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Pick the Challenge!

Elijah issued a challenge to the people to serve God. Elijah told the people that if God was God they needed to serve God. However Elijah also told them if Baal was God then, serve him. He wanted them to stop having one foot in a false religion and one foot as it were in the truth. However the people answered him nothing. What do you do when you don’t get a response from the people to whom you’ve just told an important truth?

It appears, if you are the leader you tell them what to do. Give the plan to the unresponsive. Help them move to the place of decision by giving them a job to do. This is what Elijah did. The prophets of Baal didn’t know how to set up the test. God told Elijah what to do. Elijah took the leadership and instructed the unbelievers how to do the test to prove the reality and power of God for themselves.

The test was out in the open. The prophets of Baal constructed their altar in full view of the people. They could not use any sleight of hand in dousing a little fire starting material on the altar to fool the people into thinking Baal answered.

No, you see this was a test about the omnipotent God and the falseness of a manmade idol. The true God would have to answer from another realm by fire. God showed his power to answer with a fire that consumed not only the offering but the altar on which it was offered. As the Leader you are allowed to set the conditions. Issuing a challenge may be part of your leadership role. Let's challenge this generation to either come out and prove what their god can do, or bow the knee to the True God, Jesus Christ our Savior.
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