The condition of most of the western body of Jesus is perilous. We are largely powerless, profane, unthinking, cold, and naive. We are divided even among the seemingly closest congregations, and lack the New Testament affectionate bond of love that marked the first Christians. Also, we are much conformed to the world around us, and often tossed around by many false winds of teaching. We would do well to study two examples of history — the pilgrims that came to America, and Nehemiah and the Jews under him. They had lost what they were trying to build, but were successful in constructing to a great degree a thriving community of the body of God’s people. This is what we need today — courageous, loving, wise, and zealous believers who will go to the ends of the earth, and to the point of death, to follow the Lord faithfully.

“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” – 1 Peter 2:11-12

Thus, Peter characterizes all those who have been redeemed from their futile ways of life inherited from their forefathers, through the blood of Jesus Messiah. He describes them as strangers or exiles, since they belong, not to this present world, but to the next, and are dwelling on foreign land. Such were the “pilgrims” who forsook their homes in the Anglican Church-dominated England for the unknown regions of North America in the 1600s. As Abraham did, they left their homeland, since they sought a better country which can only be seen with the eyes of faith — a heavenly one. But in their efforts to joyfully and fruitfully reach their ultimate destination, they determined to flee the oppression of arrogant tyrants, and to find a haven in which to live as their Scripture-informed consciences dictated.

In doing so through much suffering, fear, ignorance, and death, they were enabled by the Lord to found a colony that would serve as a beacon of hope for thousands of other servants of God seeking the liberty to worship Him as the Spirit led them to. Furthermore, they established a model for a pure, zealous, and effective Christian society that would be imitated by others later, for the building up of Christ’s body, and the conversion of thousands of godless pagans in the New World.

In our pagan wilderness of a western society, we as believers are in a very similar situation as they were, minus the persecution. We are faced with the choice of whether to be content with worldly, selfish, ignorant, foolish, and cold “Christianity,” or to take the great risks of taking our New Testaments seriously. This will force us to admit our sinful and ignorant failures, and venture forth to establish communities of believers that truly follow the apostles’ teaching faithfully and zealously.

Along with this relatively recent example of the pilgrims’ risk-taking for the sake of pure worship on earth, we can also compare our dire situation with that of the Jews under Artaxerxes in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. In their day, a messenger described the situation of God’s people thus:

“‘The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.'” – Neh. 1:3

From the story of Nehemiah’s leadership in the rebuilding and restoration of Jerusalem and the Jewish province, we learn several important principles for our own efforts to rebuild, restore, and refine the purer Christianity that once was practiced by our pilgrim brethren. As in Nehemiah’s time, we western Christians mostly have a practically useless defense against the attacks of the devil, and we would be in great distress if we only realized our danger, compromise, and unholiness. I suggest to you these following actions that must be taken if we are to see revival and reform of western Christianity:

  1. Wake up! We must realize that we are severely unfortified, polluted by worldly influences, and ignorant of some of the basic teachings of the apostles in our Bibles. Therefore, we need to ask the Lord for discernment of hidden faults, and seek His Word for the wisdom and instructions we need to replace them with the beliefs and practices taught therein.
  2. Join hands with the brethren! After seeking the Lord’s strength and wisdom, we must band together as the pilgrims and Jews did, in order to build up our mental, spiritual, and physical defenses against the temptations and deceptions of the world. This will require us to evaluate our individual giftedness, see where our lives and brethren are in need of help, and go to work renewing our minds, reforming our lives, and building up our brethren through our gifts, in brotherly love.
  3. Appoint leaders! After we’ve started the work, we need to recognize those who are gifted among us to lead and teach congregations of believers, and allow them to use their gifts to guide and equip us to continue the work of service.
  4. Apply yourselves to the Word! Next, we must make ample provision and opportunity for diligent, careful, and prayerful study of God’s Word, through the leadership and example of our mature leaders. Then, in response to our study, we must prayerfully apply Scripture to our individual situations, and zealously engage in obedience to the instructions of the Word.
  5. Appeal to the Lord for mercy! In response to our study of the apostolic teaching, we must recognize, confess, and forsake corporately as well as individually our failures to be faithful to the teachings of the Lord and apostles. This will require us to seek the Lord together, in group prayer meetings, to praise Him, and ask Him for His forgiveness, comfort, wisdom, and power.
  6. Agree to carry out resolutions together! There must be recognized covenanting around a set of clearly defined beliefs, resolutions, and commitments.
  7. Practice accountability, purity, and discipline! We must practice the “one another’s” of the New Testament, in order to guard, warn, encourage, correct, and even rebuke our brothers and sisters in Jesus. It’s only by looking out for one another’s growth in holiness that we’ll all be able to press on to maturity, and to the unity of the faith and knowledge of God’s Son (Eph. 4).

Obviously, these things are only brief encouragements, but I plead with you to carefully consider them, and strive to spread the revival and reform that our pilgrim and Jewish forefathers were able to partially accomplish through God’s Word, and the power of the Holy Spirit. The joy of our brethren, the salvation of souls, and the glory and honor of our Lord Jesus Messiah depend on our immediate and drastic action in response to our apathetic, sinful, and sickly condition.