Don't be a victim of fallout!

                         

Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. 

And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

                                 (Numbers 20:8-12)

                    What is fallout? The dictionary defines it as a incidental result or a side effect. As I read and meditate on this word, God had given Moses a charge---He told him to speak to the Rock. Previously, Moses had struck the rock (Exo 17:5-7) As a result of that, water came out and met the people's needs. Have you ever heard of history repeats itself? Fast forward to about 37 years. It is a new generation with a the same gripe as before. This, certainly,

was not music to Moses ears.

                   God gave Moses a different charge. He said--SPEAK TO THE ROCK! What did he do? He lost his temper, called God's people rebels and disobeyed God! As a consequence, he could not enter the promised land. Yes, brethren, God forgave Moses and I am sure he repented but the consequences of sin were ever present.

                      Yes, that was a sad state of affairs, but we see that Aaron was guilty too. Why? One word---Fallout! Aaron was part of the leadership. He could have taken a stand, but he did not. As a result, he, too, could not enter in. Please do not misunderstand me, we need to honor and serve those who God has placed in leadership, but leaders are human and they make mistakes. 

                Yes, there are times in which we need to stand back and pray. (Rev 3:1-4), but other times, it may be a time to take a strong stand, call a spade a spade and if the church or leadership doesn't receive it, time to pack up and move. Failure to do this could cause consequences  for you and the family. (Rev 18:4-5) Let's be real---Nobody is perfect. There is no such thing as a perfect church, Pastor or leader, but when it is clear that God's wrath is about to be poured out, its time to make a decision.
                     Sin affects us as a whole. A church which looks the other way or allows sin will cause itself a slow and painful death. In this day, ask God to help direct your path. If your place is to stay in church, despite its shortcomings, be faithful and pray. If it is time to move, don't stop praying for your church, but be mindful that staying there can be detrimental to your spiritual health. The same applies to our family and jobs.
                     There are family members such as our children, minors who are telling the parents what to do and ordering them around. Jobs that can put pressure on you to do the "PC" thing and leave God at the door. We need to ask God to put backbone in us and take a stand. Doing so will avoid spiritual fallout to us and our family. God bless.

Bible verses courtesy of www.biblegateway.com