THE CHURCH’S RESPONSE TO A DESECRATED WORLD

(Post by: Lilly Hobbs)

I recently attended a Christian-Conservative conference where one of the speakers made a very profound, but almost obvious statement that blew me away.

He said, “If the problem is desecration, the answer is consecration.”

When the speaker made this point, I had a moment (one I’m sure we have all had before) where I thought to myself, “I know he’s right, but what would that even look like?”

In order to truly dig deeper and discover the answers to that question, I think we must first define the two key words that are contained within our quote above…

• Desecration: To take something holy and treat it as common or impure.
• Consecration: To set something apart for God’s purposes, and to make it sacred again.

We Are Living in a Desecrated Culture

There is no doubt that our society has taken what God intentionally and beautifully designed as sacred, such as life, marriage, gender, worship, and truth, and turned it into something self-serving and/or distorted.

Don’t believe me?

Babies became “clumps of cells.” Marriage became hook-up culture. Sex became porn. Gender became a fluid term instead of a concrete fact. Masculinity became toxic and femininity became oppressive.

The sad truth is the kind of desecration we are witnessing today isn’t just in “the world out there.” It’s made its way into the Church through things like casual Christianity, compromised convictions, and a pursuit of entertainment over holiness.

• Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil…”
• Romans 1:21-25 explains Paul’s picture of a world that traded God’s truth for a lie.
• Ezekiel 22:26 states that the priests “did not distinguish between the holy and the common.”

What am I really getting to here? I believe desecration begins to thrive when we stop treating what’s sacred as sacred, and instead turn to selfishness.

God’s Response Has Always Been Consecration

In Scripture, we see that when Israel was surrounded by pagan nations, God’s solution wasn’t assimilation. No, not at all. It was consecration.

He called them to be set apart, different, a people marked by obedience and purity.

Every time the people of God desecrated what was holy by means of idolatry and disobedience, revival and renewal came only after consecration. It was only once God’s people returned to His standards that they experienced His favor.

• Leviticus 20:7-8 says, “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.”
• Joshua 3:5 says, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
• 2 Chronicles 29:5-6 tells us that Hezekiah called the Levites to, “consecrate yourselves… remove all the defilement.”

What do these passages reveal to us? Before revival can ever occur in public, consecration MUST take place in private.

It made sound cliché, but the world cannot and will not be made holy until the Church is, and I am going to be bold and state the obvious: The Church has invited desecration in and is unwilling to part with it at the moment, which is making her unholy and largely ineffective.

You see, true consecration isn’t about outward rules. Consecration that brings about true life-change is about surrender, repentance, and allowing God full access to every part of your life.

So, today I ask you, what has been desecrated in your heart that God wants to restore as holy?

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts.”

Consecration Is Contagious

I have seen firsthand that when the few choose holiness, they confront desecration with light and squelch every last bit of it.

How amazing and incredible would it be if the consecrated Church became the hope of a desecrated world?

1 Peter 2:9 says, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…”

So, what would it take for Christians to begin taking consecration seriously again? Maybe it’s not a program or a plan, but a return to reverence, obedience, and a willingness to be set apart for God.

It starts with each of us being willing to surrender what’s common, impure, or compromised in our own lives.

Perhaps you need to take one small step right now: Maybe it’s a moment of prayer, a difficult confession, or a decision to guard what’s holy in your home, your heart, and your relationships.

“If the problem is desecration, the answer is consecration.”