God's heart for our nation
WHAT is your dream for Malaysia? Pastors' Fellowships all over the nation are organising combined prayer meetings among churches as well as 24/7 prayer chains in their communities to seek God's favour upon Malaysia. After all, we are moving into Malaysia's Year of Jubilee on 16 September 2012. On this date, which is Malaysia Day, the country marks 49 years and also enters into her 50th year. Christians are urged to seek God's blessings upon the land as recorded in Leviticus 25.
What do we expect God to do in response to our prayers? As I pondered this question, I was reminded of two incidents in the Bible involving the Israelites. In the Old Testament, they cried out to God for release from the Egyptians. They left Egypt in the Exodus led by Moses. But two weeks after crossing the Red Sea, they complained and said they would rather die in Egypt than in the wilderness.
In the second incident, the Israelites in the New Testament sought God to free them from the Romans. But when the Messiah came, they rejected Him. They were looking for an earthly king when God had sent a Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Isaiah reminds us that our ways are not God's ways and that His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55: 8-9). As we prepare for Jubilee, let us understand His heart for our nation so that we can move accordingly and be responsive to His prompting.
Perhaps many Christians perceive Jubilee to be a time of establishing justice for the people and the nation.
Justice is seen as "standing for what is right and being an advocate for the downtrodden", says Mel Lawrenz in his book Jubilee: A Season of Spiritual Renewal. Justice is God's great movement to put in order what has become disordered in a chaotic world, he further adds. Is this what Malaysian Christians desire to see as one of the Jubilee breakthroughs? Or is this the focus of politicians and social activists? Are Christians supposed to engage the public sphere in addition to the usual focus on evangelism, discipleship, leadership development and mission activities?
For some of us, this calls for a shift in thinking in the way we perceive ministry and missions. While we continue to grow the church through missions and evangelism, we are also to mobilise Christians to bless society through the marketplace and government systems.
In the grooming of leaders, aside from training them to serve faithfully in the church, we must guide them to serve with integrity in the area of government and politics, too. The call for the Christian is not to rebel but to exercise a Godly influence in the public sphere.
The church must rise up in this kairos moment with boldness and courage (Joshua 1:7) to impact the nation and community. Leaders of the Christian community must seek to understand God's heart for our nation, lest we fail to respond to His prompting. The work of our hands and our activism in transforming the nation for good governance, people-orientated policies, economic and social well-being of communities and for a corruption-free society, are our prayers to God.
We need to seek God's wisdom to be strategic and effective in our approach. The unity of churches is critical and instrumental in enhancing our impact upon the nation and the local community. God is great and He never fails (Zephaniah 3: 5). Let's not be hasty, yet faithfully follow the steps of our Master as He guides us step by step in honouring our role through the phases of national development. He has raised up men and women in strategic positions for a time like this.
Let's lift up our heads to our Almighty God (Psalm 24:7) and rejoice. As we continually seek Him and faithfully honour Him, God will bring to pass His purpose and plan for our nation. We will be blessed as He blesses the nation through us.
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