A wake-up call

Another thing that kept on popping up in our conversations was that the Church needs to have faith, wake up and rise up. Back in the days of the early church (and often throughout history), in Acts, the Church with all its followers were pioneers and leaders of society. Think about it. All the teachings that the Church was teaching...The movie, Amazing Grace, is a great example. Pioneering and paving the way for the abolition of slavery because of what the Bible teaches. And that brought about societal transformation.
Where are society's leaders today? What is transforming our society and molding it? It's not the Church right now. I can guarantee you that.

Mr. Huang, one of my mom's college classmates whom we met up with this past week, has a high position in an insurance company. He said that the idea for the management of the insurance company he works for was taken from the Church. Meaning, the secular society is taking what the Church practiced and used first, and applying it because they found it to be highly successful, practical, and the most efficient. And yet, what Mr. Huang has discovered is that once the secular society adopted it, the Church stopped using it.
Another example (told by Mrs. Huang). She volunteers her time for this non-profit help line that is set up to help people who are suicidal, depressed, need help, etc. It is owned by a Christian but he allows people of all faiths to work there. Apparently, the Christian who started it, started one of the first of these kinds in Kaohsiung and met with great success. However, now local Buddhists have also copied him and set up a similar help line with even greater success. Mrs. Huang thought this was peculiar and asked the founder of the Christian help line. He remarked that Buddhists meet with a lot of success and do better than Christians a lot of times because they have a lot more manpower and funds. However, the monks that serve are only concerned about one thing, building up merits in this life so as to have a better life in the next life...to get closer to Enlightenment, etc. So it's to gain merits. They don't actually care about the people who call. In fact, they don't really care about helping them because they feel like people who are calling are the low in society and don't really need to be helped anyway. They're going to be reincarnated badly in the next life anyways.
Will the Church let a false light outshine the true Light? We used to be leaders of our society, pioneers. And now, society is more improved than us. Society views the Church as weak, unsuccessful, fragmented...I refuse to let my God be viewed that way. Because He is not that way. He is God. All-powerful, victorious, and exemplifies complete unity between the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son.
Where are the pioneers and leaders of society? They should be found in the Church, the body of Christ. I fully intend to be a doctor of influence in society.
And Joe (if you do read this), I fully support your dream to become a politician. We need more people like you who strive to be a leader in society who has vision, passion, and a strong faith in Christ.
I do not write this to condemn the Church as it is right now. I am a part of the body of Christ and therefore have a responsibility as well for its present condition. I write this because I feel I have just woken up and finally see clearly now. I have this burning desire within me to see the Church rise up. To see God get the glory He deserves. In America. In Taiwan. In China. In the Middle East. All over the world. The Church right now is a sleeping giant. Forgetting and not tapping into its real power and strength, not using the real weapon that gives definite victory. We do not use it because we no longer believe or remember. So this is my wake-up call.