Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.” – Exodus 5:2
Today’s Scripture Reading (February 9, 2010): Exodus 5
We live in a culture where the Christian practice is in decline. It is a situation that the Christian church seems to mourn. We wish it wasn’t that way. Somehow we believe that our influence is also in decline because our culture is less Christian. We believe that there is a positive correlation between the practice of Christianity and the influence of Christians. The problem is that that has never proven to be true in history.
Moses has received a message from God. He fights God – but God wins the battle and Moses goes to the Pharaoh with a message from God. And while he had asked God what he should tell Israel if they had asked who it was that had sent him, the first one to question Moses seems to have been the ruler of the nation.
Moses had the privilege of speaking God’s truth into a culture that didn’t know him. And as counter intuitive as this might sound, God’s people have always excelled when they have been a counter-cultural force. Our influence is never higher than when people ask us “who is your God?” Our influence is the highest when what we believe is not what the culture affirms.
If the practice of Christianity is in decline in culture, then that probably means that our influence is on the rise. And our culture needs us to speak God’s truth into it. God’s people were never intended to sit on the sideline. In a culture where the practice is in decline, we are left without that choice.
Why are we upset that we have become a counter-cultural message. I think this is the way God intended his message to be. Now is the time for us to go and be an influence.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 6
