Thursday, July 11, 2013

We're Not So Different

          This week I've been reading about some of the Old Testament prophets like Amos, Joel, and Obadiah. The information I've found has fascinated me. I read that Amos lived in the same time as Hosea, Isaiah, and Jonah. Amos and Hosea worked together and traveled around preaching together. After Amos passed away, Hosea continued preaching, and Isaiah and Micah followed in their footsteps. It's possible that Isaiah and Micah may have even heard Amos preach when they were younger. This amazed me, because so often we imagine the people of the Bible as existing in this far off world completely separate from the world we live in. We never picture them as living their daily lives and interacting with one another. Instead, we imagine them to be these big "Holier than Thou" superhero Christians who we can't even compare ourselves too. What I read about these prophets showed me that we're not so different from them after all. The church is still the church, and God is still God - the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. These people may have lived in a different day and age than us, but they were still people going about their daily lives. They were people just like us, who devoted their lives to serving God and proclaiming His Word. Have you ever considered that the Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah's of the Old Testament are the Peter, Paul, and Timothy's of the New Testament and the Billy Graham, Rick Warren, and Steven Furtick's of our generation? Instead of viewing Martin Luther King Jr. as a historical figure, have you ever considered him to be a modern day prophet? Think about it... He was a Christian preacher who stood before crowds of people quoting scripture (In fact, he even quoted Amos 5:24 in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech), prophesying that he had seen the promised land of justice and racial equality, and eventually he was killed because of the stand he took. To this day he is still quoted and looked to as an influential leader despite the fact that, like the prophet Moses, he never actually got to step foot into the promised land. Consider Billy Graham, a contemporary of MLK, they even stood in the pulpit together. Have you ever considered him to be an apostle who preached to crowds of people and drew them to Christ, just as the apostle Paul did? Of course there are many other famous pastors besides these names I've mentioned, but all of these names are well-known. Not only do their sermons attract crowds of people, and countless lives have come to know Christ through them, but they also write words that encourage the church and seek to nourish spiritual growth - just as the men of the Bible did. If cameras existed in Biblical times, I imagine those "multitudes" Peter and Paul preached to would look something like this...


After all, they were just men of God proclaiming the Gospel to crowds of people, right?


          You see, we're not so different from the early church after all. The Bible is just as applicable today as it was back then. We need to start listening to and heeding the words of those (both past and present) whom God has called and sent to prophesy and share His Word. We need to get to work putting our faith into action and sharing the words we've been given ourselves. 

          So the next time you read the Bible, don't read it like it's a story about superhero's living in some far off distant land. Read it like you're there, in the midst of the struggle. Listen to the words and follow their direction, because you're not so different after all. The people who penned down those words were real people with real struggles, just like me and you. They lived ordinary daily lives, but they did extraordinary things because they trusted God. You can do the same. There's a reason the Word of God has endured for so many years - It's because it is just as applicable today as it was back then, and the words are just as true as they ever were. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is doing the same work in hearts today that He was back then. He can change you and use you, just like he did with the prophets, disciples, and apostles back then. God's work is not done yet. Keep trusting, and keep following His Word.