Failure to Act

Jul 27, 2024

By Pastora Cate Covert

I’ve seen an alarming trend for decades, and I believe the Church of Yeshua/Jesus in the West has reached a critical apex in its influence and relevance.

The Church has abdicated its responsibility for everything considered “politics.” Do you know how this happened? I observed that it happened when the churches wanted to become tax-exempt to get more significant donations.

To take that 501(c)3 corporation benefit, they had to be “apolitical”—they could not speak up for or against a particular candidate because they agreed with the IRS that they would not do it in exchange for keeping their tax-free status.

Here is the evil result: because churches accepted the corporate model for churches, they had to accept members into their boards and then their leadership who were not actual believers! Even those whose lifestyles are abhorrent to God (and should be repulsive to believers). The rot that the churches tried to escape by closing ranks and shutting out the world became a cancer that destroyed the churches from within.

Love of money was at the root of this anti-Christ movement, and many churches that use the name of Christ have become temples of the almighty dollar. Because of this, these churches were ripe for infiltration and takeover by all forms of evil and perversion, including the sex trafficking of children.

By exchanging truth for financial gain, the churches became insular and encouraged people not to bother with voting because they were not “of the world.” Now, “the world” is infringing on the churches, and suddenly, they are being forced to take notice.

What was the Church supposed to do? What was its Lord and Savior, Yeshuah’s command? We call it the Great Commission:

Preach the Gospel,

Heal the sick, the deaf and blind,

Raise the dead,

Set captives free.

Make disciples of all.

In order to heal, we had to LOVE! Love the Lord God (and HIM ONLY) with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

But what has the Western Church done? Instituted social programs, duplicated the world’s entertainment, “sanitized” pagan practices to keep its members happy, and abdicated its responsibility to the lost souls whom Yeshua came to seek and save!

We hate to see the evil trends in our society. But if we have not acted to bring about righteous change, we have contributed to the problem and risk becoming part of the evil collective.

Churches have shirked their responsibilities and dumbed down the message of Christ. They taught people to sit in pews and receive spoon-feeding; the people have no power because they have given all the responsibility of shepherding lost souls and making disciples to the pastors and elders.

The leaders in the corporation churches have been silent on “politics” and matters of government, thereby satisfying their overlords. Still, in the process, they taught their congregants to be silent and to abstain from involvement in civil affairs.

Did that mean that GOD thought they should not be involved in the civic life of their country? No!

Why should Christians be involved in the political and civil affairs of the world?

I’ll ask a question for a question:

Would you allow a stranger to come into your home and steal all your food, sleep in your bed with your mate, harm your children, and burn down your house? Of course NOT!!

Here’s another question:

Would you allow someone to come into your house, sit at your dinner table, and take over all of the decisions that affect your family without objection? Again, absolutely NOT!!

But don’t you see? That is what we do when we do not even attempt to understand the issues and interests a stranger pursues in our name!

Failure to act is consent.

I’ll repeat it.

Failure to act is consent.

Why do things get worse and worse in our world?

How many of us know what issues we face as a family, town, city, state, or nation?

If we are not interested in learning these things, we have no right to complain or point fingers when we discover that we don’t like the direction things take.

A Scottish Congregational minister said these words while speaking at the International Congregational Conference in Boston in 1920:

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Yeshua (Jesus) said this:

(13) “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. (14) “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. (16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

How does the world ever see the light if we do not shine?

Must we have it spelled out for us? No early disciples of Yeshua would have sat idly by without comment while evil was performed in front of them!

The world does what the world does, but the disciples of Yeshua do not endorse it! Instead, we speak the truth and shine the light upon the dark situation!

The world is not the Church, so we cannot expect its people to live according to Christ’s standards. But that does not mean we should ever be silent! By shining the light and telling the good news, we give glory to God and show that we are different! That difference is Christ, and when we do it right, people who watch our lives become interested and thirsty for what we have.

What does it mean to be salt? It means we have a preserving effect on this world, saving some who would otherwise be lost by giving our testimony and obeying Yeshua’s commands. Some Christians think that they should be insular, and they don’t bother sharing the love of Christ with strangers; they have their “ticket” and are no longer interested in being salt.

But Yeshua said if the salt loses its savor, it is useless and fit only to be thrown out and trampled on. By extension, Yeshua warned believers who refused to obey Him and keep His commands that they would be useless to the Kingdom; this is a stern warning to us all.

Over the decades, I have watched the churches increasingly imitate the world until there was no discernable difference; they became the world because they allowed the world to dictate the financial terms of their commerce.

We who love the Lord Yeshua must speak up and take a stand to stem this evil tide and return to obedience to Christ.

In St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, he warned:

(6) Now godliness with contentment is great gain. (7) For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. (8) And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. (9) But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. (10) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:6-10

May the Holy Spirit speak to our hearts and stir us to seek the Lord’s face today.

Shalom shalom,

Pastora Cate Covert

7/27/2024

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