A major reason for the church’s ineffectiveness in the world is her eagerness to follow the world’s agenda.

Our agenda was set by our Lord years ago when He taught us to pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name,

Your Kingdom come,

The pursuit of God’s kingdom on earth is her agenda. We become ineffective when we allow our 
government or international organizations like the UN to define for us what is pressing for humanity. We have a prophetic role in society and prophets receive their orders from God, not from the state. No matter how much our commission resembles the UN charter, we dare not take it as our manifesto. The Church answers the question of human origin differently, she describes the human situation differently, and she offers an entirely different prescription.

This desire to receive honour from men was rebuked by our Lord ages ago. He said to the Pharisees: “How will you believe who receive honour from men?”. We play to the world’s tune because we seek prestige. We seek to be respected and recognized as educated, progressive, and ‘modern’. To put it bluntly, we dread the world’s disapproval. Alas, our fathers in earlier ages gladly accepted the scorn of the world, for they knew it made them more precious to Christ. Even the very name ‘Christian’ was a term of scorn. They were content to be ground like grain so they could become bread for the Lord. They knew the world’s smile was a snare; the world had murdered her Saviour because He told them the truth. Will they treat His followers differently?

There is an ongoing battle between the seed of Satan and the seed of the woman. The Church has proclaimed allegiance to Satan’s enemy, and should we expect him to aid our cause? The church is on a spiritual mission, and her power can come only from God.

Our faith should rest in the power of God to accomplish his purpose and not in the charm of human wisdom.