Articles
There Is a Sleeping Giant
There Is a Sleeping Giant
Dwayne Butler
Solemnly and slowly, with his index finger extended, Napoleon Bonaparte outlined a great stretch of country on a map of the world. “There,” he growled, “is a sleeping giant. Let him sleep. If he wakes, he will shake the world.” That sleeping giant was China. Turns out, this was quite the statement for someone who only lived until 1821. While I have my doubts that Napoleon foresaw the technological advances and the eventual booming economic times in which we live, it does appear that he was onto something.
Now, if you will, I need you to do a few things. First, transfer Napoleon’s statement to the realm of the spiritual. Second, substitute Satan for the Napoleon, and third, the church of Christ for China. You can almost see the fire belch from between the devil’s teeth and behold the fear in his eyes as he considers the Church’s unmeasured potential and growls, “Let the church sleep! If she wakes, she will shake the world.” Sometimes I wonder, is the church not the sleeping giant of today?
I once heard a preacher proclaim, “On the day Christ died Satan was rejoicing; hell was having a picnic!” But then imagine how instantly that celebration ceased when Christ came out of the grave triumphant over death and Satan (Hebrews 2:14)!! Consider again the dismay of the devil when the foundation of the kingdom of heaven was forever established and its borders bounded throughout the world.
When the gospel came to Thessalonica and many influential persons were obedient to the faith, the unbelieving Jews cried out, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:6). Paul later on went to say about the gospel, “has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26). And again, he spoke of the gospel, saying “which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven” (Colossians 1:23).
Where at once the church turned the world upside down through the preaching and teaching of the gospel, today it seems that the church has been lulled to sleep by the world! Have we become content simply to preserve our own souls? What would happen if the church of Christ woke up and became the militant and vigilant body it was in the first 200 years of her existence? What will it take to wake us up?
In our possession we have the greatest most powerful weapon ever known to man - THE WORD OF GOD! So, we really only have two options (1) Let us unsheathe our swords and battle the enemy. (2) Or we can quietly slumber as our children and grandchildren are devoured by the adversary and they too become our enemies! As always, the choice is ours, and it should be our hope and our prayer that we use the blessings and opportunities we have to share the gospel with a lost and dying world. We can turn this world upside down again, one soul at a time.
