Sorry, God. We Dropped the Ball

Excerpt taken from The Naked Truth: Reclaiming Sexual Freedom in a Culture of Lies by Cynthia Garrett

Chapter 14
Sorry, God. We Dropped the Ball

Dear God,
We owe You an apology. Please forgive us. We have been too busy playing church to really be the Church. We are very occupied trying to please everyone and offend no one—especially sinners. We have compromised our way into total ineffectiveness in your world today, and for this, we owe You much deeper than an apology—we owe You our repentance. In the spirit of Chronicles 2:14, Father, please have mercy on us. Please heal our land and restore our nations.
Passionately,
Your Church

If we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, then why have we, as the huge body of believers called the Church, embraced the world’s lack of morals and values? Whether in our minds, or in our behavior, why have we chosen to submissively blend in with the in-crowd? In the very least, why are most Christians walking around in fear of tomorrow—because the nation looks so bad today? No matter what happens—we win. Remember? Or is it that we fear we have been disqualified?

We show very little faith in our minds—or in our actions. And those with faith seem too busy being in church to be the Church. We all need forgiveness for what we have allowed by our complacency, our success, and our fleshly desires. Mind, body, and soul, we have simply been too busy playing church, to be the bright shining Church that represents a beacon in the night guiding others home to safety.

America has become lukewarm. The U.K. has become lukewarm. The Western Church, once so unabashedly bold and forward in bringing the light of Christ to the world, has lost her first love.

It is obvious how we did it. We allowed our faith to be impacted by our social history. Feminism and the sexual revolution polluted the mind of the Church, the body of the Church, and the soul of the Church. It did so one person at a time, one year at a time, and one TV show and song after another. The lies of culture sit on the throne where Jesus once sat.

Over time, our minds began thinking about other things— music, movies, TV, social media. So over time our minds began thinking differently about God. This opened a door for us to begin thinking differently about everything God said, especially about sex and sexuality.

Wokeness has poisoned many churches, while scripture teaches and has always taught us the guidelines for social justice. Cancel culture threatens to replace the foundation of our faith—forgiveness—while we sit by watching silently.

We should know that as much as we love our brothers and sisters, and while it’s not our job to judge, but to love, that the Word is still the Word, and there is no compromise in it. I don’t need to name the list of sins, lifestyles, and choices we are cozying up to as normal, because we all know what sin is, according to God’s Word. And to pretend otherwise is blasphemy. Let’s at least acknowledge that we all are sinners in need of a Savior.

Superficially, we enjoy looking like church. We love the performance of church, rather than the depth of the entire counsel of God called forth in people’s lives at church. We have dropped the ball because we have beautiful buildings that are hollow shells with great music and very little Jesus. Many churches teach only enough of the Word of God to make us feel good, but never so much that people feel bad. They might not come back if they feel bad. So by all means, we see churches making the flock, especially the young flock, feel great—while they court a trip to Hell.

It seems that what much of the Church is depending on for its relevancy and success is culture—and cultural approval. Yet if that is the goal, then it seems normal that giving from believers who desire the purity of the Gospel will cease, and compromise of the Word by leaders claiming not just rockstar status, but rockstar behavior, is inevitable.

Yet I ask you this: Do you ever think you can become accepted and approved by culture with even a little Jesus in your life?

I learned the hard way you cannot. Even when I dressed somewhat inappropriately, I couldn’t be inappropriate enough. I had just enough Jesus in me to keep me from true success in the world. Yet, I had just enough of the world in me to keep me from true success in the Kingdom of God. Lukewarm life. Lukewarm results.

I was, like millions of Christians today, living on the fence, straddling the two worlds, and not fully in either. It is only full surrender to the God of purity, the Light in the darkness, the Son of God, Jesus, that brings total relief from the pain of living on the fence.

The Church, Christ’s shining light on a hill in the darkness, is historically the most powerful force in History. We are that force. We are that light. Christianity is the greatest movement in history and the greatest social revolution to ever hit mankind. Yet, it is us who have dropped the ball. Not God.

We have lost the purity of our faith and adopted the behavior of the world because the world not only tells us that it is fine to adapt, but it also encourages us to adapt. We are in the Garden with the apple and a snake being enticed and seduced to blend in.

My beloved brothers and sisters, if we can stop looking at the speck in the eyes of others, especially those who are not believers, and begin to deal with the log in our own, there is hope. If we take the log out, imagine how clearly, we will see the culture of lies that we have embraced. If we see clearly, imagine how much wisdom we can walk in to confront the issues in people and in nations today. If only we repent!

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV)

We are all broken and in captivity to something. And only Jesus can restore broken hearts so that that brokenness no longer causes you to live below your true calling and purpose. What is your true calling and purpose? To worship God. To live in purity in your mind, purity in your body, and purity in your soul. This would Sorry, God. We Dropped the Ball 213 produce purity in your actions, and your actions would inspire others—rather than cause them to stumble.

No matter what the current mission drift is that you see in the Church today, Jesus is the foundation of the Church. Jesus came to heal the sick. Jesus is the great physician. Jesus loves His Church.

…

Copyright © 2024 Cynthia Garrett. Excerpted by permission of Skyhorse Publishing Inc.

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