Broken for His purpose
Earlier this week, one of my best friends sent me a clip of David Wilkerson's sermon, "A call to anguish." Firstly, what a blessing it is to have friends that care about your relationship with Christ and draw you closer to Him. Secondly, after listening to the short clip, I immediately found the full sermon on YouTube. (I encourage you to do the same.) Within minutes, I was weeping as crippling conviction washed over me. The Holy Spirit moved through him so boldly as he spoke the words of Jesus. It was raw, unfiltered, and incredibly necessary. I had heard his name before, but I had never listened to any of Pastor Wilkerson's sermons. My own pastor reminds me of him. Passionate and emotional about the business of teaching and preaching the unaltered word of God.
As he lamented the typical Christian's "concern" over lost souls while they're watching TV and planning "how-to" conferences, I began to reflect internally.
My own spiritual course has changed quite drastically over the last two years and for my betterment. But oh Lord, do I ever have a long way to go. I may no longer ignore the vile undertones of secular entertainment or perpetuate their agenda by passively supporting compromised artists, but do I weep for those who are in the clutches of the world? I'm supremely grateful that others might notice a change in my life, but do I hurl their name at the heavens in desperate and fervent prayer for their salvation? The answer is painful but true. No, I don't. At least not as much as I should.
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It seems that, as Christians, we have these moments of broken desperation for the Lord, but they eventually pass. What begins as a yearning pursuit shifts to an afterthought as we move toward what we think is His plan. We give way to our flesh as we begin to do the right things but stop convening with God as we do 'His' work. But at what point does it become our work? We can call it His work all day but if we're not leaning on Him, then is He even involved?
Pastor Wilkerson's words struck such a chord with me because he highlighted how often we miss the mark as Christians. In my own life, I've experienced a radical shift but still often come up short. We know that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) but if we ever expect to make a true impact for Christ, we cannot resign to our fallen state. We must remain broken. We must cry out to God for Him to break our hearts for what breaks His. Often, we view brokenness as weakness through our earthly vision. However, it is only through our brokenness that God will mold us into what He desires. As we resign ourselves to be broken vessels for Him, He will do a work through us that no man could accomplish through his own might.
Very few leaders today are preaching like Pastor Wilkerson. Many have fallen victim to the seeker-friendly agenda and stick to messages of positivity and encouragement. They've traded Biblical preaching for self-help seminars and uplifting conferences.
But please don't misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with holding special conferences and sponsoring activities at your church. I believe they can be wonderful outreach tools. However, these should never replace the delivery of the full word of God to increase membership.
My prayer is that we put aside the opinions of the world and fall on our faces before the Lord. Empty, broken saints desperately seeking the Holy Spirit will drive change in our land. The time for surrender is now. According to the His own prophesies, I believe the Lord is coming back for the church very soon. If the church will humble themselves and plead for the lost souls of humanity, we could impact eternity in a mighty way.
Dear God, break our hearts for what breaks yours.
Erica Caudill is a lifelong Christian who runs a blog. She is a married mother of two children. She can be reached at mrscaudill@me.com.
