Waiting for the Road Forward in Our Times
We are living at a hinge point in history.
Phyllis Tickle, in her book, “The Great Emergence,” advocates that throughout history, we can see the church undergo cataclysmic change roughly every 500 years. Usually the changes were imbedded inside major geo-political and cultural shifts of the era.
Around 500 A.D., Pope Gregory the Great, led the reforms, in particular solidifying the roles of the monastic orders which held and practiced the Christian tenets throughout the Dark Ages. Then around 1054, the Great Schism between the Roman Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches occurred. In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 91 theses to the Waldenburg door, setting in motion the Protestant and Catholic reformations over the next 50 years.
The upheaval in the midst of these 500 year hinge points usually spans a 50-100 year window where reforms occur. Abuses of powers, idolatry, and deadly compromises are exposed. The Church goes into crisis. There are calls for renewal and the return to holiness. New structures are often birthed. And in most cases, a clarifying of theological truths.
In case you haven’t noticed, we are at the 500 year mark.
These hinge points in history are full of drama. There are schisms, wars, revolutions, and conflict. In the midst of the disappointment and upheaval, many fall away and the church goes into an exile of sorts, scattered and disoriented.
Of course, the skeptics and enemies of the church declare the church and its antiquated philosophies are finally dying out. Society celebrates the shaking free from the confines of religion. And another new spirit of the age emerges promising freedom to the masses.
But this is certainly not the first season of exile for the people of God. G.K. Chesterton reminds us, “At least five times… the Faith has to all appearance gone to the dogs. In each of these five cases it was the dog that died.”
Rest assured, the chaos of each hinge point will still achieve God’s purposes for His bride.
We have a God who specializes in exile. He has ridden the human waves of faith and rebellion since the beginning of time. He is grieved, but He is not surprised. He knows how we got here, and He knows the way forward.
So He begins to search the earth once again for the hearts which are wholly His, for those whose eyes are fixed on Him. He begins a call to the remnant.
In every season of exile, a remnant of the faithful remains. Scattered right now across the globe is a faithful band of believers, holding fast to the promises given in Scripture. They may be living in government housing or mansions, mud huts or yurts. They may be walking miles for fresh water, driving carpool, or languishing in prison. They may be worshipping by the internet, in house churches, or in cathedrals.
But they are broken hearted at the condition of the Church and the world. They have to come to see their participation in the idols of the age and have found themselves face down in repentance and grief — for themselves, for their families, and for their nations.
Around them a mad scramble is taking place. In the void of crumbling structures and shifting powers, the world begins to offer pathways to deal with the fear: the talks of revolution and conspiracies, the blaming or demonizing of others, or even the scramble to recreate the church in an image more palatable to society again.
But the remnant takes a different posture. They turn their face heavenward and they wait. Crying out for mercy. Grieving the condition of the world. Watching the hearts of their children and grandchildren been lured away to pathways that are destined to bring more pain, and even death. Asking for clarity in the mixed truths being proclaimed in His name. Seeming the fools to the world, but clinging to the promises anyway.
The remnant awaits for what is needed at every moment of exile: a Divine Path forward through the chaos and impossibilities. Isaiah called this pathway “the Highway of Holiness,” a highway back to the heart of God.
He will raise up a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people from the four quarters of the earth… There will be a highway for the remnant of his people…” Isaiah 11:12,16
We cannot create the highways forward on our own. God, Himself, must raise them up for us. He is the God who calls, gathers, and leads the remnant home by HIS road.
The pathway out of exile always begins with repentance, hailed by messengers like John the Baptist who echoed the call of Isaiah to the remnant centuries earlier, “Repent! Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.” (Isaiah 40:3)
As our hearts are put back in order, the road forward for the Church is slowly unveiled. And when the pathways through the desert being to emerge, we will have a role in the rebuilding. “Build up! Build up the highway!” Isaiah called. “Remove the stones, lift up a flag over the peoples!” Isaiah 62:10.
We are the remnant, appointed to this hinge point of history, this season of church exile. We join the long line of holy road builders: removing stones, building divine pathways, raising the banner to point others back to the Path of Life. As we emerge from the wilderness, some will begin to rebuild city walls. Others will be appointed to reconsecrate and rebuild the temple.
If you feel in limbo, you are. Hinge points are an in between. Roads take time to build. There is no hurry. We are on God’s time. There’s no fast-track out of exile.
If you have not revisited your well-laid plans for your talents and resources, to make sure your marching orders are the same at this hinge point in history, then you may find yourself building on the wrong road. Wait on God. Ask Him what your role is to be in this Road Building era.
He’s calling to the remnant. May we all have ears to hear.
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.
2 Chronicles 20:12
’I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up.
Isaiah 49:11