Every Wednesday, I enjoy participating in a Bible study with a sizable group of passionate men who love to study the Scriptures and to talk about its application to daily life.  For the last few months, we have studied and discussed the Book of Genesis.  This week we found ourselves applying the truths of Genesis 26 to our lives.

Mind you, Genesis 26 is not the “hottest” chapter in this narrative-rich book.  It doesn’t command attention like the Creation account, the marriage of Adam and Eve, the Fall, the Tower of Babel, and Abraham’s life and events.  But in the middle of Genesis 26, our group learned an important truth that needs articulation in the post-Christian world that we live in.

You’ll recall that Genesis 26 chronicles a famine in the land where God tells Isaac to stay in the land and not go to Egypt.  While there in Gerar and later Beersheba, the Lord blessed him immensely to the point that the Philistines envied him.  Isaac had to move several times because of disputes with the Philistine tribes in the region over water and land.

A telling point in the narrative occurs when Abimelek, king of the Philistines, comes to Isaac with his advisors and seeks to make a treaty with Isaac so that peace would prevail in the land.  What was Abimelek’s motivation?  You see it in 26:28: “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you.”

Those words are just as applicable to Isaac as they are to the church of Jesus Christ today living and working in this post-Christian culture.

Theologically, we know that the church embodies the “fullness of Deity” of Christ in her life, work and worship (Colossians 2:9-10).  Put simply, it means that people should see the power and life of God in all its wonder and brilliance–the power of love, compassion, truth, joy, peace, justice, holiness, etc.–living and pulsating from the people of God.  When this culture sees this in the church, things will start to change.  Really change.

When the church starts removing the sin and “stuff” that is blocking the presence and power of God from shining in her life, this culture will start taking notice.

One of the biggest indictments against the church today–Evangelical and Catholic–is that too often people don’t see the life, power, and presence of God within her.  Why?  There’s too much garbage covering up the presence of God!  With more examples than I can mention involving sexual harassment, embezzlement, clergy failure, moral compromise, and so on, it’s easy to see why many people have said: “if this is what the church is offering, I’m staying away.”

With the start of a new year, it’s time to change and to rededicate ourselves to BEING the people of God in this post-Christian culture.  We need repentance, humility, confession and cleansing, and a renewed commitment to the embodiment of the gospel within ourselves and in our congregations so that the LIFE OF GOD can fill us again.  When God’s presence is seen within her people, we’ll see a change in our culture.

I say let’s start with the 2 Chronicles 7:14 prayer, then move to Ephesians 3:14-19.  That will get us off to a good start.