It’s 2:45 AM, and I am still awake. Every so often, I think about things, and when I do, there’s one question that comes to mind. This question never seems to have an answer. It’s not that I don’t know the answer, but it’s that I haven’t seen the answer come into fruition. The question is this: What would happen if we took Christ at His Word and truly lived out what He’s asked us to live? What a great change we would see!

As easy as it is to pawn the blame off on other people, I am just as guilty. We are not doing anything to solve the riddle that plagues my mind. The question is simple, and I don’t claim to be the first to ask it. I believe many men and women have asked it, begging God for an answer.

What if our nation, who once claimed to be a Christian Nation, opened our eyes and realized that we have turned our backs on God. For the life of me I do not understand, why he has held back His wrath and extended us great grace. People’s lives would be turned upside down. No longer would people look at the Church, the assembled body of Christ, and say that they want nothing to do with her. Instead, they would beat down the doors to be a part of the great works I believe God desires to do through the church. For the first time in a long time and maybe ever, I believe that God would allow the American Church to take part in both the persecution and wondrous works He’s allowed the Churches of Asia and many others to experience.

If we got off our pews and stopped going to Church just to be entertained for an hour out of our week, I believe that we would see an amazing, life-altering change take place. If we took Christ at His word and truly started living out His mission I believe, no longer would the world see us as hypocrites, but as maniacs who have something they want.

The things we’re called to do include bringing good news to the poor, binding up the broken-hearted, comforting those who mourn, and encouraging (not tearing down) fellow believers. How often do we do these things?Christ has called us to a life of selfless love and we must remember that we will answer for every person we’ve turned away by not following his word.

There’s a pretty clear picture of that in Ezekiel 9, in which God tells Ezekiel to gather up executioners to go through the city and put a mark on everyone who sighs and groans at the abominations in the city. Next he tells them to kill everyone who does not bear the mark. The kicker, which hurts me the most, is when God says as his last instruction to “Start at My sanctuary”.

If God were to place Ezekiel in this country today and give the same command, would we get the mark or would the world’s perception of who we are be justified? Would God’s house be filled with the slain bodies of dead and fruitless “followers” that didn’t take Him at His Word? What would happen if we truly took Christ at His Word? The answer lies in you and in me. Let’s do it. Dress for battle, gird your loins, and put on the armor of God.