness. If I call to be still and wait for God, you run to endless gatherings to keep from hearing His still small voice. We must end our denial. Stop and listen!! Do you not hear the Lord calling your name? He is calling you by name!! Turn your deaf ear sons and daughters of the living God! Do you not remember that even the elect will be deceived?! Or will you go on in useless utterances of His name until He says, “I never knew you.” Humble yourself and He will draw near. He is calling you by name. He calls you by name.
Resist me if you will, but remember my warning. Do not tell Him that you never heard His voice. Sons and Daughters of the Living God, I plead with you to be still. In the quiet, He is calling you by name. Repent and be still. Let Him lead the Way.
Ryan Bowser 
This is so powerful and well-written. You are right where I’m at on the American church and “my congregation”. Like welfare we say the government creates dependency and we do nothing because the government is. Only the church could have a holistic approach to those in need.
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I’m so sorry you are experiencing the same thing. It can be really disheartening. I’m thankful to have other like yourself to share this with though and fight to follow Christ even when it feels like swimming upstream. I’m praying we can keep the same diligence as Paul for Christ and the gospel. =] He has treated me very well through all of this and has helped me see that He really is the only good I can look to in the storm. My idols and so many other’s idols are being torn down right now! It’s hard to worship anything but Christ right now, and for that I am thankful.
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