What is the Church like today, especially in the Caribbean. If we are talking about the Resurrection of the Church, it implies that the Church is dead. Only what is dead can be resurrected and brought to life. Can the Church in the Caribbean be said to be dead? Are we, in the Caribbean, prepared to look honestly at ourselves? Isn't this one of those things we are afraid, or unwilling to do? The question is, How does God see us?
God had no hesitation showing Ezekiel the true condition of His people. Before he could go out and start preaching and praying, he had to know the true condition of the people. God's people at the time were not just dead, they were a valley of dry bones. They were totally dead, and defeated. Could it get worse than that? "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel..."
In Rev. 2 and 3, the Lord appeared to the Apostle John to reveal to him the state of the seven churches in Asia Minor. He spoke to "the angel," no doubt the "pastor" of each church. Read those letters to discover that the Lord praised churches where there were praise worthy characteristics among them. However, He did not hesitate to reveal their faults in the strongest terms. He called on them to repent. But we cannot repent if we will not accept the truth of our condition.
So then, there are some great churches in the Caribbean, doing some great things with which the Lord is no doubt very pleased. But there are some serious faults to be found in Caribbean churches. We can only list them without going into details.
1. The church in the Caribbean is sadly divided. There are so many denominations; so many doctrines; so many unrelated ministries, and so many authorities, that the idea of One Church seems farfetched and unreal. Jesus prayed, "Father, make them one as we are one." The unity of the church is a great theme of St. Paul.
2. Many of the members of churches in the Caribbean are 'unsaved.' They know nothing of the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus. Many continue in sin as though they had never heard the gospel.
3. Many are 'part saved.' They are born again, but their minds have not been renewed, and they have not offered up their bodies to God as a living sacrifice. Herein lies the source of many problems in our churches.
4. Some churches have opened the door to Satan. Witchcraft, and satanic organizations are found in some churches.
5. There is a long history of double-mindedness in many churches. Members serve God and the devil at the same time. In other words, they hate and despise God.
6. It is often difficult to tell the difference between the church and the world. Not that the world is like the church, but that the church is like the world.
7. There is too much self-interest and self-glorification in some churches. Ministries exist more to serve the desire of men for glory, than to bring glory to God.
8. There is still too much shallow ground in our Caaribbean Christianity. We do not come near to bing filled with all the fulness of God, or growing unto a perfect man.
9. We cannot claim to be A Victorious Church in the Caribbean. We are largely ignorant of our status in Christ, and of the power and authority which has been given to us.
10. There is a serious lack f 'the mind of Christ.' The fruit of the Spirit - Love, the forgiving spirit, humility...are woefully lacking among us.
11. Some churches have virtually shutout the Holy Spirit, and are operating by human skills, human abilities, and human ingenuities. There can be no Church without the Holy Spirit.
12. We cannot confidently say that we are a peculiar people, a chosen nation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation...
13. We seem to be a people without the Lord's vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish.
14. There seems to have been for a long time a lacking in the apostolic activities - preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God; making disciples of all nations; teaching all nations. As a result there is widespread ignorance of the word of God; the spread of the kingdom of God is very slow.
For these and other reasons, it is clear that there is an Ungent Need for An Inteerfention of God in our Caribbean situation.
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